Arts & Leisure
York Recreation answers the question, "What are we doing this summer?"
By Melissa Wood
YORK - York Parks and Recreation's summer programs are filling up fast as parents scramble to safeguard their kids from summer boredom.Registration for summer classes and camps is now underway, but there's still time to sign up for many of the programs on a list of summer offerings that truly has something for all members of the family.
For the kids, the department's large number of youth enrichment classes, camps and sport leagues range from basketball to drama, photography to track and field, soccer to yoga - and almost everything in between. Added this year are surfing camps with Liquid Dreams Surf Shop and swimming lessons at Seacoast Family YMCA in Portsmouth, N.H.
In surfing camp, kids as young as six years of age can learn to paddle, choose the right wave and eventually stand up and ride those waves. Beginning surfers also learn about surfing etiquette, ocean awareness and beach safety. The camp is offered for two separate weeklong sessions in July at Long Sands Beach, and is a joint effort with Liquid Dreams Surf Shop, which will provide all equipment and supplies.
Two week-long surfing camps will also be held in July for what the Recreation Department describes as "ages 19 and up and up and up…" as one of many summer programs available to adults.
"We have a lot of adult programs and programs for seniors," said Sarah Francke, program coordinator. "It's not just for kids."
Adults can also sign up to learn how to play golf or tennis, practice yoga or tai chi, join a summer basketball or softball league or learn to make sea glass jewelry, among other things.
Senior citizens can sign up for a new arts and crafts series that will be held Monday afternoons at the York Senior Center. In July's classes, participants will learn to make a beaded pendant or pin, greeting cards and decorative glass plates. The cost includes all supplies and registration can be done at York Senior Center for convenience. More classes will be offered in August and September as well.
Teens can be one group especially difficult to provide programs for since they are too old for many of the camps and may have summer jobs.
"It's hard to target the teens," said Francke.
However, the department is offering a new adventure series for teens in conjunction with the White Pines Program. Three weeklong camps include a Summer Sustenance Camp where teens experience hands-on challenges in survival, the West Branch Wilderness Canoe Trip where teens spend a week in the Maine woods along the Penobscot River and the Jersey Pine Barrens a week of camping, hiking and practicing skills in New Jersey among pitch pine, cedar swamps, sand roads and the Jersey Devil.
Families can even spend some time together, too. This summer there will be four "Family Nights Under the Stars," where family members who are five years old and up can gather around a campfire for a cookout and the chance to share local ghost stories and folklore.
For more information on this year's variety of offerings, call 363-1040 or view programs on the web at http://parksandrec.yorkmaine.org.
To register for any of the summer programs, visit the York Parks and Recreation office at Grant House at Goodrich Park, 200 U.S. Route 1 South, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Registration can also be done over the phone by calling 363-1040. Class sizes may need to be limited, so register early to guarantee your spot.
To learn more about the teen adventure camp series, please contact White Pines Programs at 361-1911.
Melissa Wood can be reached via e-mail at mwood@yorkindependent.net.
