Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
MANAGING EDITOR
Summer is well on its way in Portales and Clovis, which means local parents get to figure out how to keep their children active and entertained over the summer.
There are the summer-long camps and programs, such as Kids College, the Portales Recreation Center program and the Portales Public Library Program, but little do many parents know, there are a variety of other week-long activities and one-time activities for their children to enjoy this summer.
Along with those usual activities, such as the public pool, movie theater and skating rink, other activities area children can enjoy throughout this summer include tumbling classes, acrylic painting classes, horseback riding lessons and additional summer camps in which children can do a variety of activities.
“We try to keep them busy, so most of the kids are on field trips throughout the week,” Kristy Vann, one of the directors of the Kid Central NM summer camp in Clovis. “They go to the free movies, they go to the splash pad, the skating rink. They do lots of things. We are also going to let them do the library program this summer.”
The Allen Movie Theater shows a free movie each week through August.
She said the summer camp even includes water gun fights, food nutritional classes, and a fundraising car wash to help the kids raise money to go on their big field trip at the end of the summer, which entails a full day of activities around Clovis.
She said earlier in the summer, the camp also provided a petting zoo for the kids, and breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack are also provided each day.
Oasis State Park is hosting a variety of activities over the summer to teach families about wildlife and to star gaze, all of which are free with the exception of the usual $5 park entrance fees.
One-time activities for the summer include A Day of Fun at the Lighthouse Mission Saturday in Clovis and another Summer Fun Day held by Rooney Moon Broadcasting and the City of Clovis June 20 at Hillcrest Park.
Every day next week, British soccer camps will be held at Steiner Field next to the junior high in Portales.
New Mexico Regional Director David Kenyon said the soccer camp has been going on since 1989 and has been in Portales for several years now.
“The reason we are one of the most popular camps is because we base it on instructional skills for soccer, and we have 120,000 children across the nation keep coming back to our camp,” Kenyon said. “We find a balance between learning the skills while also having fun. All the coaches are great role models. They live and breathe soccer in England.”
Kenyon said the camp teaches the fundamentals of soccer with professional coaches.
He said Eric Horsburgh of Scotland and Harry Farringdon of Liverpool, England will be the two coaches coming to Portales next week.
“It started with five British guys coming over, and it’s spread to 500 coaches,” Kenyon said.
A full schedule of summer activities in Clovis and Portales can be found by contacting United Way of Eastern New Mexico at 2-1-1.
