Well folks that’s a wrap on our 2019 Summer Season. At 5 p.m. Sunday evening we had to close our beaches and pull the ropes. We can’t begin to thank all of the visitors we had over the three months of waterfront access. We had 220 campers this year during our Summer Recreation Program and we would like to thank all of our Playground Leaders and especially our lifeguards!

A majority of these fine young adults were hammering out 80 hours every two weeks with the addition of overseeing our swim lessons. We simply could not have done any of this without them!

A very special thank you to Josie Brusso, our playground supervisor and a never-ending thank you to Head Lifeguard Emma Ormsby, who helped schedule all of our guards this year, assist with trainings, and above all, oversaw our swim lessons this year. We are complimented every day about our program and it simply would not have been possible without the efforts of Emma, and all of the lifeguards that worked all of those hours for Potsdam Rec and for the community.

We are sad to see it end, but have already started planning for next year and how we can continue to offer new programming and new experiences every year. Our main focus heading into next year will be upgrading our beach and picnic areas with better signage, new grills to accommodate parties, and new playground equipment.

A final thank you to some of the organizations that assisted us this year during “camp.” These include The North Country Children’s Museum, SwingTime Miniature Golf, The Potsdam Neighborhood Center, Potsdam Central School, and the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau.

It was a pleasure to be the site of the Potsdam Public Library and their mini-camps for a few of these weeks and would like to thank Rebecca and staff for organizing the extra activities provided for the children. We look forward to seeing you in 2020!

Office hours for us will slow down a little bit before the ice is ready at the beginning of October. We will see you soon!

Trey Smutz

Potsdam Recreation director