Ottawa City Rec always looking for more patrons, new programs

Growing up in Grand Ridge, Dave Marvin knew what its like to have opportunities for summer fun and now, as the Ottawa City Recreation director, he’s working hard to provide more, better and, in some cases, tailored to fit activities for the youth of the Ottawa area.

Marvin and the City Rec staff are pleased with the participation their programs have seen so far this summer, but they’re encouraging the children and adults of Ottawa, Marseilles and Grand Ridge to not only take advantage of the existing programs but to also suggest new ones that would pique their interest and be fun for all.

“Back in my day at Grand Ridge, we had something called a Youth Council, put together by John Sutton for the kids in that town, and it was fun,” Marvin said. “We’re trying to bring that same fun to Ottawa.

“We’re really excited about our numbers for all our camps. A year ago, in the first year coming off the COVID years, we had around 600 participants, but this year we’re already up to 748 and, with some taking advantage of more than one program, they’ve filled 1,300 spots. We’re very pleased with the turnout we’ve had so far this summer, but we’d like to see even more. We encourage everyone to take part in more of them, in whatever draws their interest.”

Among the current new projects being conducted by City Rec are a pair of Monday morning camps, one for basketball and another for baseball.

The “Little Ballers Playground Workouts” basketball camp is being held free of charge at the East Side Park courts and has three of its four sessions left, on July 11, 18 and 25. Both boys and girls will be offered instruction from 9-9:45 a.m. for first graders, 10-10:45 a.m. for second graders and 11-11:45 a.m. for third graders. Campers can bring their own ball if they wish.

Among the City Rec staff members and coaches working the camp will be Serena Class 1A girls basketball all-state selection Katie Baker.

The “Little Sluggers Batting Cage Workouts” for baseball will be held at the Masinelli Field batting cages at the same times and dates as the basketball workouts.

Helping provide instruction there will be former Ottawa softball star Lauren Carlson and Serena baseball standout Ivan Stafford

“There are a lot of camps around and while we don’t want to take anything away from them,” Marvin said, “but that instruction is not cheap and maybe there are some kids who can’t afford those fees. This is a chance for them to get quality instruction from people who know the games.

“When you think of how many camps those local athletes have gone through and think of how many different drills they’ve learned, there’s a lot they can share with the younger kids to hopefully help them be better players. I felt like we needed to start utilizing the skills of our staff members and this is the perfect way for the kids to be active and improve their skills.”

But that’s not all. Also for the month of July, City Rec will also provide:

• The morning movie on Wednesday, July 6 at the Roxy Theater in Ottawa will be “Buzz Lightyear.” Admission is $2.

• A park picnic, in which participants can show up at their local park on July 13 and be bused to Peck Park for a day of food, drinks and games.

• A field trip to the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington on July 20.

• A carnival of games and prizes to held at Rigden Park on July 27. Game tickets will be 10 cents each. Drinks will be provided free of charge.

• Also on Mondays throughout the month (except for July 4), in an effort to provide cool relief with Ottawa’s Riordan Pool shut down, City Rec is supplying free bus transportation for kids ages 8-14 to the Marseilles swimming pool.

Those are, of course, in addition to youth baseball, softball and soccer and adult softball and basketball, plus a variety of other camps like art and photography. Perhaps a music camp could be added.

Marvin said that City Rec is also offering supervised parks in two new places this summer, in Marseilles and Grand Ridge. At those places, as in Ottawa’s parks, there will be staff members on hand to organize whatever games those showing up want to play.

Among the long-range projects for adults, City Rec is looking for people to help organize a men’s flag football league, a women’s volleyball league, disc golf leagues (for the new courses outlined at Thornton Park and Fox River Park) and perhaps even a pickleball league.

“If any adults in the community have an idea for a recreational program, please share it with us and we can probably work something out,” Marvin said. “We’re always open to new ideas. Just let us know and we’ll try to make it happen. We want everyone out of the house and participating in something.”

The new City Rec website can be found at https://ottawarecreation.org and lists all programs and sign-up forms. It can be contacted by email at cityrec@cityofottawa.org or by phone at 815-434-7292.