Director’s Message

Molly Keays Director of Parks & Recreation

A Message from Molly Keays

I am thrilled to join the Town of South Windsor as the new Director of Parks & Recreation.

During the last six months this role has been an energizing experience. I may have come in during the pandemic, but the drive and optimism that the Parks & Recreation team has had to offer the quality programs for the community has been unparalleled. In this message, I am going to be sharing some of the exceptional things that your Parks and Recreation department has done along with some information on our upcoming events! If you see me at any programs or events, please come say hi!

What has been happening in the 06074!

Our department was excited to add the Farmers’ Market to our list of programs! The Farmers’ Market is now located at 220 Nevers Road, and has been growing steadily each week this summer! The community helps support local by attending our market on Saturday’s to enjoy the local vendors, food, and live music! A generous donation from the South Windsor Mom’s Club assisted us in starting the Power of Produce (POP) program at the market. This program helps support youth agricultural and nutrition education. Come say hi to us on Saturday’s through September 11 from 9-1pm! Weekly updates about our Farmers’ Market can be found on our website.

The department was pleased to open Veterans Memorial Pool (VMP) to full capacity this summer! There may be a nationwide lifeguard shortage, but your Parks & Recreation department was one of the few municipal pools that were able to operate at full hours! I want to give a huge thank you to all of our VMP staff for making this possible. Don’t forget, if you have a dog who loves to swim, join our VMP staff at our annual Doggy Dips event on Tuesday, August 31! Check out our website for more information. Our Summer Concert Series kicked off with great success on June 24! We had several rain storms interrupt our schedule, but that didn’t stop us from being flexible and adaptable! We were so eager to offer the community the opportunity to gather together to enjoy live music again! Between using a few rain dates and then receiving a few perfect evenings, it was a pleasure to offer our series again for 2021! A big thank you to our staff, the Promenade Shops at Evergreen, our sponsors, and performers for making the concert series a success!

This summer was a bit different than in the years past, so in order to ensure the safety of our campers and staff, we offered an amended summer camp for 2021. Even though we needed to modify our camp programs again this summer, we sure didn’t hold back on the FUN! We had a summer full of fun with theme days, camp songs, games, and even a visit from our Fire Department! Camp Evolution was able to enjoy weekly field trips to the pool on Friday’s! We truly have the best staff that made this summer another transformational one for our youth!

I would also like to take a moment to recognize and thank our Parks crew for all of their hard work after Storm Elsa! They spent days cleaning up storm damage, and this was on top of their normal job duties. With their hard work and dedication, they cleared out over 150 trees. We appreciate all that the crew does to keep our parks and open space clean and safe!

Meet Jennifer Filer:

I am pleased to welcome Jennifer Filer as the new Assistant Director of Parks & Recreation! Jen joined the team on June 30, 2021 and she jumped right into the action! She is coming to the Town with over fifteen years of municipal recreation experience. Most recently, she was a Program Supervisor for the Town of Suffield, CT. Jennifer displays positive energy, enthusiasm, and passion for recreation daily and we are so excited to have her join our team!

What else is new in the 06074?

We are going to be hosting Your First Mud Run event on September 19, 2021 at Rye Street Park! This will be a two-mile family friendly course that has sixteen obstacles including the mud pit! Put together a team or come with friends and have a ton of fun on a safe, but challenging course! For more information, check out our website or register at www.yourfirstmudrun.com

The courts at Rye Street Park will have a new look by the Spring of 2022! We have started to work on our new pickleball and dek hockey courts project. We will be replacing the current tennis courts with eight pickleball courts on the left and a dek hockey arena on the right. Once this is complete, we will have even more ways to engage in recreation!

Also keep a look out for some of our upcoming preschool programs! We are excited to offer our residents some fun for your little one with our classes. Our unique programs offer a place where they can have some fun with friends reading stories, singing songs, and making works of art!

The Parks & Recreation department is also excited to be offering youth basketball again this winter! We are working with our local health department and Board of Education to ensure we are following guidelines to provide safe and high-quality youth programs. Flip through this brochure to find more information regarding basketball this fall!

We are excited bring back some of our traditional activities this fall that the community has grown to love over the years. We are ready to continue to create more transformational opportunities for all individuals in our community to engage in recreation!

Jennifer Filer

VMP Staff

Summer Concert Series