Ponca City RecPlex

Story and Photos by Chelsea McConnell/Staff Writer Parks and Recreation Director Eric Newell introduces staff members Morgan Bonnarens and Ryan Hafen, saying, “they are the ones that make recreation happen.” After speaking with the trio at length, it’s clear that they make it happen in our community in pretty impressive ways. Morgan is the Recreation Coordinator and Ryan is the Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation. Eric’s vision and goal as far as recreation in Ponca City is to “offer things from seniors to kids. We try to offer whatever we can to provide recreation opportunities for everybody.” Morgan and Ryan help bring this vision to life.

According to the City’s website, The RecPlex, now operated by the Parks and Recreation Department, is a “24 million dollar, 79,000 square foot facility and is a valuable resource for the Ponca City community that is unmatched. Features include numerous indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities for everyone.” These include but are not limited to stateof-the-art strength and cardio equipment, family pool with a spiral water slide, six lane 25-yard competition lap pool, racquetball courts, 40-foot rock climbing wall, program studios, fitness classes for all ages, basketball courts and a supervised KidZone.

Each month Ponca City Main Street features one of its long-time investors. It is through the support of our valued investors that we can continuously improve the heart of Ponca City by attracting and promoting merchants and visitors to our downtown.

We recently had the opportunity to visit with Ryan Austin, president of First National Bank of Oklahoma – Ponca City, about the bank’s history and community engagement throughout the years. First National Bank has had a presence in Ponca City for more than 100 years and currently has locations in Ponca City, Tonkawa and two branches in Oklahoma City. Although the bank’s name has changed over the years, the bank’s values remain the same - provide service with integrity and be community minded. Ryan, who’s been with First National Bank for 17 years, credits the bank’s long history of success with customer interaction, service and satisfaction. Internally, the bank strives to maintain a culture to ensure employees are happy Ryan Austin and successful so they can provide positive and helpful service to customers. Ryan has a unique and direct experience with community involvement as he served as a city commissioner for six years ending his tenure in March 2021. As a commissioner, he saw first-hand the important work of Main Street. Main Street’s work to grow and revive downtown has a direct correlation with the City’s goal of attracting new people to Ponca City. Ryan enjoys the blend of historic buildings with modern elements that are featured throughout our downtown. He’s also pleased our downtown has maintained its charm with most buildings occupied by small businesses, not chains.

First National Bank’s vision is to give back to the community. Many employees are active through nonprofit boards and other volunteer efforts. The bank provides monetary and volunteerism support to organizations and events such as the Community Health Foundation, school boosters, Cherokee Strip Golf Classic, Friendship Feast and of course Main Street among many other organizations and events. It’s important to the bank to work closely, shoulder-to-shoulder in the community with the people they serve.

OUR MISSION is to serve Ponca City and its citizens by promoting quality of life through the revitalization of downtown. Our Vision is to make downtown the heart of our community! Our Transformation Strategies are Arts & Entertainment and Community Connection.

More impressive than the things listed above is the programming created and planned by Morgan and Ryan on a regular basis. These two are constantly learning, researching and paying attention to national trends to keep our local facility up to speed with popular recreational activities. New last year, Ryan brought E-Sports to the facility. Ryan describes E-Sports as “using gaming consoles to compete in games like Fortnite where you’re in a [virtual] lobby with multiple players and you play either a one-on-one tournament or a team tournament. It’s all conducted online with our systems here.” Last fall this looked like the RecPlex hosting Fortnite Fridays inviting players to come test their Fortnite skills on the RecPlex’s new PlayStation 5 consoles in preparation for tournaments. Price to play is only $10, and also provides kids with a safe and fun place to spend Friday night.

The RecPlex hosts Kids Night Out each month. This is an opportunity for parents to enjoy a date night from 5-10 p.m. while their kids are treated to all the kid friendly fun the facility has to offer like the trampoline court and the swimming pools. These nights also include craft time and dinner. At a fee of $35, for the whole evening, Kids Night Out is a win for kids and parents alike. Family activities like Movies on the Lawn are held in the fall each year. These are free to the public and feature a family friendly film on the beautiful lawn area on the northwest corner of the facility.

