T-R PHOTO BY AUSTIN CHADDERDON Summer Blast day camp kids have a bubbly fun time at Riverview Park on Wednesday. Normally the camp is help at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but Wednesday was a scheduled field trip to the park.

The Marshalltown Parks and Recreation Department will wrap up the Summer Blast day camp on Friday.

After reducing participation to 50 percent amidst the pandemic in 2020, Recreation Supervisor Jenni Hart said it has been encouraging to increase the numbers closer to capacity. Hart said 137 children are on the roster with up to 100 participating weekly. The max amount is 125 per week, which she hopes to reach next year.

Not only is the camp serving more children, but it is back at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time since the 2018 tornado struck the building while camp was taking place.

“We were only taking up to 50 kids [in 2020] and we were down in the community building at Riverview Park,” Hart said. “It’s been really, really nice having the Coliseum back with it being a temperature controlled environment…now that we have more rooms upstairs there’s a craft room, game room, a STEM room and then the gymnasium.”

In addition to the activities provided at the Coliseum, there are Wednesday field trips which have included Palmer Family Fun, the Science Center, the Play Station and foam tag at Riverview Park. The campers also go swimming at the Aquatic Center twice a week and make visits to the public library.

The availability of the Coliseum has allowed the Marshalltown Community School District to use the space for a lunch serving site. Hart said this is in line with the goals of the Summer Blast camp to provide routine and a smooth transition from summer to school.

“We like to keep the structure from the school district so when they are transitioning back to school there’s more structure and they don’t have that summer learning loss. We do reading during the summer and things to keep those key points still in their mind,” she said.

Hart said that through the state of Iowa, and Marshall County in particular, there is a childcare crisis. She has been part of the mission in the state to find out why there is a shortage of in-home providers and daycare centers.

“I don’t know what the answer is to it other than staff availability,” she said.

There are 12 people on staff for the Summer Blast day camp, including 10 directors and two head directors. The staff consists of teachers as well as many college students going into teaching or nursing programs. Hart laughed as she said the staff is tired after a 10-week camp but parents have been thankful and complimentary of their hard work.

“Parents are so gracious and give us so many compliments as to the running of our program, how structured it is and the things the kids get to do over the summer,” she said. “It’s been a whirlwind to be back at the Coliseum. We know what we’re going to change next year, but it’s not going to be a lot.”

The Summer Blast day camp will be available again in 2022 for children entering K-6 grades and will run from June into August.