Even via a drizzly Saturday afternoon, Athens’ neighborhood confirmed as much as have fun a historic milestone. Lay Park and Community Center has celebrated 50 years of service, energy and spirit by internet hosting a Family Fun Day on Aug. 2. The occasion included a free swimming space, a KidZone within the baseball discipline with inflatables and video games and a photograph sales space and video viewing space contained in the neighborhood heart.
Right on the entryway by the pool have been tables promoting Lay Park’s occasions and neighborhood companions. Erika Massie, the useful resource heart supervisor for Lay Park Resource Center, tabled for the Athens Regional Library System. She has watched Lay Park give again to the neighborhood via their summer time camps and occasions for all ages. Now, she closely enjoys working with youngsters to instill a love for studying at an early age.
“What’s really great about having an institution like Lay Park is that people walk away feeling really good about where they live,” Massie mentioned. “Whether it’s through crafting, through fitness, through a summer camp, a small activity, a big activity, just like having a conversation, they help people feel like they’re more connected to their neighbors.”
This occasion not solely celebrates the historical past of what Lay Park is but additionally what it’s turning into. A imaginative and prescient of a centralized house for recreation, training and neighborhood engagement plus a grant of $500,000 from the Model Cities Program led to the power opening its doorways in June 1975. Prior to the neighborhood heart opening, central Athens had lengthy gone underserved. Initially named Central Athens Community Center however was renamed to Lay Park in 1990 after Thomas N. Lay in honor of the person who served as superintendent of recreation for the Athens Parks and Recreation Department for 19 years.
During latest years and underneath the path of Lay Park’s facility and program supervisor Kelly Thomas, there was fixed evolution of assembly neighborhood wants. More applications have opened as much as teenagers, particularly “Go Beyond,” allocating for discipline journey experiences outdoors of Athens. There have additionally been technological enhancements together with the addition of touchscreen computer systems and gaming consoles in a brand new Teen Tech Lab.
“[Lay Park] basically gives the community a safe place to go, to be away and feel like this is a place to be and have a good time and be yourself, but also build skills as far as teamwork and being working with others,” Thomas mentioned.
Many distributors and native organizations got here out to assist the occasion. Classic City Pétanque have been current and educating folks on the sport. Food vehicles have been close to the baseball discipline that includes Baddies Burgers, Farmer’s Funnel Cakes and Mookie Moos.
Under a pavilion previous close to the pétanque space, artists have been drawing caricatures of attendees. One of the artists was Nia Harris. She sees having an establishment like Lay Park as being one thing very influential rising up.
“It’s very important for the youth, having access to something where they can have fun as well as grow as a community,” Harris mentioned. “Because if you’re not able to have fun together, how are you gonna become acquainted?”
Community members, youngsters from summer time camps and fogeys alike got here to assist this milestone and Lay Park. Jenny Denson, multimedia specialist for the State Botanical Garden, attended alongside her daughter who has been attending their summer time camp program. Alongside going to camp, Denson’s daughter additionally makes use of the useful resource heart afterwards to learn.
“[Lay Park is] just a place for people to come together,” Denson mentioned. “The summer camp has been amazing for us. The county camps are just like a godsend because they’re so much cheaper than private camps and we’ve just had so much fun. [My daughter’s] just enjoyed them so much.”