BUREAU OF RECREATION
Autumn Program
Sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation begins the second week of October and finishes the second week of December. With the enthusiasm and hard work of the Director of Recreation, the Deputy Director of Recreation and Sports/Special Program Coordinator, five (5) general recreation sites became available to the Department from the Harrisburg School District; four (4) operated four (4) nights per week and one (1) operated two nights per week. Melrose Gym was once again unavailable as an Adult Coed Volleyball site with pick-up games played two nights per week.
Highlights and Achievements
Recreation Sites
The School District Recreation sites scheduled activities from 5:00pm to 8:30pm, October 15 to December 13, at no cost to the participants, ages 5-16. Hamilton, Woodward, and Steele and the Boys and Girls Club on Hanover Street were open Monday through Thursday. Downey was open two nights per week. The relationship with the Harrisburg School District has developed into a very strong one, and all parties strived to increase the number of indoor sites available to the Harrisburg Youth. Once the rehab projects are completed, the goal for next year will be to expand one additional site on Allison Hill sites for four nights.
Penn State Intern/Job Fair
The Department was one of hundreds of agencies who displayed job and intern opportunities for the fall, winter and summer. Approximately 2700 students visited the fair to collect information on future placement opportunities.
Soccer League
The Harrisburg Youth Soccer Club, working with the Department, sponsoredtwelve (12) intramural soccer teams for youth ages 5-10. Thanks to the Department and the Harrisburg Parks Partnership for extra funding, the soccer program gave every participant a great playing schedule on Saturday mornings, a uniform, shinguards, a ball, a trophy, and an awards banquet at Goodwin Memorial Church. The soccer coordinator and all the coaches, referees, and parents along with the players should be commended for a great season.
Verizon Foundation Computer Workshops
The free fall Computer Classes for youth and seniors was underwritten in part by Verizon, the City, and the Harrisburg Parks Partnership. Free Senior Classes continued in the mornings for two days per week. Hardware, software, printers, and a scanner continued to be the basic components to teach inner-city youth and seniors basic computer operations and how to research topics on the Internet. Courses continued to be comprised of 12 sessions in six-week time frames. Graduation ceremonies continued to highlight the achievements of the class participants with presentations of certificates of accomplishment and refreshments. Music software and related instrumentation was added to the computer inventory for a cost of $13,000.
Aerobics
Free Low Impact, Toning Classes, Kickboxing, Cardio-Step and Body Sculpting continued into fall from the winter and summer cycle at the Brownstone Building at no cost to the participants, adults over 18 years of age. Plans again were formulated to retain two instructors, hire one additional instructor and have all instructors certified in additional classes. This commitment to upgrade the number and certification of the instructors will result in two additional classes for the year 2002. Registration on site at the first visit is mandatory.
Fishing Derby
This third annual very popular free activity, the brainstorm of the Deputy Director, again attracted over 5000 fishing enthusiasts, workers, sponsors, volunteers and curious on-lookers. The Jackson-Lick Pool filled with the pool water from summer swimming (without the chlorine) seemed to be the perfect habitat for over 800 rainbow trout, ranging in size from 12–24 inches. Populations of various segments of the City fished for four days and had a great experience. On the fifth day, all remaining fish were scooped from the pool; Prizes for catching tagged fish and for other contests were donated by area vendors and agencies. Again, Dr. Frederick Rommel was invaluable as the aqua-biologist from the Dept. of Agriculture who assisted in the water quality for the fish. In 2001, a casting contest continued as an additional challenge to fishermen of all ages. Additionally, Leo Dunn, from the Department of Agriculture donated the materials and printing for the brochures and posters.
City Island Fun Day
Again, this annual special event sponsored by the City and the Keystone Aquatics Club in October highlighted, free of charge, fall-type activities with a visit to City Island. More than 125 youth participated with our staff and parent chaperones to decorate pumpkins from Herr’s Farms, have lunch at City Island Pavilion, ride the Riverboat, play Water Golf, and ride the City Island train and carousel. The Club again took a very active role in the day by grilling hotdogs and hamburgers for the participants. Tee-shirts for the youth to keep as a memento of the day were underwritten by the Keystone Aquatics Club. Photos, a thank-you banner and the many thank-you’s from the participants and staff on the day of the event were assurances that the Club’s support is appreciated.
Fright Night
Once again, The SERTOMA Club sponsored the scary activities on City Island and invited one hundred-fifty recreation site participants to visit the activities at no charge to the participants or the Department. The Halloween activity is a safe, fun-filled outing for the City youth.
New York Trip
The Department, for the third year, sponsored a bus to travel to New York offering the participants a “Day on Your Own.” Two buses traveled to the Big Apple and participants begged for more trips from Parks and Recreation. The Department will organize a full calendar of trips in 2002 to earn money to help defray the costs of in-house youth field trips.
Harrisburg Dance Classes
A new pre-teen and teen program designed to teach basic dance steps for fun, exercise, and to act as a feeder program for the Black History Showcase of Talent Dance Ensemble was created. Classes for two age groups ranging from 8-18 are scheduled for two hours sessions twice a week at Downey Elementary School.
Double Dutch
A troupe of 30 girls learned the basic competitive jump steps from instructor Earl Bright. This troupe entertained thousands of observers as they marched and paraded as a unit in the November Holiday Parade.
You can find out more about other seasonal programs by following the appropiate links below.