Unique Wellington Rec Programming Offers Unexpected Summer Fun By Alexandra Antonopoulos
No matter what your interest, Wellington’s Parks & Recreation Department has a plan to keep families and friends entertained throughout the long days and nights of summer. From day camps, aquatics and team sports to senior activities and movie nights, Wellington offers a range of programs designed to appeal to even summer’s most discriminating participants. Parks & Recreation Director Bruce DeLaney heads a cast of managers and coordinators who bring training and passion to their respective programs. From June through August, a plethora of events for families, teens, adults and seniors will run at the village’s various facilities: the Wellington Community Center, the Wellington Aquatics Complex, the Wellington Tennis Center, the Wellington Amphitheater and the Wellington Recreation Center at Village Park. The rec center, long a hub of summertime activity, recently underwent a facelift. “The addition that housed the second gymnasium was renovated,” DeLaney said. “That gave us an opportunity to secure the original gym that was only partly brick block. Now it’s all brick.” In addition to the requisite team sports such as basketball, baseball and soccer, this year Wellington’s summer stars can delve deeper into interests that, before now, have not readily been catered to or thought of as typical summer camp fare. Children ages 5 to 15 are welcome at Village Park’s all-day camp, where participants will enjoy arts & crafts, animal exhibits, magicians, movies, rock climbing and more. The camp 18
June 2013 |wellington the magazine|
runs Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and campers can participate weekly or for the entire summer, June 10 through Aug. 16. While the all-day camp is a popular and convenient option for many families, it is the specialty camps, which typically fill up well in advance, that offer some of the most exciting and innovative new programming. “Besides all of our basics that we run every summer, this year we’ve expanded our volleyball and girls softball camps. We’re running three different camps for volleyball. We’ve seen an increase in participants in that program,” DeLaney said. Among these specialty summer programs is Hapkido, a self-defense class where students from age 12 through adult will learn basic takedowns, kicks, strikes and disarming techniques while challenging their bodies and minds. Students can take advantage of this safe and practical setting as they learn a martial art. The Hapkido classes require an annual membership with the International Hapkido Federation in addition to a $70 registration fee. Participants have three start dates to choose from: June 1, July 1 or Aug. 1. Each session runs for three to four weeks and meets
Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays at Village Park. Another great choice for summer fun is the Kids Yoga program, a course that runs June 19 through Aug. 7 and again from Aug. 14 through Oct. 2 at the Wellington Community Center. This ancient practice of physical and mental unity will have kids learning techniques such as visualization, selfcontrol and how to focus and relax, among its numerous physical benefits. Strength, balance and flexibility are sure to improve as campers practice their poses. An alternative to more common youth athletic pursuits, yoga’s ability to relieve stress and work the body makes it a superb outlet for pentup summer energy. Kids Yoga is new to Wellington’s summer offerings and is likely to be a staple for years to come. If you are searching for activities that cater to the artistically inclined, look no further than the “Dive Into Acting” or “Movie Spoofs” acting camps, both of which help campers develop basic improvisation and communication skills for those 7- to 13-year-olds who have been bitten by the acting bug. Running June 17-20, “Dive Into Acting” focuses on basic theater skills and building collaborative projects. The program culminates in a finale for