Summer activities in full swing at Dublin Park
Dublin Park will be a busy place this summer. With school out, the sports and activities are already underway as the Madison Parks and Recreation Department has a full range of activities to keep kids active and entertained during the week.
Program Director Kelly Johnson is in charge of the Summer Day Camp Program. She said that she had about 70 kids signed up so far and they are still accepting registrations.
The camp is open to kids in grades K-6.
The day begins and ends for campers on the basketball courts on the north end of the activity building. In between there is swimming two days a week, soccer, kickball, tennis, and playtime at kid’s kingdom.
She stressed that the basketball courts are reserved for the summer camp program from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The courts are open to the public between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and after 5:30 pm every weekday. The walking tracks, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts and soccer fields are all open to the public daily. The daily use fee is $3 for ages 11 and older.
Her staff of counselors works directly with the kids making sure they have fun and stay active.
Two of the counselors are recent graduates of Bob Jones High School, Madi Spurgeon and Rebekah Duvall. Both girls have been involved in sports for years and both played softball for the Lady Patriots.
“It’s great for me because I am working with kids and getting experience and getting paid,” said Spurgeon who will attend Jacksonville State University in the fall and major in elementary education. “We go with the kids to the soccer fields, kid’s kingdom, swimming pool, and here in the gym where we play games.”
The kids bring their own lunches except on Friday’s when everybody gets pizza.
Next week the sports camps start with tennis at the Dublin Tennis Center. The next week the soccer camps start with the AYSO Soccer camps and later in the summer the British Soccer Camp. Rocket City United players will come in and do a few days of instruction.
One event especially for the day campers is Olympic Day on June 28. Madison is one of the cities in Alabama selected to host this event.
“We are scheduled to have an Olympic athlete come here are give some remarks and we will have a little opening ceremony. Then our children here at the summer day camp will play games throughout the day and we will have a small award ceremony at the end,” said MPRD Event Coordinator Gayle Milam. “They gear it down to where it is similar to the Olympic Games but they scale it down to where kids can do it with equipment we have on site.”
Dublin Park will host other big events this summer such as the annual July 4th Celebration and Fireworks Display. This year it is titled Stars and Stripes Forever and will include a pageant, live bands, food vendors, and inflatable activities.
July is National Parks and Recreation Month and Milam will be organizing volunteer teams to spruce up over 30 neighborhood parks throughout Madison.
