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Date: 7/14/2021
CHICOPEE – With many sports and youth programs canceled last summer due to COVID-19, local cities are now ready to bring kids back for art, sports, fun and friendship.
The Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department is offering a variety of youth programs for kids of all ages. According to Dan Woodill, recreation supervisor, Chicopee is bringing back its OPEE Summer Adventures program for kids ages 5 through 13. Woodill said OPEE has been a tradition in the city for over 25 years and was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
OPEE will take place at Chicopee High School this year and will shift to accommodate fewer kids and run for a shorter amount of time. Despite the differences from previous years, Woodill said that OPEE filled up almost immediately when they announced it would be back.
“We didn’t want to lose two years of it because it’s one of our most popular programs, so even though we’ve made some changes we still wanted to offer something to the residents of Chicopee this year,” he said.
Chicopee will also be offering their Art Ventures for Kids, Circuit Lab, Gold Star Soccer Camp and IncrediFlix Movie Making programs. They have tennis lessons, Tang So Doo lessons and a variety of youth sports programs available for sign-ups as well.
According to Woodill, keeping kids safe is the top priority when it comes to summer programs this year.
“Unvaccinated children are strongly encouraged to wear masks when inside. Any staff that’s unvaccinated has to wear masks inside, but when they’re outside they’re all good to go,” he said. “COVID-19’s not gone and it may be around for a while so we want to be as safe as possible. That’s the main thing. I think that’s probably our number one thing is keeping kids safe so that everything else applies: having fun, getting back to normalcy where they can still see their friends, do some arts and crafts and do some sports.”
Chicopee will also be hosting outdoor movie nights at Szot Park this summer. Last year, Woodill said they hosted drive-in movies. This year, families are encouraged to attend and bring blankets, chairs and popcorn to enjoy.
“The movie nights are great, those usually bring out a good crowd,” said Woodill.
The first movie night will take place on July 24 and will show “Onward.”
Those interested in learning more about summer youth programs or signing up are encouraged to visit www.chicopeerec.com. Woodill said that frequent updates are also posted on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chicopeeparksdept/.
Springfield will be hosting a variety of youth programs and activities this summer as well. There will be movie nights, aquatic programs, public skating and more. Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club is offering free rowing lessons to anyone over the age of 14 and the Springfield Museums will be hosting their own summer programs.
More information can be found at https://www.springfield-ma.gov/park/ and https://www.facebook.com/SpfldParkandRec.