Parkites know that spring has sprung when the annual PLAY Magazine shows up in their mailboxes.
The informational booklet, a collaboration of Park City Recreation and Snyderville Basin Recreation Department, has become known as a lifeline for parents looking for summer kids’ activities, for people planning events and for residents just looking to have fun.
The PLAY Magazine should arrive at most Park City and Snyderville Basin residences this week. As usual, the publication will be divided one side for Park City and one for the Basin and will include program details and listings for just about every leisure entity run by the local government.
Listings on the Park City Recreation side include, Park City Racquet Club, the Park City Library, the Park City Ice Arena and the Park City Golf Club and even has two pages on reserving community parks.
On the Basin side there are listings for the Basin Recreation Field House, camps and nearby parks and trails.
The look of the book will be similar to past years, but publication editor Michelle Stucker said it will be a lot more colorful and inviting. This year they are using full-color pictures to make things look more “fun and vibrant,” according to Stucker. Another new feature will be a tear-out calendar with a listing of all the programs, their deadlines, and the corresponding websites, for residents to stick on their fridges or in their briefcases.
“If you are on vacation, just tear off the top cover,” Stucker said. “That’s a cool improvement we did.”
There will also be more information about the programs at the Park City Ice Arena and detailed instructions on how to reserve a building, gymnasium or park area for public use.
“We’ve taken a lot of time to get that cleaned up,” Stucker said.
Although the PLAY Magazine lists all of the programs and activities for the coming year, the anticipation really revolves around the summer camps. Some of the most popular can fill up in the first week — some even on the first day. Last year, 500 kids were signed up for camps after the first day. Steve Shaw, a parent who is in his third year participating in skateboarding camp with his son, Aiden, said that on April 1 every year, the family gets primed to register and this year will be no different.
“You got to be ready,” Shaw said. “We’re prepared.”
With the current economic situation, recreation staff expects those numbers to stay high. According to Basin Recreation publication editor Justine Isleib, they have been careful to keep prices affordable.
“We’ve been thinking a lot about that,” Isleib said. “We’ve kept the camp rates the same.”
There are also scholarships available for youth activities for families that are really strapped. There will be a slight increase in gym-usage rates at the Basin Recreation Field House for adults, but Isleib said the cost difference is minimal.
She also expects that, with families cutting down on vacation, parents will be looking for even more ways to keep kids entertained locally over the summer.
The Basin Recreation side of the magazine will also follow a similar format to previous years. Just like Park City Recreation, there will be more pictures and bright colors, but the biggest change will be a section devoted to the National Ability Center’s adaptive-recreation programs, so that people of all abilities will be able to advantage of Park City’s recreational options. There will also be details on how to plan events using the Snyderville Basin’s facilities.
Both Isleib and Stucker advise people to sign up for summer programs as soon as possible and be mindful of deadlines. More sessions of the most popular camps have been added to give as many youth as possible a chance to participate, but space is still limited.
For those who did not receive a PLAY Magazine in the mail, copies can be picked up at the local locations listed above.