Let the Morses Pond chatter begin!

During the Feb. 9 Wellesley Recreation Commission meeting the town’s Recreation Director Matt Chin looked out toward the warmer months ahead and gave a brief update on Morses Pond and summer camps. Though he started off with: “The update on summer 2021 is there really haven’t been many changes, we’re still waiting to hear back from the state on open waterfronts and summer camps.”

Having said that, the Rec team is planning away. “It’s far away, the summer, but it’s really close,” Chin said.

 

Chin’s team is looking at camp space at the Wellesley High School building that wasn’t available to supplement space at Rec’s Warren Building last year.

Asked during the Recreation Commission meeting if there’s a date by which Rec needs to make a decision on camps and the pond, Chin said hopefully it will be earlier than last year, which was May.

Last year Rec wrestled mightily over how to handle Morses Pond and wound up not having lifeguards, allowing swim at your own risk, and put in place a beach reservation system that generally worked out well for patrons. Chin’s leaning toward a similar approach for this summer and says there’s CARES Act funding available to cover costs. There continue to be challenges with lifeguard training due to the pandemic, so that’s among the considerations Rec is dealing with. But Chin is optimistic that capacity limits could be expanded and new options could be allowed as more people are vaccinated.

Parents are already contacting Rec about summer camp, not surprisingly. A year-and-a-half ago most of the town-run camp programs would be filled, Chin said. People want to make plans and are going elsewhere, he lamented.

The free Wellesley Youth Commission summer camps are also to be determined at this time, according to that group’s space on the town website.

Chin would ideally like to make a call by late March or April on Rec programs, understanding that state guidance could change at any time.

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