Many have asked what will the Bridgton Recreation Department be doing moving forward during this odd time?

Rec Director Gary Colello on Friday posted the following Covid-19 update:

“On March 18, 2020 the Recreation Department suspended all in person programing as well as closed the Town Hall. On April 30, Governor Mills extended the ‘Stay Safer at Home’ order, #49, through May 31, 2020. Using the recommendations provided by the Governor’s Office, the Recreation Department has created plans moving forward through the summer months in regard to town programming.

Athletics: With regret the Town of Bridgton Recreation Department will suspend all town-sponsored athletic competitions, practices and clinics. The suspension of Town of Bridgton sponsored athletic activities will remain suspended until the fall season or when the Town of Bridgton and its surrounding area is deemed in Stage 4 of the document ‘Restarting Maine’s Economy’ put out April 29, 2020 by the Governor’s Office.

Gathering of more than 50 people even in Stage 3 will still be prohibited, creating an inability for the Recreation Department staff to enforce this policy at our athletic fields, therefore can create risk for community outbreak.

Registered participants and their families will be refunded in full and money will be sent by check to the address provided on the registration forms. Refunds will start to be processed for all spring athletics early next week.

Fall athletics are still being planned with normal start dates, however the Recreation Department will monitor and continue to reassess new information as becomes available to determine if it is safe to return to play.

Spring Programs (Non-Athletic): Mad Science — Registered participants and their families will be refunded in full and money will be sent by check to the address provided on the registration forms.

Karate – Unless your family is currently participating in BKD online classes, registered participants and their families will be refunded in full and money will be sent by check to the address provided on the registration forms.

Run Club — The Recreation Department will monitor and continue to reassess new information as becomes available to determine if it is safe to return to play this fall.

Summer Swim Lessons: The Town of Bridgton Recreation Department will provide Red Cross Swim Lessons this summer starting June 22, 2020. Registration is open. We have always maintained small groups for swim lessons to ensure all of our participants have one on one instruction from our Water Safety Instructors (WSI). Most lessons have less than five participants per time slot with a WSI and high school-aged volunteer.

Staff will be provided with all proper sanitation needs. Staff will clean and disinfect all equipment after each lesson. Students will all have their own dedicated equipment in class. Swim Lessons will open to all ages that would like to participate, including adults. Lessons will run for seven weeks at Highland Lake and Woods Pond.

Summer Rec: The Recreation Department takes pride in offering a robust fun educational summer rec camp program for its community children. Plans were in place to start a new portion of summer rec for teens 13 to 15 years old. With input from statewide recreation departments, the Governor’s Office, the town manger’s office and other town personnel, the Recreation Department has made the following adjustments to Summer Rec Camp:

• Teen Summer Rec Camp will be suspended for the summer of 2020 with the intent to offer a full teen camp during the summer of 2021.

• Elementary School Summer Rec Camp will be provided to the community starting June 8, 2020 and will run through mid-August. Originally, the first week of Summer Rec was June 22, 2020. We are adding two weeks to our program to help parents return to work with a trusted staff and peace of mind their child is having fun with their friends, safely. Guidelines and checklist provided by the State of Maine for sanitation will be followed each day during Summer Rec. Several hand-washing stations will be installed in the Ice Rink for more accessible consistent hand washing, as well as the constant availably of the Town Hall restrooms.

• The Ice Rink and Town Hall will be the location for Summer Rec. K-2 grade participants will be reserved for one building and 3-6 grade participants will be reserved for the other. Summer Rec with creative scheduling will be designed around small groups with the same traditional activities we have always offered.

• Summer Rec will not attend any enrichment field trips outside of the Town of Bridgton for Summer 2020. Cost will remain the same per week, however field trips will be replaced with other activities such as STEM projects, arts and crafts, gardening, hiking, physical activity and cooking, to name a few.

• The Recreation Department is currently researching the ability have a certified nurse on staff at Summer Rec and Swim Lessons to ensure participants and staff are as safe as possible and all medical recommendations and precautions are followed.

• Scholarships are still available at this time, however space is limited. Scholarship applications are due no later than May 15, 2020. After the 15th, scholarship applications will only be accepted if there are funds available. We will work with all families, please contact us so we can help.

Town Hall: The Town Hall will remain closed to programming through mid-August to accommodate Summer Rec. Limiting the amount of people in the facility to maintain gatherings of under 50 is important to help protect citizens of any community outbreak.

The requirements needed to safely offer both adult programs and summer rec in the same facility were too large of a task for staff to maintain checklist standards consistently and effectively.

Programs currently offered online such as Senior Fitness (Jumping Janes) and others will still be available for those interested.

The health and safety of our participants are the upmost importance as we redesign our summer programs to fit state protocols and procedures. These decisions were not ideal for all the exciting plans we had for our community this spring and summer. Programs and events were planned and lined up to host several softball tournaments, the circus, exciting adult trips, enrichment trips for our campers and so much more. One thing will always remain, we are here to serve our families and friends with the best, fun, exciting, programming possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rec Director Gary Colello at 207-647-1126 or by e-mail at rec@bridgtonmaine.org.