Open house Tuesday at GRCC

RUMFORD -- There will be an open house Tuesday at the Greater Rumford Community Center, with a variety of activities slated.

Program Director Bob Anderson said the 4-7 p.m. event will be an opportunity for the public to meet the flag football and soccer coaches. There will also be demonstrations by the gymnasts and martial arts. There will be a free throw shooting contest for grades K-12, refreshments and door prizes.

The Rumford Police Department will be offering Iris Scans at no charge from 4-6 p.m.

Anderson noted when the GRCC went to the town to get funding this year, as part of that support, they announced the all Rumford residents will have free memberships. And from Aug. 27-31, all out of town memberships will be offered at half price.

He is hoping these free and reduced memberships will lead to more traffic at their facility. "If we get more people in the door, we'll be able to offer more programs."

During the open house, as well as until Sept. 11, there will be signups for the following programs:

Gymnastics (pre-school to adult), karate (six to adult, starts Sept. 16), jujitsu (three different classes, starts Sept. 13), judo/karate with three different instructors, starts Sept. 11, flag football (K-3) and soccer (K-6).

Anderson said one of the martial arts instructors, Larry Whittington of Lewiston, will be offering a six-week course of grades 1-6 called Forestry, Farms & Animals, running from 4:45-5:15 p.m. on Tuesdays beginning on Sept. 12. This will include a tour of his farm and a braille trail he has developed. To cover the cost of the program, the entry fee is $20.

Anderson announced that in the fall, there will also be clinics offered for basketball (Ryan Casey) and baseball (Dan Garbarini).

He noted that throughout the fall, they will focus on youths in grades 3-8 with special events on Saturday nights. From 6-9 p.m., there will be events like dances, competitions and other things. If there is enough interest, perhaps there will be a night for high schoolers as well.

Once again, he said the idea is to generate more traffic at the GRCC.

Check out GRCC online at RumfordGRCC.com.