Well, kids, we still have a good month to go before school starts again — plenty of time to explore classes and camps offered in Hood River County, from swimming to STEAM.
Open swim and lifeguard trainings
Hood River Aquatic Center hosts $1 open swims from 1-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and from 6-8 p.m. on Fridays. Regular open swims are additionally held Mondays from 1-5 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Tuesdays from 1-5 p.m.; Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 1-5 p.m.; and Friday from 1-5 p.m.
Junior Lifeguard session one runs July 29 through Aug. 9, and session two from Aug. 19-30. To register, students must be 11-14 years old, be able to swim one pool length of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke, be able to tread water for one minute and to swim underwater 10 yards. The classes run Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays are at Waterfront Park. Students will receive first aid/CPR certification upon successful completion of the course.
A complete pool schedule can be found at hoodriverparksandrec.org/aquatic-center-schedule.
Community Ed
Interested in engineering? Kids ages 11-14 can attend “Hands on Engineering” Aug. 13-15 at the Wy’east Middle School STEAM lab. Students will use a combination of mechanical, electrical and software engineering to learn how to design, assemble and program their own project.
There are also a number of sports camps, from youth cheerleading (grades 2-7) to sailing and watersports (ages 10-18) to volleyball (grades 1-5, 6-8 and 9-12), all of which happen in August. For a schedule, visit www.hoodriver.k12.or.us /Domain/751; from there, you can see a PDF of the current Community Ed catalog.
Summer reading programs
All Hood River County Library branches host summer reading programs through Aug. 17 — that’s the date of the Unity Picnic, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Hood River library branch. All are welcome.
At the Hood River library branch, it’s The Zaniac on Aug. 7 at 5:30 p.m. — described as “comedy that defies description with Alex Zerbe.” The Zaniac will also be at the Parkdale branch that day at 2 p.m.
It’s Reptile Man on Aug. 7 at 2:30 p.m. at the Cascade Locks Elementary School gym. And on Aug. 10 at 11 a.m., patrons can make customized bookmarks at the Cascade Locks library site.
Bookmarks are the scheduled program Aug. 9 beginning at 11 a.m. at the Parkdale library branch.
In Odell at the Mercado del Valle, it’s music by Los Amigos de la Sierra on Aug. 8 and La Misteriosa Banda 360 on Aug. 22. The market runs from 4-6 p.m. A community popup library also takes place on Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. at the Wy’east Community Church, where patrons are able to check out and return items, register for library cards and access wifi and the internet — as well as make copies and participate in craft activities and board games.
For teens, there’s an overnight lock-in Aug. 3-4 beginning at 8 a.m., a teen movie marathon (“Shazam!” and “Captain Marvel”) on Aug. 8 at 3 p.m., and “Bath Bomb Making in the Garden” on Aug. 10 at 1 p.m., all at the Hood River branch.
For a full list of activities, visit hoodriverlibrary.org/events.
“Summer reading would not be possible without the generous support of Andrews Pizza & Skylight Theater, Blue Canoe Cafe, Cascade Locks Ale House, Cicci Gelato, Dog River Coffee, Egg River Cafe, Friends of the Library, G. Williker’s Toy Shoppe, Gorge Kitchen, Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District, Locks of Dogs and Treats, Mike’s Ice Cream, Pine Street Bakery, Solera Brewery and Sparking Creations,” said a library press release.
All programs are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Hood River County Library District at 541-386-2535 or info@hoodriverlibrary.org.
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