City of Gonzales
PARKS & RECREATIONDEPARTMENT
ACTIVITY REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: November 21, 2022
FROM: Carmen Gil, Community Engagement & Strat. Partnership Dir.
THROUGH: Carmen Gil, Interim City Manager
SUBJECT: Recreation Department Activity Report
Current Activities
1. For October, we had 47 children signed up for Kid Power. October, overall, was filled with lots of fun including Trick-or-Treating at the Vosti Center, a door decorating contest and a Halloween Safety presentation.
2. Kid Power had a door decorating contest where we invited parents, City of Gonzales staff including Public Works, the Police, Fire, and Recreation Department, and the Interim City Manager to vote on the kid’s doors. We had a great turnout with the Scooby Doo themed door taking first place, second place door was the Nightmare Before Christmas and the third-place door was Creatures on the Loose.
3. The Police Department came and spoke to the kids about safety for Halloween which included having the children get their candy checked, and how to make sure they had the proper clothing attire to make them visible at night and making sure parents have flashlights.
AGENDA
ITEM
12 4. The City of Gonzales youth soccer league season ended this month. Last game for ages 9-12 was on Friday, October 21, 2022, and on Saturday, October 22nd for ages 2 ½ to 8. It was a very fun filled season. We ended our season with 16 teams and 4 divisions.
5. City of Gonzales Adult co-ed Volleyball league registration ended this month. Team registration ended on October 24, 2022. This season, we had a couple more teams that registered than last season. We have a total of 9 teams. We were able to create two divisions, an Upper and Lower division.
6. For volleyball, we have a total of 81 registered participants and 2 volleyball officials. Volleyball games will start first week of November.
7. City of Gonzales youth and adult open gym ended on October 27th. Adult open gym was a success. Youth open gym was not as there was minimal participation from the youth. During this time of year, the Gonzales Knights football and cheer program also takes place which is very popular in our city with youth and most likely impacted the low use of open gym for that population. As a result, youth open gym may have to change to a different time of year.
8. City of Gonzales Youth basketball registration has begun. Youth basketball is for all youth ages 3 to 14. This season we continued with the 11-14 age division but have split them. We are hoping to have a girls’ teams and a boys’ team in this age division. We are also collaborating with south county cities for the 11-14 age division. We will be competing against Soledad, Greenfield, and King City in the 11-14 age division. The basketball season will start in January 2023.
9. The Recreation Department held its annual Halloween Movie night at Centennial Park on Saturday, October 22, 2022 with help from the Gonzales Fire Department, it was a fun and relaxing evening. We had two movies that evening. The first was Nightmare Before Christmas and the second movie was Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2021. We had 26 registered vehicles and a few walk-ins. In addition to vehicles, we also offered lawn seating. This allowed the participants a chance to relax on the grass with their warm blankets and enjoy the movie. The Gonzales Little League organization came out and ran a snack bar for the event. It was a success. Yummy, delicious food, including nachos, hamburgers, and hotdogs were sold giving them an opportunity to generate some money for the team. This year we also held a Halloween costume contest. We had 37 registered participants for the costume contest. It was a lot of fun. The kiddos enjoyed it very much. Each participant received a small candy bag and a Halloween participant medal. The winners received a ribbon and a big candy bar. We can’t wait for next year. There is always room for improvement and the ideas are already pouring in, but overall, it was a great success.
Activities in Planning Phase
1. The City of Gonzales Recreation Department is currently planning multiple activities/ events for the month of December. Starting off with our Holiday Lights event scheduled for Saturday, December 3rd down 4th Street, which will also include our Annual Tree Decorating Contest.
Followed by our Holiday Yard Decorating contest that is currently open for registration and voting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 13th.
2. The Recreation Department is also planning a Holiday Lights Parade that will take place on Saturday, December 17th and we are currently still accepting registrations for this event.