Imagination Playground open Wednesday
Smaller children will have a chance to try out the Great Bend Recreation Commission’s Imagination Playground this Wednesday, Oct. 16. The playground will be set up inside the Great Bend Activity Center, 2715 18th St., from 9-11 a.m.
GBRC Program Coordinator Garet Fitzpatrick said this free drop-in activity is recommended for children ages 2 years and older, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. The Imagination Playground is a set of oversized blocks and connecting parts, designed for unstructured play. “Bring your little ones to the Great Bend Activity Center and let their imagination run wild,” he said.
The Great Bend Recreation Commission is accepting applications to fill a future vacancy on its board of directors, Executive Director Diann Henderson said Monday.
The position will be for an at-large member who will take the place of Leonard Kaiser, once his term ends on Dec. 31. Having served two consecutive terms for eight years, Kaiser is not eligible to be reappointed to this position. He has actually been a board members for close to 17 years, although not all consecutively, Kaiser said. Twice he was appointed to fill out the unfinished terms of people who were moving from the area.
Henderson said applications will be accepted until the end of October, so that board members may vote on Kaiser’s replacement at the November meeting. Applications are available at the Rec Commission office, 1214 Stone St., or on the website, www.greatbendrec.net.
Kaiser, the board vice chairman, said the recreation commission “makes a big impact in people’s lives. It did mine, when I was a kid in Hays.”
At Monday’s meeting, the GBRC Board voted to rescind all job descriptions previously approved by the board in the Employee Handbook, and to recognize that the creation of job descriptions is a procedure carried out by staff, not a policy of the commission. Henderson said staff have been reviewing all of the job descriptions for seasonal, part-time and temporary employees. In piecemeal fashion, some were approved as policy items and others were appointed by supervisors as procedure items.
“Many of (the job descriptions) we had in the past were outdated,” Henderson said. There are 165 “pay codes” for possible jobs, although in the updated handbook she combines some descriptions. For example, basketball officials, softball officials and other sports officials have similar responsibilities. Pay ranges have been added to the revised job descriptions, and will be added to descriptions that didn’t need to be revised. This information will serve as a tool for recruiting future employees, and can also help with their job evaluation.
The board also approved rules for fall sports, with only one change from last year. Sports Director Chris Umphres said the youth basketball coaches requested the change. In youth basketball games where one team is ahead by 12 or more points, the clock will run continuously during the final 2 minutes, except during time outs.
