Harlan Kirgan
The two splash pads opened at Fairgrounds and Amy parks were hit, Robert Johnson, city recreation director, said at a Kiwanis meeting Thursday.
“We definitely had a lot of visitors, not only from the Eunice area, but from the surrounding towns,” he said.
The splash pads became a focus for family outings, he said.
The splash pads ran almost constantly until schools started.
“Families bring in lawn chairs, pizza and make it outing. They definitely created some opportunities for our local families,” he said.
The splash are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day now and will be shut down when the weather cools, probably in October, he said.
The city plans to reopen the splash pads in March or April when the weather warms up.
Johnson was at the Kiwanis Club meeting to give an update on the activities organized by the city’s recreation department.
One of the city’s major recreation efforts is at the Recreation Complex on Sittig Road.
Johnson often cites the baseball and softball tournaments held at the complex as a major tourism effort by the city.
Up to 25 tournaments are held at the complex annually and each tournament draws from 30 to 60 teams, he said.
“We stay pretty busy with that,” he said of the tournaments.
Improvements were made to seven fields recently. The top soil was skinned with baseball fields given a dirt path between bases and the infield cleared at the softball fields.
One of the draws for the facility is it has 10 fields and offers a natural surface, he said.
Johnson said the recreation department is working with tourism officials in St. Landry and Acadia parishes to map out the hotels in the area.
Other recreation highlights include:
— Circle Park has updated playground equipment and a new surface, which churches helped fund.
— The football program is underway for youths 4 to 12 years old. The league includes out-of-team play at Church Point, Basile, Elton, Kinder, Oberlin, Oakdale, Pine Prairie and Mamou, he said. About 65 youths are involved in the program.
— Soccer has started with about 65 youths ages 4 to 12 involved. The LSUE soccer program has helped with coaching, he said. Games are played across from Eunice High School.
— Basketball is to start in January. Registration is available online at eunicerec.com.
— A cheer camp drew 39 participants.
— There were 14 participants in a tennis camp.
— A hunting and fishing camp was held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a week and had 50 youngsters participating. The participants earned hunter and boater certification, and were instructed in archery and fishing.