6.0. PRSR 10-09-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lion's Den 1996 Program Summary • Special event nights were held every other Friday. Special events were well-received with as many as 70 youth in attendance at one time. A variety of special event activities were offered such as barbecues, pizza party, water slides, bike obstacle courses and relays,disc jockey,air guitars, frisbee golf and sports games, snow cones, popcorn and game night, outdoor movie and popcorn in the park. Day to day activities at Lion's Park included arts and crafts,sports games, board games,foosball, skateboarders stopping by to demonstrate a few tricks, parents stopping in to see what projects their kids were working on,and the youth gathering and hanging out on their bicycles and working on community service projects. We encouraged the youth to become involved and offer ideas to make the Lion's Den a fun place to be and to hang out with friends. Community members contributed to the success of the Lion's Park programs by donating a foosball table, carpeting, movie posters (from Elk River Theatres), and T.V.(for educational programs). In just a short period of time,the youth really looked forward to the daily programs and to seeing us everyday and consequently would be eagerly waiting for us outside"The Lion's Den"as we drove up to the park. Each day,we worked on teaching the youth the true meaning of respect,good sportsmanship, and how to get along with others. On a daily basis ,we would visit the youth and see what their program interests for that particular day and offer the youth various choices. The youth learned how to build bird houses, paddleboats,sailboats,wind chimes, etc. For example: Upon completion of the sailboats(after sanding, assembling and painting)we sailed the boats in the pond. The youth were so excited to see •their colorful boats floating by. The youth took a lot of pride in sanding and painting the picnic tables at Lion's Park,cleaning up the litter in the park, and pitching-in on a daily basis with the clean up of"The Lion's Den". Through these community service projects,the youth acquired a new respect for Lion's Park and "The Lion's Den". The youth became very protective of their new hang out/ gathering spot when it came to witnessing other park users littering, neglecting the park, etc. The youth showed a sincere interest and willingness to work on future community service projects as well. In late August 1996,and end of the season barbecue was held for the youth along with the Community Recreation staff and the Lions. The youth, parents,the Community Recreation Staff and a few Lion's stopped by for a fun-filled evening of free hot dogs, pop and chips,frisbee and sports games,foosball,skateboard demos,friendly conversation, etc. The feedback from the youth was extremely positive on the Community Recreation Program at Lion's Park. Overall I believe the recreation programs at Lion's Park had a positive impact and influence on the youth of Elk River lives. The future holds endless possibilities for the Lion's Park area. Through the eyes of the youth,they envision a paved ice arena for in- line skating/Hockey/Skateboarding, larger special events with even more activities,frisbee golf course to name a few of their ideas. •