The Great Bend Recreation Commission is offering seventh- and eighth-grade basketball for the first time this fall. Sports Director Chris Umphres said enrollment has begun for boys and girls, and will continue for two weeks.
The Rec Commission decided to add the sport because Great Bend Middle School dropped its intramural basketball this year, switching to team tryouts where not every student makes the cut. GBRC already offered sixth-grade basketball.
“We’ll run it like a normal league,” Umphres explained at the GBRC Board meeting on Monday. Parents will be needed to serve as coaches, he added.
The board heard the 2013-14 audit report from Vickie Dreiling with Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball, Chtd., and approved the audit. It was a clean audit and Dreiling said she had few recommendations for the board. “The staff was great to work with,” Dreiling said.
There was a 10-minute executive session for the discussion of personnel.
GBRC Executive Director Diann Henderson said the Rec offered 1,610 hours of supervised activities for the month of October. There were 3,237 enrollments and 11,078 acts of participation, of which 4.575 were spectators.
Some of the most popular October activities for special needs were bowling and the Halloween dance, with 159 and 90 participants, respectively. This Friday special needs will have their annual Thanksgiving dance with the band Freelance performing. Participants will also make decorations for a Christmas tree at the Barton County Historical Society Museum.
Megan Hammeke coordinates programs for special needs and for senior citizens. She said seniors attended Fit for Life classes 412 times in October. Three levels of Tai Chi instruction drew people about 245 times. Also popular were the Defensive Driving class and a program in which children sang at the Great Bend Senior Center.
The Senior Center’s Thanksgiving dinner is today, Hammeke said. And on Wednesday, Nov. 19, Great Bend USD 428 will serve coffee and cinnamon rolls at the Senior Center and children from each grade with sing, including the high school’s Madrigal Pops. It will be open to the public.
Leisure Program Coordinator Garet Fitzpatrick said 172 students attended the October middle school dance. Looking ahead, December will be a busy month, with programs during Christmas break, and Santa’s Workshop on Monday, Dec. 1. GBRC will also offer its annual Longest Tail Feather contest for pheasant hunters and its annual Snow Sculpture contest.
Henderson also announced that GBRC had received a $590 donation in memory of Nadine Dreiling, to be used for scholarships.