Why Do Kids Love Summer Camp in Evergreen?

Evergreen Park & Recreation District (EPRD) proudly announces that Summer Camp registration opens on March 11, 2023. EPRD prides itself on creating memorable experiences for all types of campers! Camps are designed to accommodate different ages, interests, and abilities. No matter what camp they participate in, campers will gain leadership, decisionmaking, and social skills. From boating instruction at the Lake House Camp to wacky experiments with Mad Science, there is something for every type of camper of every age range this summer:

Adventure Day Camps: Campers will enjoy games, crafts, hikes, gymnastics, outdoor field trips, and making new friends.

Gymnastics Camps: Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Circus, Diving, and Variety Campers will learn teamwork and new skills from our professionally trained coaches.

In support of the album, White Reaper will be performing at Summit Music Hall, 1902 Blake St. in Denver, at 7:30 p.m. on ursday, March 2. ey’ll be joined by openers Militarie Gun and Mamalarky. Get tickets at

INSPIRE Adventure Camp: Join our INSPIRE Camp if you have unique needs or disabilities. There are also opportunities to enroll in Therapeutic Horseback Riding, Breckenridge Outdoor Education Camp, and National Sports Center for the Disabled Camp!

The top benefits of enrolling in EPRD’s Summer Camps are socializing and friendship building, eliminating screen time, getting exercise, interacting with positive role models, providing opportunities for personal growth, learning new skills, and all around development.

Of all the reasons to come to an EPRD Summer Camp, we believe the most beneficial aspect for campers and counselors is making memories that will last a lifetime!

Science and Technology Camps: In an effort to provide even more camp opportunities for the community, EPRD has partnered with the following outside providers who will be providing science and technology camps this summer: Mad Science, Imagine Art Academy, Snapology, and Talk to the Camera.

Outdoor Camps: There are two opportunities for campers to enjoy rugged outdoor summer camp experiences, like at the new Lake House Camp and the Outdoor Climbing Camp.

Sports Camps: Campers will develop their skills at week-long camps in the following sports: Soccer, Flag Football, Basketball, Wiffle Ball, and Olympic Games. In addition, CHALLENGER SPORTS™ will also be returning with their unique soccer camp experience using their proven international tactics rooted in British training methodologies.

Please contact: CCrain@eprd.co or call 720-880-1213 if you have questions about our prerequisites for state-licensed camps (Adventure, Sports, INSPIRE Camps) or our payment plan opportunities.

If you are interested in working at an EPRD Summer Camp, please contact HFacer@eprd.co or search for job opportunities listed on our websitewww.evergreenrecreation.com.

Speed dating events in metro Denver o er alternatives to swiping

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On a ursday night in late January, dozens of people walked past displays of tarot cards and crystals towards a dim room at the back of Full Moon Books in Lakewood. A man at the room’s entrance asked them each to remove their shoes. e smell of burnt sage lled the air.

For a while, people mingled. e event was not to start until 7 p.m., and stragglers arrived until moments before the doors closed. When it was time, a woman wearing a pink velvet robe asked everyone to sit in a circle.

“For all the new people, this is where we’re all going to get naked,” the woman joked. Everyone laughed, and she continued, “ ere will be none of that. is is just a really fun, safe event.”

Danny Neifert, a facilitator of an event called Tantra Speed Date, was playing with the stereotypical understanding of the word “tantra.” For many people, the term brings sex to mind. Although tantra is a spiritual practice that includes sexuality, Neifert said it has more to do with connection.

“Tonight, for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to swap out the word ‘tantra’ with ‘connection,’” she said to the group. “It’s about connecting to yourself, connecting to the person that’s standing in front of you, connecting to the room, connecting to the building, the soil, the snow, the stars — you ll in the blank in a way that makes sense to you.” is event is one of several forms of speed dating in the metro Denver area, where singles are stepping out of their comfort zones to nd hope, chemistry — and maybe even love — beyond the screens and swiping of modern dating.

For the next several hours, the attendees took turns rotating from person to person, doing mindful activities with a new partner at each station. At one, a partner mirrored the others’ physical actions. Next, strangers gave each other back massages. Some stations involved speaking — about gratitude, letting go or joy — and at others, people danced.

Paying attention

Guy Shahar is a founder of e Tantra Institute, a New York-based company that aims to help people become “better lovers” through sacred sexuality. e company teaches courses about sexuality, tantra and relationship skills, in addition to hosting events like Tantra Speed Date.

Since 2017, Tantra Speed Date has hosted over 550 events in 40 cities for attendees of all ages.

“Most of the stations are really just about (giving) people instructions that show them how to put their attention on each other,” Shahar said about the speed dating event.

In his eyes, lack of attention is the number one challenge people face in modern dating, partly because of technology and partly because of the number of potential partners.

“A hundred years ago, who could you date? e people from your neighborhood, the people around you,” he said. “Now you can date anybody in the world… You open up any of those dating apps and you could be swiping on a di erent person in less than a second.”

His speed dating event, he said, is designed to put people in situations where they must focus on each other.

“Like a mirroring exercise, right?” he said. “I’m watching you, and I’m responding to what you’re doing… My attention is on you… Getting people to bring their attentions to each other is a really beautiful way to fool them into connection and intimacy.”

Once people surrender to paying full attention, Shahar said it’s easier to tell if there is chemistry between them.

After the initial connection, Shahar said other things become important as a relationship continues.

“ at connection isn’t necessarily compatibility,” he said. “You might have an amazing connection, or let’s say amazing chemistry… but their habits might be totally not compatible with yours. If you want a sustaining relationship, then you need to nd some points of compatibility or you need to be able to work with habits.” at being said, Shahar thinks having the opportunity to initially sense a connection is a powerful way to see if there’s any potential with a person.

“(To) just start your relationship o with that kind of intimacy and connection just seems like a really great, really beautiful way to get yourself o on the right foot,” he said.

Is a few minutes enough?

For speed dating skeptics, it may seem improbable that a person could have any sense of real connection after an encounter that lasts only a matter of minutes.

Dr. Randi Smith, a practicing psychologist and psychology professor at Metro State University Denver, said a few minutes might not be enough to tell a lot about a potential partner –but it can show some things.

“ ere’s some really recent research that suggests that we’re able to pick up on somebody’s relationship anxiety, their attachment anxiety, in a very brief interaction,” she said. “So can we predict whether this relationship will have legs, whether it will have a future? Probably not, but we might be able to weed out some people whose anxiety might prevent them from having a good relationship with us.”

In addition, Smith said quick interactions can give people a sense of physical attraction and even immediate emotional attraction based on how it feels to talk to a potential partner.

On a deeper psychological level, she said people at speed dating events are probably thinking about reciprocity of liking. is idea is that people tend to like those who like them.

“Speed dating is very strategic, right?” she said. “You have little time, you’ve got to gure out how to make these choices, and so our brains are going into high strategic, albeit