With summer in full swing, the City of Colusa is raising awareness of the benefits of parks and recreation as an essential community service.
The City Council on Tuesday declared July as “Parks Make Life Better Month,” a California Park and Recreation Society’s public awareness campaign during National Parks and Recreation Month, intended to inform citizens of the importance of access to local parks, open space, and recreation facilities.
“Parks and recreation promotes physical, emotional, and mental health and wellness through organized and self-directed fitness, play, and activity,” said Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Vaca, who read the proclamation Tuesday at the request of the Colusa Parks, Recreation and Tree Commission.
Colusa is in its second year of enhanced recreation programming, which includes youth and adult activities.
But it’s Colusa’s parks that reflect and celebrate community character, heritage, culture, history, aesthetics, and landscape.
“There are no bad parks in Colusa,” said Elizabeth Yerxa, chair of the Colusa Tree, Park and Recreation Commission.
Colusa has seven parks and the town pool, which the Commission recently evaluated for their state of the parks report to the City Council.
The commission is working with city officials on expanding facilities, including a portable Pickleball court to measure the interest in the racket sport, which was created by combining elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong.
The highlight of Colusa’s recreation program this summer has been swimming.
Improvements made to the pool this year, including the addition of new shade sails, which Commission members said were a “stroke of genius” and looked fantastic, has boosted participation in swimming, both public and private use.
“We had the county health department walk through last Wednesday on the pool,” said Interim Recreation Director Sadie Ash, at the Commission’s July 13 meeting. “We got compliments on how good the pool looked, and I learned that shade was one of the recommendations that they had given us. They really like how we did it, how we implemented it, and how we have it.”
This summer, thanks to the sponsorships received from many community members and members of the City Council, the city has been able to serve more people and present 11 Free Swim Days, with several more planned before the close of Public Swim on Aug. 19.
Ash said this season, to date, the city pool has had an average daily attendance of 86.5 kids for public swimming, which is about double the amount the city previously served. Colusa’s Swim Team, the Cyclones, had about 100 participants this year and will end their season in competition next week.
To celebrate National Park and Recreation Month, the City of Colusa will host a Kids Field Day in Veterans Memorial Park, from 6-6:30 PM on July 28, right before the Concert in the Park.
Activities will include tug-a-war, Duck Duck Goose, sack races, and more.
According to the city’s proclamation, city parks and recreation programs create memorable experiences through youth sports and enrichment activities.
“Parks and Recreation support human development and endless learning opportunities that foster social, intellectual, physical, and emotional growth in people of all ages and abilities,” Vaca said. ■