More teen nights to be held in the future
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The Caribou Recreation Center held its first Teens Only Friday of the season on Nov. 7. The teen night was open to teenagers from grades six to eight.
Though only a handful of kids attended this first Friday teen night, staff and participants are optimistic.
“It’s the first one,” said Caribou Middle School student Nick Jackson (12), “so hopefully they’ll be expecting more next time.”
Jackson attended the event with a couple of his friends and played a game of dodge ball with Rec. Center supervisor, J.T. Thomas.
This was Thomas’ first Teens Only Night. Thomas has been a supervisor at the Recreation Center since October 1.
“I’m relying on word of mouth,” said Thomas. “these kids will go to school next week and tell their friends to come to the next teens night, and hopefully that will get this going.”
The next Teens Only Friday is scheduled for December 5 from 6 to 9 at night.
“I’ve been told that in the past we could have as many as 100 kids at a time on teens night,” said Thomas, “I’d like to see that happen again.”
Jackson is just one of the many teens that frequent the recreation center to use the game room, gymnasium, track, and to just hang out and talk with their friends.
“Kids activities can be so structured,” said Kathleen Mazzuchelli, superintendent of the Caribou parks and recreation department. “it’s nice to sometimes give them some completely unstructured experiences.”
Though the recreation center is a well-used facility, its attendance is still recovering from a six-year facility-oriented transition.
“There’s a whole generation of kids that don’t understand what used to be the ‘rec. experience’ because they didn’t have it, so we’re rebuilding right now,” said Mazzuchelli.
Though the recreation center doesn’t have video games or television, Mazzuchelli will be incorporating a Dance Dance Revolution machine into the list of activities offered by the recreation center.
The DDR machine and television are both being donated to the recreation center by local organizations.
Though the recreation center has a lot to offer children and teenagers, they also conduct adult programs. Nov. 10 marked the first official start of their winter programs.
The wide range of programs offered by the recreation center include cross country ski lessons for the kids, basketball, family nights, and an adult volleyball pick-up league.
The new elevated walking track is a feature of the recreation center that some parents have come to utilize; when parents drop their kids off for various events, they can get some exercise on the elevated track while being able to keep an eye on their children participating in activities below.
The recreation center also offers outdoor activities in the winter, such as skiing, skating, and snowshoeing.
“We have a lot of families in the area that are totally unfamiliar with the nature of what goes on here,” said Mazzuchelli, “we’re going to have some family nights that we’re going to do through the course of the winter so families can engage and play in the game room.”
The game room, aptly titled, contains pool tables, air hockey, and board game tables that are available to the public from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The Caribou recreation center is located at 55 Bennett Drive and can be reached at 493-4225.
