Opinion: Recreation a priority in South Tahoe

By Lauren Thomaselli

South Lake Tahoe took the opportunity to sign the CPRS pledge “Parks Make Life Better” this spring.

The annual conference of the California Parks and Recreation Society in San Jose in March provided national collaboration, alignment, and built on successes to demonstrate that parks and recreation are an essential service to creating healthy prosperous communities throughout California.

By taking the pledge, South Lake Tahoe has officially adopted the philosophy that: “Parks and recreation provides access to the serenity and inspiration of nature; spaces and places for play and exercise; opportunities for directed and organized recreation; positive alternatives for youth and activities that support social connections, human development, the arts and lifelong learning.”

Moving forward it is imperative to tell our story and celebrate our success as we align programs with the CPRS pledge.

This past winter the Recreation Aquatics Department provided swim lessons to every fourth-grader in Lake Tahoe Unified School District. Our skilled instructors provided one week of swim instruction at no cost to the students or the school district.

Additionally, the aquatics division has adopted the American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor Certification Standard for all swim lesson programs; making South Lake Tahoe the only aquatics facility in the region to provide a national standardized quality swim program.

Recreation programming has improved through cultivating a variety of recreation partnerships. New for this summer is South Tahoe Adventure Recreation Camps (S.T.A.R.). The concept is to partner with businesses, nonprofits, and recreation experts to provide authentic Tahoe outdoor adventures such as backpacking, standup paddleboard, golf, BMX, mountain biking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, and much more.

The best way to find out about who we are and what we do is to meet our staff, instructors, leaders and recreation partners. South Lake Tahoe Parks and Recreation Division invites the community to learn more about recreation programs, sign up for swim lessons and summer camp, and tour our facility at the inaugural Spring into Summer Kick Off Party on June 1 from 10am to 2pm at the Recreation and Swim Complex at 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd.

For more information, contact the Recreation Center at (530) 542.6056.

Lauren Thomaselli is the recreation program coordinator for South Lake Tahoe.