Parks & Recreation Fun Day to be held Saturday
A free family event will be held Saturday to help celebrate the National Park and Recreation Month with a slew of activities the Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department offers.
The Parks and Recreation Fun Day will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the William Bill Austen Youth Center, 315 SW 2nd Avenue.
“Parks and Recreation Fun Day is the perfect opportunity for people to discover some of the terrific recreation programs and amenities Cape Coral has to offer,” Coral Parks & Recreation Director Kerry Runyon said in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to present this free community event in celebration of National Parks and Recreation Month and hope everyone will make plans to join us at the Youth Center this Saturday.”
Cape Coral Parks & Recreation Marketing Coordinator Michelle Dean said with July being deemed National Parks and Recreation Month, they do something every year to celebrate and showcase what Cape Coral offers.
In years past the festivities have been held at the Cape Coral Yacht Club. When they decided to turn it into a special event, Parks & Recreation Fun Day, the destination changed to the Youth Center providing more room therefore showcasing more of what Parks and Recreation has to offer.
“We are able to include more community partners,” Dean said.
Partners will include the Cape Coral Police Department and its vehicles, the Fun Mobile and fire trucks.
“We are able to include our community partners in addition to showcasing the different facilities and recreation opportunities the Parks and Recreation offers.”
The celebration of Parks & Recreation is important because people get caught up in the busyness of their lives, she said, adding it is important to one’s health, and physical well-being to be active.
“Parks and Recreation month is a great time to highlight that. Instead of trying to do different activities at each of our facilities, it is better and easier for the public to bring all facilities to one convenient location,” she said.
This year the Rotary Club will provide a free hot dog lunch to everyone with a wrist band, and Kona Ice will provide a free ice drink. There will also be several prize packages provided during the event.
The event will feature the Rotary Park Environmental Center and some of their critters, a kids craft station with Four Freedoms Park, the Yacht Club and Sun Splash offering a water balloon toss at 11 a.m., Cape Coral Arts Studio doing an art project, as well as a putting green with Coral Oaks Golf Course.
Dean said there also will be a number of interactive activities because they are trying to get away from the old days of tables with information.
There will be a photo booth, chair massages, character visits, child finger printing and a blood mobile drive. She said anyone who donates blood that day will receive a free soft cooler as a thank you gift while supplies last. Individuals can sign up in advance to donate blood at www.oneblooddonor.org with sponsor code #39698.
“It’s really going to be a great event. There will be a little bit of something for everyone. We encourage people to come out even if they don’t have kids. It’s a good opportunity to remind people we are here and everything that they can do in their own backyard,” Dean said. “A lot of people don’t realize a lot of the opportunities are cheap, or free. July is a great time to be able to remind people about everything we have available in our community.”
Last year the event attracted almost 1,000 people to the family friendly event.
The current program guide of the Cape Coral Parks & Recreation is available at www.CapeParks.com.