Dryden Rec Dept. optimistic for 2021

As was the case for much of the county, many of the programs and services at the Dryden Recreation Department came to a screeching halt when the pandemic first hit the county in March.

“It was a lot of getting information to try and to get it to our families the best way we could,” said Andrew Pierce, interim director of the department. “With the CDC guidelines and everything to follow, we still offered an amended youth lacrosse program — no contact, masks, sanitizer, limited participation, outdoors only — and that worked. But that was the only thing we had. … Everything else just literally shut down for a few months.”

Since then, the Recreation Department has adapted significantly, and while it still hasn’t been able to offer all the programs and activities it normally does, Pierce expressed optimism for what 2021 may hold for his organization.

Pierce has worked at the Dryden Recreation Department for nearly a decade, recently taking on the director position in July of this year after the previous recreation director resigned. Over the years, he’s enjoyed working with kids and their families to provide a variety of recreation and leisure opportunities. As such, when the pandemic hit, Pierce committed to continuing to serve the Dryden community in whatever way he could.

While the Recreation Department did have to cancel many of its activities due to Dryden school closures, Pierce worked with other leaders in Tompkins and Cortland counties to promote activities families in either county could enjoy, like youth basketball training at the JM McDonald Center in Cortland and programs at the Southworth Library in Dryden.

In the summer, the department was able to continue its usual movie events, only this time with a drive-in format, and outdoor music events at the Dryden VFW. Pierce also started several virtual trivia programs through the learning platform Kahoot!, for which he created three different age levels.

“Once a week, I send out a Kahoot! [quiz] to each level, and then at the end, in January, I’ll enter all their names and we’ll have a drawing and send out prizes,” Pierce said. “I could have said, ‘Geez, I wish I had 100 kids,’ but we’ve got 20 kids that are doing it, and they’re having fun with it.”

In addition to program adjustments, Pierce decided to take advantage of the free time the pandemic created and focus on improvements for the department, like software changes and creating a new field for future activities.

“It’s been a refocus of mindset of now’s a good time to do a lot of internal planning to get ready for when we’re up to speed because … even though people see the programs going on, usually once the program is going on, we’re on to the next season,” he said. “And during that time, we don’t have a lot of time to change software, develop fields. We just keep going, going, going.”

As Pierce explained, since the town of Dryden doesn’t own any parks, fields or equipment, much of the resources his department relies on are through the school district. Developing its own multipurpose fields within 5 acres behind the Town Hall, as is currently planned, would remove some of the dependence on Dryden schools in the future.

Even with these adaptations, the department still faced some challenges throughout the past 10 months.

“Knowing that there’s a need now more than ever for recreation and leisure programs and we can’t provide it for [families] is a challenge. It’s very frustrating,” Pierce said. “I get emails constantly. I get Facebook messages. And everybody gets it, but that doesn’t mean everybody likes it. … I had to cancel programs. I had to refund money.”

But those challenges only emphasized the need to continue providing for the community, Pierce explained.

“In my experience, any little bit helps,” Pierce said. “Developing the park and maybe being able to offer some more programs will be a bright spot. And then, once these things open back up, we’ll be ready to hit the ground running.”

Another bright spot for the department recently was the Ugly Sweater 5k held Dec. 5 with help from the Dryden Rail Trail Task Force. Pierce explained that the department held an ugly sweater 5k last year as part of the annual holiday happenings in downtown Dryden, but the pandemic canceled those festivities.

“I actually had thought about doing a kids for cops fun run, where maybe people would come, just donate a toy and run on their own,” Pierce said. “[We were] trying to come up with an idea to space it out, and the school closed down. So, we couldn’t do it on school grounds. And a board member contacted me and said, ‘Hey, have you been contacted by Willow Running?’ And I’m like, ‘I’ve never heard of them.’”

Willow Running, an area running club, had been organizing runs all summer and offered to do the same for Pierce in December. Willow Running staff handled registration and fees, so all Pierce had to do was find the space. For that, he turned to the Dryden Rail Trail Task Force, who helped set up the run on the portion of the Rail Trail that runs through Dryden.

From there, everything fell into place. Willow Running sold long-sleeve T-shirts so the proceeds could be donated to the Rail Trail Task Force, and the Dryden Hotel provided food. In the end, there were over 170 participants in the run, who ran in separate “heats” so they were properly distanced, thanks to organizers’ efforts.

“It was good for everybody,” Pierce said. “And I think it was a great success. Everybody had a lot of fun. We even had Santa Claus there. We had the Grinch there. And everybody complimented the hotel and the organization.”

The run was such a success that Pierce is hoping to hold two more next year — one in the summer as a “Chase the Cow” run on Dryden’s Dairy Day and another ugly sweater run in December. Other plans for 2021 are largely contingent on the state of local sports and the success of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

“My hope is that we get through this and everybody remains healthy, follows the guidelines the best they can,” Pierce said. “If it’s safely done, the quicker we get through this, the better it will be for the Rec Department to open up and provide these activities and events for people.”

Overall, Pierce expressed his gratitude to residents for their patience and understanding throughout the pandemic.

“Parents and family members send me emails for the events that we had to cancel — ‘Thank you for trying. We understand,’” he said. “The Dryden community is great. They’ve always been very supportive of the Rec Department and everything that we can do. So, I think they know that we’re trying and we’re here for them.”

For more information about the Dryden Recreation Department, visit its website at dryden.ny.us/departments/recreation.