St. John Parks department outlines summer events as camp attendance surges

Recreation and program director Ren Arvinitis outlined the parks department’s upcoming event schedule at the July 21 meeting, including a car show with musical act 51 Lincoln on Aug. 21 (6–9 p.m.), Movie in the Park on Aug. 7 at Prairie West showing Zootopia 2, and the annual Touch a Truck event on Aug. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a sensory hour from 11–12. Arvinitis also described a partnered pickleball-and-Pilates event run with Embodied Movement and said another sunset Pilates class is scheduled for July 29 at Lake Hills.

Arvinitis highlighted participation figures for summer camp: "We are at 572, which is an 84% increase in registrants from last year to this year," she said, noting the department shortened rotations and added dynamic activities to the curriculum. The board encouraged continued promotion of events and staff noted logistical changes such as announcing car-show winners at 7 p.m. to streamline the evening.