The Great Bend Recreation Commission Board voted Monday to transfer $400,000 to the GBRC Foundation for golf course improvements. In a separate action, the board approved employee handbook revision and followed that by approving $112,000 for wage appropriations for administrative, supervisory and seasonal staff, effective July 1.
The funding for the golf course was approved after a five-minute executive session under the justification “purchase, exchange or value of real property.”
There was also an executive session of about 25 minutes to discuss “personnel matters of non-elected personnel.” The handbook revisions were presented and discussed in that meeting, and approved – along with the wage appropriations – in open session.
The board also approved changing the date of its August meeting from Aug. 10 to Aug. 24, to coincide with the annual budget and revenue-neutral rate (RNR) hearing. Meetings are at 4 p.m. at the Carl Soden Recreation Center, 1214 Stone St., and are typically on the second Monday of each month.
Enrichment reports
Garet Fitzpatrick, Enrichment/Activity Center director, reported that May’s “Tractor Time” family program was postponed due to rain and will be July 29.
Fish tagged by the Kansas Wildlife & Parks Department were released locally, with 20 fish at Stone Lake and 20 at Vets Lake. Five fish from Stone Lake and six from Vets Lake have been caught and tags turned in so far. Anyone who catches a tagged fish needs to take a photo of the fish and themselves and email it to gfitzpatrick@gbrec.net, along with the tag number. Participant will receive an email back about how to collect a prize. Prizes include gift cards, fishing tackle, outdoor gear and more, provided by the Great Bend Rec.
After taking those steps, participants can cut the tag off and release the fish or keep it. Participants must follow Kansas licensing requirements for fishing.
Megan Hammeke, Enrichment, Aquatic, Marketing director, noted that swimming lessons began on June 1. The first session ends Thursday and the second session runs June 15-25.
Sports
Shane Sandberg, Sports director, said KSHSAA (Kansas State High School Activities Association) decided to move all state baseball and softball games to Wichita and Lawrence this year, so Great Bend did not get the opportunity to host 2-1A state baseball as it has for several years. “We will explore the opportunity again if KSHSAA decides on changing the format in the future.”
Another change happened with the Challenger Sports Soccer Camp that normally runs the first week of June.
“Because we have so many things starting in the first week in June, I asked Challenger if we could move to week 2,” Sandberg said. “That decision helped ease the stress of moving around events with the rain during the first week of June. And the Challenger coaches will be in town to coincide with the start of the World Cup! We have 25 kids registered. That number is much bigger than in the last few years. We were also able to find a host family for the coaches. Thank you to Nicole Hertel and family.”
He also reported that blast ball and tennis programs are running this summer, and Doug Kaiser held Jr Golf lessons at the Lake Barton golf course and Barton Community College driving range. Adult slow pitch softball has 11 teams.
The Rec hosted a Hap Dumont tournament with 33 teams at the Sports Complex at the end of May. A few games were played at Vets Park.
Attendance
Business Director Joe Henry reported 2,233 people were enrolled in programs sponsored by the Rec Commission in May. Total participation for the month was 10,792, of which 3,525 were spectators. For the month, a total of 1,638 hours of supervised activities were offered.
