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PITTSFORD
RECREATION DEPARTMENT Recreation Director’s Report Although there is a new layer of freshly fallen snow on the ground the Recreation Department is still looking forward to spring. The past month I have been busy getting programs, personnel, and equipment ready for the spring and summer seasons. Youth League Registration for baseball & softball has come and gone. Parents who wanted to register their children for T-Ball, Mighty Mites, Major League (Little League Baseball), and Minor League Softball had the entire month of March to get their paperwork in. I’m happy to report that a total of 119 boys and girls between the ages of 5 – 12 years old signed up to play either softball or baseball this spring. 119 children is right in line with the past two seasons of 124 in 2002 and 120 in 2003, however team configurations will be a little different than in the past two seasons. Due to higher numbers at the T-Ball level the Recreation Department will add a third T-Ball (5-6 yr. olds) team to accommodate all 35 kids who have registered. On the other side of the coin, because only 32 kids registered for Little League, the Recreation Department is losing one of its MLB (Little League) teams. Cutting a team was the last thing I wanted to do, but I feel the 32 kids that registered are not dedicated enough to field 3 teams that will last the entire season. There are 4 or 5 players that we know little or nothing about who are coming into the league for the first time and I question their level of commitment to playing. So after talking with all our Major League coaches, and a few parents who have children playing at this level, I decided that it was best for the program that we field 2 larger teams of 16 players, rather than having 2 teams of 11 players and one team of 10. Last season we fielded 2 teams of 11 and one of 12 and all three of those teams, at one time or another, had a difficult time fielding 9 players. Illness, injury, and in certain cases just a lack of team commitment made making out a line up card difficult. With these larger numbers, the coaches will have no problem fielding a team, however the one draw back will be that perhaps not all the kids will get as much playing time as they hope. The Adult Kickboxing/Aerobics class on Tuesday evenings 5:30-6:30, at the Lothrop Gym, had another good month, with 34 participants. The unexpected news is that enough people have pre-paid for another month so the Recreation Department is running this program again in April. The participants have truly enjoyed instructor Joanie Imperato’s workouts, and the class being extended an extra month is a tribute to that. On Friday, March 12, at the VT Police Academy, the Maclure Library and the Recreation Department co-sponsored our last Family Fun Night of the winter. Over 100 people came and enjoyed our “Spring Fling” event. Children and their parents enjoyed putting together pinwheels, insect antennas, and making kites. The main attraction for the event was again Joey’s Bounce House. Children never to seem to get tired of climbing and playing in these blow up structures. The entire night there was a line of children waiting anxiously for their next turn. P.A.L.S, one of the original sponsors of the Family Fun Nights, donated enough books so that every child was able to bring one home with them. Family Fun Nights have been a wonderful way to bring young kids and families from Pittsford together for an evening of play and fun. The main objective of these events is to let the children “burn” some of their built energy during the winter months when they cannot get outside as much to play. The gym at the VT Police Academy is large enough for children to run around, play games, and have a wonderful time without being to crowded. Whoever said that teenagers were hard to figure out was absolutely correct. Just a month after having over 200 teens at our annual Valentine’s Dance-Teen Night, the Brandon and Pittsford Recreation Departments could not raise enough interest for our March Teen event and had to cancel our Rock Climbing trip due to lack of participants. This was the first time that Nancy Bird, Brandon Recreation Director and I have tried going to VT Rock Climbing Center with particular this age group. Other trips, with younger kids, to the climbing center have been real positive and we thought it could work with the teens as well, but it did not. We are not sure why this program did not work, transportation should have been a non-issue because the Recreation Departments were providing rides, down and back, as part of the program. Maybe because the event was scheduled on a Thursday evening, but there was no school the next day so they would of had the entire day to make up for a couple of hours of sleep. I think it was perhaps teens did not want to be bothered doing anything that physical for enjoyment. Our next Teen Night is the “Spring Fling” dance, which is scheduled for Friday, April 29, at the VT Police Academy. Chaperones are needed for this event, if you would like to volunteer please call me at 483-6500ext. 17. *Note: The Pittsford Recreation Department needs to have more parents stepping forward to help out with our Teen Night events. At the Valentine’s Dance in February there were a total 12 chaperones, only two were Pittsford residents, and both of those were surprises because I did not know about either one of them a head of time and I was not counting them. The safety and well being of the participants at our Teen Dances is our biggest concern and when you have the large number of individuals, as we often do, we need as many “EYES” as possible to maintain a safe and happy atmosphere. The spring Gymnastics program kicked off on Monday, March 8 and ran four weeks. There were 38 children, in grades 1st – 6th, who participated in the program. Lynn Gee, Physical Education teacher at Lothrop School, and her helpers facilitated the program. The program is designed to give young children an opportunity to be exposed to the basic elements of gymnastics without a major money or time investment.
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