Registrations for the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department's summer day camps opened this week with revenues almost double the previous record highs.
"One of the most popular benefits of being a Friend of the Jefferson City Parks is early registration for our summer day camps," Amy Schroeder, director of community relations with Parks, said from her new office at the Lincoln University and Parks Wellness Center.
"This year, Friends early registration began on Monday. We've always seen a jump in revenue on the opening registration dates every year, but Monday recorded almost $85,000, the highest revenue in recent history," she said.
That tally is almost double Parks' previous record of $45,000 collected in February 2016, Schroeder said.
"This increase can be partially accredited to early registration coinciding with a state holiday, as well as a later Program and Facilities Guide release date to accommodate our move to the new facility," she said. Schroeder and about a dozen of her Parks co-workers, including Assistant Parks Director Aaron Grefrath, shifted their job address from the downtown city annex to the Wellness Center last Thursday.
Beginning Monday, the hours at the Wellness Center desk will be 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 6 a.m.- 9 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays; and noon-10 p.m. Sundays.
The current Parks' Program and Facilities Guide, with a theme "We've Always Got It Going On," covers February through July 2017 events sponsored by the city. To contact the Wellness Center, 1299 Lafayette St., for more information, call 634-6482 or visit jeffersoncitymo.gov/parks.
The inside cover of the program guide - which is distributed through area schools - lists about 100 different programs offered by Parks, and the back cover is used as a "thank you" and to promote Parks' move to the Wellness Center.
Schroeder said of the surge in early interest this year, "Many families start looking for the Program Guide in mid-January so they had more time to prepare this year."
She added interested parents and kids should not be concerned about the early expression of popularity of the programming.
"Despite the significant increase in registrations, we are happy to report that camp enrollment was at 38 percent capacity as of general public registration opening day on Wednesday," Schroeder said. "This leaves plenty of availability for those who have yet to register."