The town of Clay and other central-New York communities took a collaborative approach to virtual recreation
As COVID-19 left a wake of canceled events last summer, a small New York town took a new approach to recreation, offering skateboarding lessons, tours of Yellowstone, and riverside concerts.
Any resident of Clay, N.Y., safely enjoy these recreational programs thanks to the town’s Virtual Recreation Center. As the state established its guidelines regarding the pandemic, Clay’s Parks and Recreation Department responded with this approach to keep residents engaged and safe.
James Muscatello, the recreation director of the town of Clay took on his new position Feb. 19 and had to adjust quickly to the pressing situation. All the summer programs he began working on were thrown out the window as he and his staff pivoted to the digital space.
“We wouldn’t do anything if we didn’t believe we could do it safely,” Muscatello says. “So, the most difficult thing was canceling our free summer day camp because it would have been very difficult to do safely. It hurt not to do because so many people rely on it.”