Director’s Message

Molly Keays Director of Parks & Recreation

We are excited to mail out our spring and summer brochure to the 06074 community for the first time in over a year! Although the last few years have been a challenge for our community due to the ongoing global pandemic, your Parks & Recreation Department has continued to work diligently to offer programs for our community whether it be outdoors, indoors (socially distanced), or virtual. Our mission has remained the same - providing enhanced customer service and exceptional experiences through quality programs and facilities. We strive to remain that positive entity for our community. So, although we have had to adapt some programs, we still managed to run over 200+ recreational programs, maintain engagement via new social media and event options, and continue the regular care of all public parks, athletic fields, school grounds, open spaces, and public properties for our community. We have successfully continued to display pride in our people, parks, and programs throughout these challenging times. I am proud to work with such a dedicated, creative, and enthusiastic team of staff. ey have truly worked hard to ensure each community member in South Windsor had a form of recreation to participate in! is upcoming spring and summer, we hope that everyone comes out to experience one of our opportunities to recreate. Whether you join a sports league, attend our summer programs, walk our extensive trail systems, attend one of our signature concerts at Evergreen Walk, cool off at the Veteran’s Memorial Park pool, or shop local at our Farmers Market, there’s something for everyone!

What’s new in the 06074?

At our signature summer concert series, you will notice our shiny new Show Mobile stage! is new stage was made possible through cost-sharing with the South Windsor Rotary Club. e new stage will provide a higher-quality concert experience for our community!

We have started to work on our new pickleball courts and dek hockey arena project at Rye Street Park. We will be replacing the current tennis courts with eight pickleball courts on the left and a dek hockey arena on the right. Weather permitting, we anticipate that this project will be complete sometime this summer! Once it is complete, we will have a few new leagues and programs that will be made available for the community!

is summer at VMP, we will be launching a water safety program! During the height of the pandemic, public access to swim instruction was limited. We know that learning to swim and being safe in the water is an essential life skill. is year, we are providing access to swim lessons and water safety education to ensure the health and safety of our community. We will be offering special events and water safety education at the pool and around the community. Free or reduced fee swim instruction may be available for those who qualify. Check out our aquatics section for more information.

New Staff:

We have had changes to our full-time staff team over the last year. Please welcome Kyle Andolina as our new Athletics Recreation Supervisor! Kyle joined the team on January 3, 2022, replacing Ashley Casiano who moved on to a new job in the field. Kyle comes to us with high energy and extensive athletics and youth development experience. Kyle is looking forward to meeting our community members at various programs! We look forward to all of the awesome new opportunities he will bring to the community, like our adult corn hole league!

Within our Parks Division, please welcome Mark Hilton and Bryan McTeague, and Chris Martin! Mark and Bryan are our new Maintainers, and Chris is our new groundskeeper! Our new Parks staff come ready to ensure that all of our parks stay in the best condition possible! Make sure to say hello and thank you to our amazing crew for all the work that they do!

KYLE ANDOLINA

CHRIS MARTIN MARK HILTON

BRYAN MCTEAGUE

Wapping Parks and Recreation Facility Update:

To keep our community informed, we have an update regarding the Wapping Parks and Recreation Facility. Due to the increase in student population across the district, the Board of Education will need to utilize the Wapping School Building for high school operations beginning in July 2023.

How will this affect the Parks and Recreation Department?

As we will no longer be able to utilize the Wapping building, we will need to secure a new location for our department to serve as a permanent home. A permanent home is vital so we can continue to provide the Parks and Recreation programs, activities, and services that our community has come to know, expect and love!

To determine our next steps, we are proactively working with the Town Administration, the Town Council, and the Parks and Recreation Commission to create a Parks and Recreation Facility Planning and Implementation Committee. e purpose of the committee is to assist in identifying the recreational needs of the community (both passive and active), to identify various locations as possibilities, and to vet available locations for use based on factors such as programmatic needs, accessibility to residents, cost-effectiveness, and space for growth. e committee will then provide recommendations for our department’s relocation plans to the Town Council for approval to ensure we have a plan in place before July 2023. We encourage all residents that would like to support our Parks and Recreation Department to become involved in the planning and implementation process! To do so, please contact the Town Council, through email or by attending one of their meetings. Our community has always shown our department their encouragement, dedication, and positive feedback through the use of our parks and participation in our programs and events, and we truly appreciate you all!

What’s Happens in the Meantime?

Although we are unsure where our new home will be at this time, we do promise that we will continue to maintain our current high-quality programs, parks, events, and activities. As always, we remain steadfast in our commitment to South Windsor and to enhancing our community through these exceptional experiences.

To that end, we are excited to share with our community the abundance of fun, engaging ways to recreate this upcoming spring and summer. Whether you plan to enjoy some of our annual activities or wish to try one of our new offerings, the South Windsor Parks and Recreation Department has something for everyone!