Finding Ways To Play
The town of Clay and other central-New York communities took a collaborative approach to virtual recreation
By Kailan Manandic
Photos: Town of Clay Recreation
As COVID-19 left a wake of canceled events last summer, a small New York town took a new approach to recreation, offering skateboarding lessons, tours of Yellowstone, and riverside concerts.
Any resident of Clay, N.Y., safely enjoy these recreational programs thanks to the town’s Virtual Recreation Center. As the state established its guidelines regarding the pandemic, Clay’s Parks and Recreation Department responded with this approach to keep residents engaged and safe.
James Muscatello, the recreation director of the town of Clay took on his new position Feb. 19 and had to adjust quickly to the pressing situation. All the summer programs he began working on were thrown out the window as he and his staff pivoted to the digital space.
“We wouldn’t do anything if we didn’t believe we could do it safely,” Muscatello says. “So, the most difficult thing was canceling our free summer day camp because it would have been very difficult to do safely. It hurt not to do because so many people rely on it.”
Stay Active
To develop these virtual activities, Clay Parks and Recreation employees worked with the Central New York Recreation and Parks Society (CNY), a coalition of municipalities across the state. The CNY is a regional partner of the New York State Recreation and Park Society, an organization that aims to advance the value of parks, recreation, and leisure services through professional development and citizen engagement.
Once the pandemic had stabilized in the region, the CNY called upon its members to develop new ways to serve their cities. Over a Zoom conference, officials from more than 15 municipalities discussed ways to support each other and provide recreational opportunities to their residents.
“Initially, we were brainstorming internally,” Muscatello says. “Then, deeper into COVID, we met with other parks and rec departments to brainstorm ideas. We came up with a lot of great ideas, and everyone was in the same boat facing the same challenges ... it was pretty amazing to have a very uniform and great collective effort.”
The collective effort culminated in numerous websites with pages full of activities, lessons, and digital experiences for all ages. In Clay, Muscatello and his team focused on three main concepts when creating their resource pages: stay active, stay creative, and keep connected.
“It’s a great way to consolidate all the free stuff people have put out there into just one location,” Muscatello says. “They don’t have to click around; they just have to click their age group and the type of activity they want.”
The Virtual Recreation Center organizes its activities by five age demographics, from pre-kindergarten to seniors. While there is some overlap, each section offers various activities that replace or alter the typical recreation programs.
Yoga is one class offered across all age demographics with various twists to specifically engage each group. While the Pre-K and youth sections offer links to Cosmic Kids Yoga, the teen and adult sections offer core power yoga.
Each section also provides numerous resources to stay active both indoors and outdoors. From soccer drills and skateboard tricks to Orangetheory workouts and line-dance lessons, Clay’s online rec center has something for everyone.
“Initially, when we tossed around the idea of [a virtual rec center], it was a way to just get through the time when we were all quarantining,” Muscatello says. “But now it has become a supplemental resource where, as we started some in-person programming, it’s nice to have it there for the people who don’t feel comfortable going out, the seniors who can’t, and the kids whose parents can’t take them to certain activities.”
Muscatello and his team compiled most of this information, but they hope to produce more of their own content. Already, they have a series of chair yoga lessons for seniors on their YouTube channel.
Stay Creative
Aside from digital resources, the department has taken extra steps to offer something special for the kids of their community. Each week, the department created “Grab & Go Recreation Kits” that were centered around a different theme.
Muscatello hoped to continue this program as his team invented new themes, but for the initial run, the kits focused on celebrating July 4, embracing nature, exploring the deep-blue sea, spreading kindness, enjoying a wild animal safari, and navigating a pirate extravaganza. Residents registered for the program online and picked up the activity kits at specific locations.
Overall, Muscatello says the community responded positively to the town’s efforts. Parents were particularly interested in the resources as the Pre-K and youth sections saw the most web traffic according to tracking statistics.
“I built it through Google Sites so we could have those tracking statistics,” Muscatello says. “It’s been helpful to see that traffic.”
But physical activities are only one of the five ways parks and recreation staff members are engaging with the residents they serve. The Virtual Recreation Center also offers educational activities, informational resources on COVID-19, and creative outlets.
Muscatello and his team had to be creative when searching for resources, eventually finding numerous high-quality opportunities for residents to learn photography from Nikon professionals, doodle to the music of Yo-Yo Ma, and cook with the chefs of Delish magazine.
Additionally, Clay staff members are producing their own activities with video story-time sessions, bi-weekly Zoom meetings with senior-program coordinators, and even a virtual concert with the Blind Goats, featuring Homeslice. Muscatello wants to build on these ideas, including more musical events along the Erie Canal.
Keep Connected
Clay’s approach to recreation amid the COVID-19 restrictions was uncommon among other towns within the CNY region. While many parks and recreation departments shifted to online content, they all took unique approaches to serve their unique communities that stemmed from the CNY brainstorming conference.
Many utilized recdesk.com, a cloud-based tool to organize information on programs, parks, and facilities. The widely used software primarily offers a simplified way to host programs with online registration in a uniform website template that is easily customizable.
The town of Dewitt shifted its entire summer camp to a weekly stay camp program, similar to Clay’s grab-and-go kits with instructional videos, virtual field trips, and activity kits available.
The town of Sullivan focused on virtual programming with online painting lessons, basketball drills, martial-arts classes, “Play at Home, Stay at Home” kits, meal-planning instruction, and gardening classes.
The city of Binghampton implemented in-person clinics that adhered by state guidelines, along with weekly activity grab bags and pop-up programming. The town of Manlius also pivoted to safe, in-person athletic programs with limited space while also providing “Stay & Play” activity bags.
Out of the cities and towns with sitting members on the CNY cabinet, only the town of Onondaga has a virtual-recreation resource center similar to Clay’s. Onondaga offers a wide variety of content centered around exercise, education, and creativity.
What The Future Holds
Clay’s website stands out from the rest by including its long-running Project: Green, a community garden and rural-awareness program. The project is also a natural extension of the town’s successful Save the Bees initiative that has run for years.
“The gardens are open, and the bee program is thriving,” says Clay’s Chrissy Clancy, the recreation employee who spearheaded the project.
Clancy is also the town’s senior-programming coordinator. She stays connected with senior center members through the Town of Clay Seniors Facebook Page, offering coffee chats over Zoom, virtual book club meetings, and a new grab-and-go meals program.
Muscatello credits much of his department’s success during the pandemic to the town council and the freedom given to his team.
“A lot of it was being flexible,” Muscatello says. “Our town gave us a lot of opportunities to do different programs, and they fully supported everything we wanted to do within our guidelines.”
As Muscatello thinks of what the future holds for recreation in Clay, he is hopeful. He and his team are taking every precaution as they plan programming for the upcoming seasons, with ideas for in-person programming and fallback virtual programs and activity grab bags.
“I think when we’re able to go back to normal, it’ll feel like coming home for Christmas after being away for a few years.”
Kailan Manandic is editor of McCall Life, which is also published by Northstar Publishing. Reach him at kailan@northstarpubs.com.