Summer rec programs cautiously set to start

Most of the Flathead Valley’s Parks and Recreation departments haven’t given up on hosting summer recreation programs this year in spite of the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the anticipated summer programs for children and adults are still set to start up in June, with a few changes in place to ensure participants’ safety.

“We’re still offering most of our programming that we typically do in the summer, some is just looking a little different,” explained Liz Records, the recreation coordinator for Whitefish Parks and Recreation.

Whitefish hopes to start its summer recreation programs June 15 at City Beach, with smaller groups, a more limited schedule and fewer activities than normal.

“There’s such a wide variety of unknowns and fears across the valley,” Records recognized. “But we want everyone to know we are hopeful to have a fun summer.”

The Whitefish programs moved from an indoor to an outdoor camp in an effort to maximize the possibility for social distancing. The camp will run on a half-day schedule instead of the usual full-day setup, and camp will run Monday through Thursday this year. There will be a limit on the number of participants allowed to register, and the children will be separated into small groups. There won’t be any field trips this summer, either, but Records said they do hope to add more morning recreation programs due to the new limits.

She pointed out that despite these new obstacles, the summer recreation programs will still be a much-needed resource for families looking for summer childcare, and the Whitefish Parks and Recreation Department is committed to finding ways to safely meet that need.

IN KALISPELL, Parks and Recreation Director Chad Fincher has a similar approach for programming.

“We are working on making some refinements in order to provide social distancing,” he explained. These refinements include large canopy tents to keep campers spread out, outdoors; maintaining small, separated groups; and enforcing different entry points for each group.

The Kalispell programs have also canceled their field trips, but Fincher said they are looking into alternatives to bring the field-trip experiences to the campers at Woodland Park.

One big question mark that remains, however, is the future of Woodland Park pool this summer. Fincher explained there is a lot of gray area about whether the facility is considered a pool or a water park under Gov. Steve Bullock’s guidelines, which determines when and how the attractions can reopen.

The lap pool, at least, has the go-ahead to reopen at 75% capacity, probably around June 17. But it’s unclear whether the other parts of the pool—like the slide and the Lazy River—will have the permission or the staffing to follow suit.

Fincher reported swimming pool facilities across the state are struggling to meet their staffing needs this summer, and he emphasized all of the hoped-for plans at Woodland Park Pool are far from set in stone at this point.

“Everything’s fluid right now,” he noted.

Columbia Falls’ Pinewood Park pool, meanwhile, is set to open on June 15, but the leadership there also has a lot of questions to answer before opening day. They are still determining whether the pool will operate at 50% capacity—about 113 swimmers—or a maximum of 50 people, City Manager Susan Nicosia told the Hungry Horse News.

The locker rooms will also be closed and toys won’t be provided for swimmers, but guests can still use the public bathrooms and an outdoor shower.

CHILDREN WON’T be the only ones affected by adjustments at local summer programs. The Flathead County Parks and Recreation Department hopes to continue to hold its adult softball and volleyball leagues this summer, with softball scheduled to start on June 8 and volleyball slated for sometime later in June.

However, Amanda Davey at the county Parks and Rec Department said the programs, particularly the softball league, will require a few added regulations to keep everyone safe at the games.

Some of the changes seem relatively easy to implement, like sanitizing balls in between innings, requiring rosters at the start of the season for the purposes of contact tracing, and limiting each field capacity to 50 people.

Other restrictions, however, have been harder to break to the players, Davey admitted. They are encouraging players to avoid high-fiving, shaking hands after games, spitting, smoking or chewing anything, including gum. She explained the saliva from all of these activities poses a big risk for players, their families and the Parks and Recreation staff.

She urges coaches and team captains to step up to keep their teams safe and responsible.

Games will also be limited to an hour and 15 minutes at a maximum and the drinking fountain at the facility has been turned off for the summer.

Davey added they hope to start up children’s T-ball in August, but right now they feel that program would be too hard to run with the necessary precautions.

She is nervous but hopeful for the outcomes of the summer seasons. “It’ll be interesting,” she added.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.