8984-R2_NewGloucester_2023-2024_AnnualReport_Web

ANNUAL REPORT Parks & Recreation Department

The recreation department is pleased to submit its annual report for FY24. We saw mostly steadiness in our youth programming. We experienced growth in activity offerings for our adult programming. Youth Programming: Children’s programs remain a large portion of the Recreation Department’s revenue and expenses. At the core are our out of school time programs like Before/After School, and Summer Camps. This year we were unable to run some programs like parkour, karate, and lacrosse, because we could not find instructors. The majority of our programs experienced steady participation. Our Rec Connect program that supports summer school students had a declining attendance after the school’s summer program downsized. The GNG Diamond Cheer team added a team for parents to compete and GNG Diamond’s co-hosted another successful competition with the HS Cheer team to raise considerable funds to support the program. The Kids Club and Summer Camp programming moved from the community building at the town hall complex to the Dunn Elementary School. Partnering with MSAD 15 has allowed for additional capacity for Kids Club and Summer Camp while enhancing the outdoor space that is available to kids in the program. Adult Programming: Our adult programming experienced strong growth with new offerings and the addition of a Recreation Coordinator hired by the New Gloucester Rec Department. The Community Café has grown to consistently feed 30+ each month with meals prepared by a local restaurant. Pickleball continues to grow steadily with over 445 users on our app. We had the return of Zumba Gold with our former instructor coming back. Monthly Bingo was a big hit and tons of fun. We partnered with the Lions Club to offer prizes and staff this event. A new bridge club was established. They taught the card game to newcomers and played each Monday that Town Hall was open. A Tai Chi for Arthritis club was also established. Special events for adults included a Watercolor Painting event, a Casino event where table games were played (no money was involved) for prizes, a Memory Lane Potluck where folks brought in a dish that had a memory attached to it.

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