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Date: 7/2/2021
SOUTH HADLEY – This year, the South Hadley Recreation Department is offering summer programs and events for families to soak up the sun and enjoy the outdoors.
Assistant Recreation Director Danielle Bachand said, “For the summer programs, we are looking to engage children in different in-person activities whether it be sports, art or science and for them to be in a socialized setting. It’s something they haven’t had a lot of in the past year. It's exciting to be able to offer these programs again and see families enjoy them.”
Recreation Director Andy Rogers mentioned, “In a typical year, we usually run a bunch of different sport-based programs. A lot of those aren’'t going to be feasible this year for a few different reasons, but we are doing some ones that we can.”
He went on to say, “One thing we’re doing on our website is if anything that comes through that looks like a local sports program or camp that people might want to attend, we’ve added a page on our website of other events that we keep pasting so that residents are looking for stuff to do in the Pioneer Valley.”
The department has currently started their summer NFL Flag Football League for grades K-8. Divisions will be divided into grades K-2, grades 3-5 and grades 6-8. Games dates and times will be determined by field and coach availability.
The department has teamed up with the 413 Athletic Training Center for their baseball/softball program from June 28-July 2 for grades 1-8 at Beachgrounds Park.
A golf program for grades 3-8 beginning July 26-29 on Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m.- 11 a.m. and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. will take place at Ledges Golf Club.
The department also has two programs with Futsal Street Soccer. One is their preschool soccer program which runs on Monday evenings from 5-5:40 p.m. at Buttery Brook Park. The first session runs from June 28 - July 19 and the second session runs from Aug. 2 - Aug. 23. They’re also running a week-long program with Futsal Street Soccer for those entering grades K-8. This will run the week of July 26 - July 30 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Michael E. Smith Middle School.
Bachand added, “We’re also running a Mad Science program for grades 1-5 from July 19-23, two ART-ventures programs from July 26-30 and Aug. 9-13 for grades K-5 and a program with Wicked Cool for Kids grades K-5 from Aug. 2-6.”
In addition to these programs, the department will have a Bike Rodeo on July 20 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Michael E. Smith Middle School; Rogers said this event is going to be geared toward kids in grades 2-7. It will feature an obstacle course, how to wear your helmet properly, how to check your bike and various other things about bike safety. This is a partnership between the Recreation Department, the South Hadley Police Department and Safe Routes to School, which is a program of Mass DOT. On Aug. 11, there will be a Big Rig Day at Buttery Brook Park from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. sponsored by the Recreation Department, the Friends of Buttery Brook Park and the South Hadley Electric Light Department.
“We’re still working on the details for this program as it was added last minute with the changes to COVID,” Rogers explained. “We’ll have more information coming out, but we wanted to get that on the calendar for people that we’re definitely having that event.”
Rogers concluded, “We want to give people a chance to get out, have fun and be normal. Both of these events are free; however, you do have to preregister for the Bike Rodeo which is on our website. There’s no pre-registration required for Big Rig Day, just show up and have some fun with the big rigs!”
All of the Recreation Department’s programs require pre-registration on their website at www.southhadleyrecreation.org
Reminder Publishing reached out to the Granby Recreation Department and they said they were not hosting summer programs this year.