Valley Parks and Rec offers community fun

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

VALLEY — Valley Parks and Recreation is kicking off summer weather with events to get families and friends out in the community for fun, memories and more. For more information, visit Valley Parks and Recreation on Facebook, call (334) 756-5290 or visit the Valley Community Center at 130 Sportsplex Drive in Valley.

Touch-a-Truck

Valley Parks and Rec’s Touch-a-Truck is taking over the Valley Community Center parking lot on Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. Locals will have the opportunity to explore big rigs, meet the operators and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the machines work at this free event.

“This event is tailored to all kids, big and small, that want to come out and see all of the big machinery — dump trucks, fire trucks, EMS, construction equipment and more,” Valley Parks and Recreation Director Jon Neal said. “We’re also, maybe, having a special guest here which would be East Alabama Medical with the Life Flight helicopter, as long as they’re not on a call. The National Guard is going to bring a vehicle from the local armory here on Fairfax Bypass. We should have a few food vendors. We’re working on trying to get some bounce houses for it as well, and we hope the whole family can come out and enjoy that day.”

Neal said through facilitating fun, family-friendly events in Valley, Valley Parks and Rec can provide activities for those living in Chambers County, where they can support their own local food trucks, small businesses and recreation facilities, without having to drive to a neighboring county.

“Obviously we’re never going to completely erase people going to Lee County to rec, enjoy leisure activity and shop — which I encourage them to, you always want to support your neighboring cities as well — but I think [those living in Chambers County enjoy] having the ability to go to an event like this, that also doesn’t take up all day, that’s local and they don’t have to cut out most of their Saturday to travel to Auburn,” he said. “They can stay at home, they can also plan other things for that day, and I think that really excites people — which I think will be beneficial for us as a department overall. One thing that I have seen is that most of our events have had a large turnout — along with sports — we’ve seen various sports grow in participation. I anticipate this event to be the same; it will have a large, interacting crowd that has a good time.”

Crawfish Boil Fundraiser

The Valley Parks and Rec Crawfish Boil Fundraiser will be held on Sunday, April 12, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST. Plates are from Big Blue Crawfish, $20 cash and presale only. Neal said he noticed the need for family seating, like picnic tables, at the community center pool to ensure it caters to the needs of locals — and the funds raised from the event will help meet that need.

“I was approached by Big Blue Crawfish about possibly doing a fundraiser, a crawfish boil, to help raise money for that seating project,” he said. “So my goal was to be able to purchase five to seven indoor picnic tables and umbrellas for aesthetics, and so families could sit there, eat, have food or their parties — like a private pool party, or open swim — to be able to bring their stuff and sit it down.”

Neal said tickets will be on sale from Monday, March 9, until Good Friday, April 2, to ensure Big Blue Crawfish can have an accurate count of how many crawfish are needed for the event.

“Locals can come to the community center, purchase a plate ticket and then bring their ticket the day of the event and pick up their crawfish bowl,” he said. “All proceeds go to the family seating project for the Valley Parks and Rec Department. They’ll get a pound and a half to two pounds of crawfish, an ear of corn and two potatoes — we will likely have some drinks available to be purchased too.”

For all kinds of fun and families, Neal said the family seating can help provide a space for locals to gather, rest and relax while their children swim in the pool.

“The pool is definitely a gathering place, whether you’re part of the Valley Swim Team, doing water aerobics or just bringing your family for leisure on a Sunday — but you also want to be able to put your stuff all together and not just over in a chair — you can sit as a family and enjoy your time in the pool,” he said. “I remember when I was a kid, we would go to the pool on the weekends, but my mom was a school teacher, so she would bring her work to grade papers, and she’d sit there on a picnic table and work while we swam at the indoor pool. That allowed us to have something to do, but also allowed her to do her job of grading papers while hanging out with her kids.”