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Crosland Park summer program culmination leaves positive impact
7/24/2008 10:50 PM   1 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend



By HALEY HUGHES

Staff writer

Children in Crosland Park have been living it up this summer.

The City of Aiken Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Aiken Department of Public Safety and city employees teamed up to provide a wealth of daytime and evening activities for children ages 10 to 14.

Children have been involved in chorus, crafts, sports and more for the past two months.

Thursday was the grand finale celebration at the neighborhood's park.

Kim Coleman, superintendent of recreation, said the program was the brainchild of a committee formed recently to address issues surrounding the city's proposed Youth Protection Act. The act, which has not passed, prohibits people under 17 from unsupervised activity throughout the city within designated time periods.

"There were also concerns from the Crosland Park community," Coleman said. "We started this the first week in June. We have provided character training, the Aiken SPCA came, and we have taken them to the Aiken Center for the Arts."

A total of 74 children signed up to participate in the program.

Activities started in the morning followed by a boxed lunch, then a movie or other afternoon activity. Sports were usually offered in the evening and included martial arts, tennis, extreme Frisbee and kickball.

Barbara Johnson, a resident of Crosland Park, said she was happy to enroll her young children in the program.

"My kids love it," she said. "They say they want to be in it next year."

Another mother said her youngest son reminded her time and again they had to be at the neighborhood's park Thursday for the program's culmination celebration.

Jaelyn Smith, 9, said he also wanted to be involved in the program next year. "I liked the fun activities," he said. Coleman said she hoped the program helped in several ways.

"We hope the crime rate has been down, and this keeps kids off the streets. That's the main thing," she said.





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  1 comment(s) on this story

:  7/28/2008

Sounds good for the children. What about their parents? Perhaps they need something to do so they can stay out of trouble.

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