People of all ages spent a day playing
By Rhea Wawrzyniak
Word Count: 681
Story #3
Story #3
 By Rhea Wawrzyniak |
“Welcome to World Wide Day of Play 2010” read the archway entrance to World Wide Day of Play held by the City of Bemidji Parks and Recreation Department at the Waterfront sending out the message “Come play with us!” |
Feel the sun beating down, with the cool breeze hitting your face, what to do with this day?
The day will go on, rain or shine, said Samantha Parker, special events coordinator. Fortunately for the participants, however, the sun was shining Saturday, Sept. 25th when Bemidji celebrated the World Wide Day of Play. The day began with a 9:00 a.m. bike ride and the day continued at the Waterfront from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The recreation department has been giving residents more options to get active, including The Day of Play which was initially started by Nickelodeon.
This is actually the second year Bemidji has had this event. Last year it was called the “Active Living Health Carnival.”
The bike ride consisted of about 49 bikers. The bikers took two routes, one that is shorter for families with kids, and the other one went around the lake for the more experienced bikers. “The bike ride was great,” said Matthew Dyrdahl, with active living. “It was actually a really comfortable ride, because there was no rain coming down on people, but it was kind of a nice cool ride, I think people really enjoyed it!”
“It’s not very often you get to ride on the road with a crowd,” said a participant in the morning bike, Eric Seefeld.
 By Rhea Wawrzyniak |
| There were many short classes available to try out in the tent during the day. These classes included dance classes and fitness crazes. Shown in the photo above is Zumba for kids. |
A lot of helmets sold for a good price, so people that didn’t have helmets before have them now. Also a lot of shirts and water bottles were given away. “We are just trying to promote bicycling as a safe and fun transportation option,” said Dyrdahl.
About 300 wristbands sold at $5.00 each, and the wristbands allowed you to do all the activities and new fitness crazes. About 600 people attended according to Parker.
It was the first time at World Wide Day of Play for Brandy Barber. Brandy came to the waterfront with her family, and as she was watching her kids canoeing she shared that her favorite activities so far are paintballing, archery range, and the canoeing for her kids. Brandy Barber will definitely come again. “It’s fantastic, I didn’t think they were going to have so many things,” said Barber.
Samantha Parker brought in Positive Motion in from Fargo to be part of the World Wide Day of Play. “Positive Motion is a mind body fitness program where we encourage, inspire and motivate people to live happier and healthier lives,” said Positive Motion representative Patrick Kasper.
 By Rhea Wawrzyniak |
There were many booths to visit at the Waterfront including dance booths, activity booths, and fitness and health booths. These booths help the community become aware and involved in various activities. |
A lot of other fitness crazes encouraged people to be active including Zumba, Yoga, and Bootcamp, from various workout studios. There were many dance techniques and dancing from the dance studios. There were also workouts and conditioning from Bemidji State University Gillett.
Also the first time at World Wide Day of Play for Kortni Cloud, age 11, and she shared what she did so far. “I did canoeing, I’ve done paintballing, I did that push button game, and I played on the blow up toys,” said Cloud. Out of all the things she did so far paintballing was her favorite and she would for sure come back again!
World Wide Day of Play will be an annual event encouraging you to put a little play into your day!
 By Rhea Wawrzyniak |
| There were many sponsors to thank, that made this event possible! |
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