For the new year, the RecPlex is hosting their annual Healthy Fitness Challenge. Morgan explains, “Each physical activity or any type of healthy thing that participants do throughout the day, they can just snap a picture and send it to the number.” Points are tallied for each activity and healthy choice made throughout Participants with the most points win a prize. “It’s just snapping a picture. It’s healthy meals, protein shakes, things like that.” The Healthy Fitness Challenge is a great way to motivate yourself to make good decisions as we start this new year. You can find more information on the RecPlex website about this year’s challenge and the phone number where you can send pics of your healthy choices.

Some of the other activities offered throughout the year include the Murph Challenge, Pottery for Adults, Dodgeball League, Youth & Adult Clay Classes, Youth Volleyball Camp, Paint Nights, Glass Fusing Classes, Youth Stage Acting, Youth Basketball Camp, Intro to Theatre Camp, Art Camp and Space Camp. Ryan explains they aim to offer all types of

recreational activities.

Because sports are a big part of what happens at the RecPlex, they’ve made being a spectator more accessible. Ryan shares, “We recently partnered with a group called LiveBarn that will stream all of our youth competitions. We’ve got video cameras in both basketball courts. When we play our youth leagues [this month], if you have a grandparent or a relative that can’t come to a game, they can get on the app and watch the game on their phones or their computers. Our pool is also equipped with that, so any of our high school

The RecPlex also offers classes and trainings. Their Safe Sitter class teaches “safety skills, childcare skills, first aid and rescue skills, and life and business skills.” Lifeguard certification classes are also held throughout the year and are particularly popular in the spring as young adults prepare for summer jobs. Morgan shares that the RecPlex hosts multiple classes per month in the spring since they are the go-to facility for certification in our area. “We try to give everybody the option to get their certifications because we not only certify our lifeguards, we’ve got the local places around here that have guards and also Tonkawa, Blackwell, and Ark City.” Entry level SCUBA certification classes are held at the facility as well.

On top of all the bonus activities in the rotation, the RecPlex offers over 60 fitness classes each week with a schedule that is updated monthly. Classes include high-intensity interval workouts, water aerobics, spin, weight training, boxing, yoga, pickleball and more. According to Eric, “we are always trying to reinvent ourselves” and they love new ideas. Eric and his team are enthusiastic about suggestions from the public. They truly want to bring our community things we want. As a result of one of these suggestions, they’ve recently added a tae kwon do class.

The RecPlex also subscribes to Studio SWEAT OnDemand. This streaming service helps them fill the needs their members have that sometimes can’t be accommodated in a community our size. While they would love to offer every type of class every member wants to take, it’s just not possible without instructors. Studio SWEAT has amazing Spin, TRX, Yoga, Bootcamp, Pilates, Barre and tons of other classes. The instructors for these classes are demanding and motivating and promise to give any willing and hardworking participant an excellent workout. There are thousands of classes offered through the service. This gives members the opportunity to make their workout their own. Eric explains that with Studio SWEAT, “We can make it into whatever you need it to be. If you need a Pilates class at 1:30, we’ll offer a Pilates class at 1:30 in the afternoon. We can actually

As we cut the ribbon on a brand-new year,A Time to Share our Gratitude we hope it brings you joy and prosperity. As we welcome another Thanksgiving, we welcome the opportunity to thank our good friends and customers here in the community for their support and trust in us. Folks like you make every day special. If buying a new vehicle is in your plans for 2023,

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program it to where every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we can have a Pilates session starting at 1:30 in the big studio. If you can’t come at five o’clock in the morning for a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) class, but you drop your kids off and you want to come to work out at 8:15, I can set up a HIIT class for you at 8:15.” Eric goes on to explain this could be a great feature for stay-at-home-moms, particularly with the KidZone available. “You can get three or four or five of your friends together. You guys all drop your kids off and we’ll set up a class for you all. You can go have a great time.” Memberships gaining our citizens access to this massive facility and all its benefits range from $35-50 per month for adults and households and grant members access to all the facility has to offer. Memberships include discounts on many specialty classes as well. Staff also works with various insurance providers that help pay for memberships for senior citizens. If you’re curious if your insurance offers assistance, ask someone at the front desk today. While some of these extra activities do include a fee, thanks to the generosity of Phillips 66, the RecPlex offers a Youth Scholarship Program. If students can show “Proof of Need” they pay only $15 for any youth sport or program.

If you haven’t visited the RecPlex since Eric and his team have taken over, it’s definitely time to make the trip. This facility has so much to offer our community! For More Information: parkandrec@poncacityok.gov or call 580-767-0430 