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Young people enjoyed playpark season

Estevan’s Playparks proved to be a draw with young people in the community this year. The playparks season wrapped up Tuesday with swimming and crafts at the Hillcrest Park.
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Estevan’s Playparks proved to be a draw with young people in the community this year.

The playparks season wrapped up Tuesday with swimming and crafts at the Hillcrest Park. Hillcrest was open for several extra days after the other two parks open this year, Rusty Duce and Hillside, wrapped up their seasons on Aug. 21. 

Erin Wilson, the program manager for the City of Estevan, said they had good attendance this year. Each park offered crafts in the morning and swimming in the afternoon for the days that they were open.  

“It was definitely a little bit different, so we’re really happy that we were able to provide some fun and some entertainment for a lot of kids and families in the community,” said Wilson.  

The playparks program was able to provide a fun environment for families, while keeping people safe and following provincial guidelines.

Education was a big component of why this year’s program was so successful. Park staff helped families understand what they could allow and they reminded families they were in control of their own behaviour.

Under public health guidelines, the playparks program has a ratio of swimmers to staff that the city has to follow for the paddling pools, but this year it was stricter with fewer people allowed in the pools.

“We also tried to take advantage of the fact that we were outside, so instead of having to do crafts indoors, we were able to … give the activities and the supplies to families, and then they would be able to find themselves … hopefully a nice spot on the grassy area, and then they were able to participate.” 

Everybody seemed to have a smile on their face while at the playparks, and Wilson took that as a sign they were doing their best with the situation. Everybody was very understanding and kind throughout the season.  

The playpark program had a co-ordinator in Cassidy Reich and three play leaders in Madison Flaman at Hillside, Nyla Dyck is at Rusty Duce and Charlotte Andrist at Hillcrest.  

“I am so proud and impressed with the young ladies that we had in our program, leading the community in a lot of these activities,” said Wilson. “We were using the staff that we had, instead of hiring on summer students, which is very different for us, so all three of our playpark leaders this year were brand new.”  

Wilson believes it was important to have the playparks season this year, because they wanted to take advantage of the outdoor spaces being accessible, and to provide a sense of normal for young people and families. 

“They needed to be able to get out, burn off some energy, get some sunshine and not feel cooped up,” said Wilson.