First annual Family Recreation Day set for this weekend

Trumansburg Community Recreation will hold its first annual Family Recreation Day on Oct. 9 from 12 to 5 p.m. The free event will take place at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds. Visitors to the Family Recreation Day can enjoy ping pong, Kan Jam, soccer activities, corn hole, volleyball and badminton, some football and baseball activities, a Trumansburg Robotics station and more.

“We are excited to host this first event of its kind in Trumansburg to encourage folks and families to get outside and enjoy an afternoon of light activities and youth sport-related events,” Community Recreation President Todd Edmonds said. “We are hoping to have activities guided by the Taughannock Soccer Club, Trumansburg Youth Football and Trumansburg Youth Baseball as well as about 10 to 15 backyard-style games. And we hope to add a few more before the event day.”

Trumansburg, according to Edmonds, is a unique and lovely place with a warm and friendly community. The small-town atmosphere and a vibrant downtown area create an engaged community open to new ideas.

“Everyone we’ve spoken to seems very willing to engage with a big project like this,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds said that Trumansburg is growing, with more young families moving into the community each year, and that there is a great need to find more spaces for outdoor playing fields.

“Our youth recreation sports show an increase of 10% or more in several of the past years, so there is definitely evidence that we need more spaces for these programs to grow,” he said. “We are fortunate to be close to Taughannock State Park for some outdoor activities, but access to other open spaces is quite limited in the vicinity of the town. We have the fairgrounds and school fields, but they are not enough to support all the youth recreation we have in our community.”

The lack of outdoor space is causing a strain, Edmonds said.

“Currently, we have independent youth sports organizations like Taughannock Soccer Club, youth baseball and football and a myriad of youth rec programs currently run by the Town of Ulysses, but no dedicated outdoor space for these programs to use,” Edmonds said. “On any given evening after school, you’ll find a hundred or more kids playing on spaces all over the school campus, wherever they can find space. These facilities also serve the middle school and high school athletic programs, so they are naturally hard to maintain.”

Edmonds said the school district is very accommodating and does a great job staying on top of maintenance, which he knows is no small feat.

“The fairground hosts a number of large and small events throughout the year, including the Grassroots Festival, T-burg Fair, horse shows, demolition derbies and other concerts, all of which take a toll on their ‘playable’ outdoor spaces,” Edmonds said.

Edmonds and his team have been working on an outdoor recreation park initiative for the past three years, reviewing potential locations near the village with local landowners to build a 30-acre outdoor campus. The space could include soccer fields, a football field, youth baseball fields, a skate park, a picnic pavilion, a hardcourt playing surface and possibly a playground.

“This is a big endeavor and will take collaboration from the local municipalities, the community and passionate donors to see it through, but we are very encouraged,” Edmonds said. “We have worked with developers to get early cost projections and are looking at fundraising opportunities as we look to identify the final property in the coming year or two.”

Trumansburg Community Recreation (TCR) could use assistance at all levels to get the initiative off the ground, he added. They are looking for volunteers to join the board to help shape the vision, to help run events, social media and promotion, and to assist with writing grants.

Edmonds said he’s looking forward to hosting a day where people can spend time outdoors with family and the community, especially after a difficult couple of years due to the pandemic.

“National studies have shown how important family time and getting outside is to the physical and mental health of our youth and adults, especially as we deal with the aftermath of COVID, and Trumansburg is not alone in our desire to get families outside to play,” he said. “TCR gets questions from young parents all the time asking where they can go to get outside to play sports, so I know we all are looking for more outdoor space.”

While this is Trumansburg Community Recreation’s first Family Recreation Day, Edmonds said there may be more in the future.

“We hope to do more of these Recreation Days next year so that we can continue to provide an opportunity for families to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and open spaces and also help build awareness of TCR initiatives,” Edmonds said.

Trumansburg Connection appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.