By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff
Parents have always looked forward to April vacation. The weather is usually warming up, kids can play outside, and the Medfield Park & Recreation department hosts programs for kids to enjoy during their time off. However, this spring's usual programs have been soured as a result of COVID-19. With programs cancelled and the future unknown, most parents and kids find themselves feeling an absence during their usual vacation time. While Medfield schools have canceled their usual April break in order to continue their transition to remote learning, the Park & Recreation staff is hard at work preparing for anything that comes next.
Medfield's parks, athletic fields, and playgrounds, like most towns affected by the crisis, are closed for the time being. "We are still maintaining our properties and fields so that they will be ready to go if, or when, the stay-at-home order is lifted. Staff also is working remotely during this time, and working out of the office at the Pfaff Center, preparing for any possible spring programs to happen. If we are able to run programs this spring, we will be ready," says Park & Recreation Director Kevin Ryder. Staff in charge of upkeep is wearing masks and gloves to ensure their safety while working.
Though staff members are missing their programs just as much as kids and parents, they have used their unexpected free time to plan ahead for summer. "Right now, we are planning for summer camp and summer programs to happen. We have been able to spend a good majority of this time during the pandemic to prepare for the summer, including staff meetings, summer staff interviews and reviewing and updating policies and procedures. If summer camp is allowed to move forward this summer, we will be ready to present one of our best summer camps to date!" says Ryder.
"We run such a wide variety of programs, basically for toddlers through senior citizens, that we get to see so many people on a regular basis. Not being able to see our instructors, our staff, our participants, the kids and the families that we have built strong relationships with over the years has been tough," says Ryder. "We have tried to remain in contact with regular updates as we have them, but nothing can replace hearing the Pfaff Center alive with kids taking classes throughout the day, or the fields packed with sports activities throughout the week or on the weekends. We are itching to get back to some sort of normalcy, when the time comes."
Medfield Park & Recreation will be ready to reopen when the time comes. For now, all they have to do is wait.
