Residents of all ages invited to spring into rec center classes

Spring classes are scheduled to start this week in most of Clark County’s recreation and community centers.

Due to budget cuts, the county stopped mailing class catalogs years ago. Activities are still offered, but it takes a little ingenuity to find them.

“Our classes are definitely an underutilized resource,” said Clark County cultural program supervisor Patrick Gaffey. “We offer such a wide range of things, and I wish more people took advantage of the classes.”

Clark County Parks & Recreation is celebrating its 50th year serving the community. One of the oldest properties in the system, the Paradise Recreation and Community Services Center at 4775 S. McLeod Drive, is supervised by a fourth-generation Las Vegan.

“My children are fifth-generation locals,” said Amanda Jaramillo. “We have a lot of old growth trees here at the park, and my mother used to come here to play when she was a kid.”

Some of the center’s most popular classes are for seniors and children.

“We get about 80 seniors in here at 10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday for low-impact chair exercise,” Jaramillo said. “After that class, at 10:30 we have line dancing. Those classes are free, and no supplies are required. It’s the same with pickleball (a paddle and net game similar to tennis or badminton.) You don’t have to bring equipment. We have it here.”

Jaramillo said the center’s preschool and early childhood classes are popular, too.

“We have a lot of classes for young children here, and we like to add more variety when we can,” she said. “This time around we’re offering a new thing called blast ball, which is kind of like T-ball but simplified.”

The county’s recreation and community centers offer different classes based on their facilities and demand. Some centers offer skateboard facilities, full gyms, computer classes and life skills classes.

The Whitney Recreation Center, 5712 E. Missouri Ave., boasts a climbing wall that is available by appointment for $5 for a half-hour.

The Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive, emphasizes artistic classes including music lessons, painting and English country dance classes that take place in the center’s new dance room.

Several renovations of county parks and recreations facilities have recently been completed or are under way. One recreation center that is deeply affected by this is the Parkdale Community Center, 3200 Ferndale St., which began is life as the clubhouse for the manufactured housing community that surrounds it. The center is undergoing a major renovation slated to wrap up in the spring of 2014 and isn’t starting new classes at this time.

The best method of finding out about classes and events is to visit the nearest community or recreation center. Most centers also list upcoming classes and offer class registration at clarkcountynv.gov/parks. Select “Community Centers,” then click “More Information” and scroll down to find the .pdf of the class schedule. The next session is listed as Session 3.

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.