People swim in the main pool at Donner Aquatic Center in Columbus, which opens for the summer season this weekend.
The Republic file photo
Memorial Day weekend means different things to different people, but we can all agree that we are at the unofficial beginning of summer.
Whether you’re planning on hanging around the homestead or taking an epic vacation, this is a time for looking forward to some carefree days and warm, long evenings that will keep getting longer for about another month. (When we begin to complain about “the dog days”.)
This is the time of year when we realize that early Indiana summer is a pretty fair reward for enduring Hoosier winters. If you haven’t yet spied the Indiana state insect, Say’s firefly, you can look forward to seeing them lighting up your nights for the next few months. If you’ve ever seen the astonishment of a grown person beholding a field of fireflies for the first time, you’ll have a renewed appreciation of those little wonders and this place we share with them.
At this moment, these days are longer and freer — especially for schoolchildren. For the next several glorious weeks, they get to drop the “school” part of “schoolchildren”. And the hundreds of local students who are graduating from high school are looking forward to boundless paths unfurling before them, beyond what they will do this summer.
Even so, this season has a tendency to bring out the kid in all of us, and in our area, we’re blessed with loads of opportunities for relaxation and recreation at little or no cost.
For instance, Donner Aquatic Center’s season begins this weekend — its 76th year, The Republic’s Mark Webber reported.
With limited exceptions, the pool will be open through Aug. 13. It’s an inexpensive way to spend the day and get some sun and fun — $6 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 17, and $3 for those younger than 5. The pool also will offer free swim sessions from 5 to 6 p.m. each evening its open for public swims.
Also this year, Columbus Parks and Recreation expands its programming for children with the new NexusPark. Throughout June and July, The REC and Circle K Fieldhouse at NexusPark will host numerous low-cost weeklong day camps for children from ages 3 and up. These camps are geared toward kids’ interests in everything from sports to singing to Star Wars and so on.
Find out more about our local parks’ summer offerings at columbusparksandrec.com.
And speaking of new and improved parks, Jennings County Parks & Recreation just last month had its grand opening for the revamped Eco Lake Park, 9300 S. State Road 7, south of Elizabethtown. A campground with 24 sites and reworked hiking trails have been added.
Numerous Bartholomew County Parks also will receive facilities this summer, beginning with new playground equipment being installed in Grammer Park, located near the intersection of County Roads 1000E and 300S, and Petersville Park, off County Road 550E, just north of East 25th Street.
We’ve barely scratched the surface, but we don’t want to keep you from getting on with your summer. As you can see, even if you don’t have an epic vacation in your summer plans, you can still plan on some great times right here in your backyard.
May your summer be filled with joy. (And not too hot.)
