News: April 2020

April report

All youth sports were cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.  Families have been offered refunds, credits to their accounts, or the option of contributing their fees to one of our scholarship funds.  Baseball is the only sport that is still trying to create a late spring program under Cal Ripken. Otherwise, we are looking at summer camp options that incorporate our low-contact spring sports offerings of lacrosse, mountain biking and trail running.

I have begun meeting weekly with a group of Recreation Directors from throughout Vermont, in order to make certain that we are all interpreting the state directives correctly, and carrying them out the same way.  It has been very valuable to hear how our neighbors have been impacted, and sharing the concerns of our own community.  The group attracted the attention of the Agency of Commerce and Commercial Development toward the end of the month.  Ken Jones has been advising our group since then, attending the weekly meetings with Jessica Savage (Vermont Parks and Recreation).

Hats Off during the months of April and May, we are hiding Norwich Recreation signature embroidered hats throughout the town, and posting photos of them online.  We are encouraging the public to guess where the hats are, with the first two to guess winning a new hat delivered to their home.

The Youth Advisory Council here in Norwich, led by teens and serving as a sounding board for how our town can best engage and involve our younger residents, moved to Zoom meetings.  The group has grown to 12 teens. They are enthusiastic had have quite a few ideas for community programs that they are working through.