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                         July 26, 2002

Summer pleasures: Fun in the sun

Story and photo by Kathy Eastwood
Staff Writer 

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are upon us. Kids are out of school and underfoot, but not to worry because there are plenty of summer activities for kids here.

The Child Development Center, Community Recreation Center and Youth Services are all involved in summer activities for kids, with all sorts of fun and games to keep youths busy during the long, hot summer months. There are bowling parties, crafts, playgrounds and horseback riding available for the kids to enjoy.

Given the excessive heat this summer, it’s no wonder that Delafield Pond is a very busy place this season as are Bull Pond, Round Pond and Lusk Reservoir.

"When we have the sports camps going on, Delafield Pond can get very busy," said Alton Lee, a sports specialist. "Every couple of hours there are 30 or 40 kids coming here to swim."

At Delafield, kids can enjoy swimming, peddling on a water bike, a water trampoline and a dock. There is a kiddy pool where the wee ones can splash about and there are water slides and diving boards for the older kids.  There is a game room where folks can test their skills at pinball or shoot down alien spacecraft.  

The majority of the kids, however, are more interested in the water, either in or lounging around it.

Joey Cipollini, enrolled in the hockey camp here liked "hanging out" with his friends on the lounge chairs. His blue lips told of the blue-iced drink he was enjoying rather than hypothermia. A counselor at one of the sports camps, wondered if there should be less work and more play for counselors as he watched his charges play in the water. 

Nervous moms could be seen tentatively lowering their baby into the drink for the first time. Kathy French, mom of not quite one-year old Annemarie French sat close by with a hand at the ready. "I don’t know how she’ll react to this," she said.

A visiting grandfather could be seen catching his grandchildren going down a slide that was disguised as an elephant, while grandma took pictures. Summer fun has changed with the times. We certainly have come a long way from the old swimming hole where there was just a rope, a tree and an old tire.