When the final school bell rang last week, signifying the last day of school, Weehawken Recreation Director Chuck Barone knew his life was about to become a little more hectic.
To most students, once school is out, summer has officially arrived. Then it’s Barone’s job to make sure the kids are happy and active. Once again, he and his diligent staff have produced a schedule of events that is certain to entice area kids and adults.
For the youngsters, each of the township’s parks, namely Louisa, Gregory, Pizzuta in the Shades region and the soon-to-be-opened refurbished Tot Lot on Highwood Avenue will feature daily activities, including arts and crafts, games, and water showers to beat the heat.
"The Tot Lot is almost done now and should be opened by July 8," Barone said. "We have to make sure we have activity in every playground. Louisa Park gets our biggest turnout and we have our biggest staff there, about 25 people. But we have staff at each park with games and equipment."
Free lunch will also be provided at each of the township’s park sites, beginning daily at 12 noon.
Swimming will also be an option, as several youngsters will be bused to the West New York municipal pool on a daily basis, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The bus leaves at 9:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. from Town Hall.
There are several day trips also scheduled to visit the USS Ling submarine museum in Hackensack (July 12), the Bronx Zoo (July 17), Swartswood State Park (July 22), Island Beach (July 29), the Aviation Hall of Fame (August 6) and High Point State Park (August 15). All of those trips are free of charge, provided the child is registered at one of the park sites one week before the scheduled date.
Other trips require a co-payment, such as those to Turtle Back Zoo (July 31, $5), Point Pleasant Beach and boardwalk (August 14, $5), Tomahawk Lake (August 7, $3), Mountain Creek (August 20, $13.50), Wild West City (August 21, $5), and the Intrepid Museum (August 26, $3 for children, $5 for adults).
Of course, any summer recreation would not be complete without sporting events, so there are instruction soccer and basketball leagues, as well as boys’ and girls’ basketball shooting contests (August 12 at Gregory Park).
There are also other traditional contests that are the most anticipated events of the summer months, like the watermelon eating contest (July 24 at Weehawken Stadium), the pie eating contest (July 31 at the stadium), and a new dietary delight, the hot dog eating frenzy (August 7 at the stadium) where contestants will get a chance to see how many wieners they can eat in five minutes. Get the Pepto.
"We’re tying it with the contest Nathan’s has," Barone said.
Another new activity this year is a talent show, which will take place August 28 in the high school auditorium. Talent will be judged in groups of ages 15-18, 19-21 and 22 and up.
"There are a lot of talented people in the town, so we decided to give it a try," Barone said. "We don’t know how well it will be received, but it could turn out to be a fun event."
There are other activities geared toward adults, like basketball leagues, aerobics, t’ai chi classes, yoga, and ceramic and craft classes.
The highlight of the summer season will be the annual Summer of the Century Field Day extravaganza at Weehawken Stadium August 21, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The children, ages four through 15, are treated to hot dogs, soft drinks, and watermelon while participating in contests and playing games, like water balloon tosses and a tug-of-war.
"That’s like our end of the summer bash," Barone said. "We easily get 500 kids to that event."
Barone see his life as being hellish over the next two months. "The work in preparing to get everything done beforehand was harder than actually running it," Barone said. "Once everything is in place, it all just kind of flows."
Interested participants are asked to contact the recreation office at (201) 319-6061 for further details.