During the Glendale City Council’s special meeting on Tuesday, Director of Community Services and Parks Onnig Bulanikian outlined the city’s summer recreation programs kicking off now.
Youth day camps consist of 10 camps, spanning nine weeks at seven different locations. Kool Dayz, which includes swimming, games, arts and crafts, music, dance and sports, is held at Pacific Community Center Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Other day camps include Summer Spectacular Camp at Verdugo Park, Summer Blast Camp at Brand Park and Verdugo Skate Camp which offers beginner and intermediate options.
There are four specialty day camps contracted out with private organizations: Yoga and Art Camp, which is one week, Fit Fun Tennis Camp, which is five weeks, Evolution Basketball Camp, which is three weeks and Maximum Potential Camp, which is two weeks.
AQUATICS
The Pacific Community Pool is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The summer Learn to Swim program has 3,050 lesson spots with 70% of the spots already filled as of Tuesday.
Recreation Swim is open four hours per day on weekdays and five hours on weekends. Lap Swim is open five hours per day with three lap lanes available on average.
“I started with aquatics 32 years ago and I can tell you that this is the busiest pool I’ve seen in Los Angeles County,” Bulanikian said. “The staff at Pacific does a great job.”
Councilman Ardy Kassakhian followed up on this comment, asking if the Council should look into adding a second community pool location.
“Having an additional aquatic facility would be a plus to the community,” Bulanikian responded.
Water play options include splash pads at Pacific Park and Cerritos Park open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Sept. 17. There are also wading pools at Dunsmore Park on Thursdays and Sundays, Brand Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Fremont Park on Tuesdays and Sundays, Glenoaks Park on Mondays and Saturdays and Palmer Park on Fridays and Sundays. Monday through Thursday, these wading pools will be open from noon to 6 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Excessive heat waves could prompt extended pool hours to as late as 9 p.m.
SENIOR PROGRAMS
Senior programs include the Senior Meals program, which serves more than 5,000 meals per month, the USC Occupational Therapy Fieldwork program, which works to assess and carry out senior services, and senior education seminars on topics such as fraud, scams and senior abuse. Additionally, the city offers a variety of senior exercise classes including pickleball, aerobics, Zumba and more. Exact schedule details can be found at glendaleca.gov on the senior recreation page.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Bulanikian gave a shout out to Cruise Night, which will take place on Saturday, July 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
“Cruise Night has been around since 1994,” Bulanikian said. “We’re expecting close to 40,000 people that night. We close down Brand Boulevard and have a classic car show. It’s the biggest event in the city.”
Maple Inclusive Play Day will be at Maple Park on Saturday, July 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event creates an opportunity for families with children of all abilities to socialize and play at the new Shane’s Inspiration all-inclusive playground.
A variety of family-friendly summer concerts will be held at Verdugo Park, the lawn behind Brand Library and Art Center and City Hall’s Perkins Plaza. Dates and times can be found on glendaleca.gov/residents/calendar.
The Glendale Youth Alliance 30th anniversary celebration fundraiser will commence with music and a wine tasting on Thursday, July 20, at 6 p.m. at Doctors House in Brand Park.
The Vardavar Water Festival 2023 will include a splash zone, pop-up shops, live entertainment and food on Sunday, July 16, from noon to 6 p.m. in Verdugo Park.
“These are all great events, the concert series in particular. I know my family is a big fan of them,” Kassakhian said during Bulanikian’s presentation.
First published in the June 24 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
