Arnold will cap off a weeklong celebration of the Recreation Center’s 20th anniversary with a birthday party at the facility’s outdoor pool.
The birthday party is open to the public and free to attend.
It will be held from 3-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at the rec center, 1695 Missouri State Road, in Arnold.
Along with free entry to the outdoor pool, the parks and rec staff will serve free hamburgers, hot dogs and birthday cake. Additional food and beverages will be available for purchase at the concession stand.
Additionally, a bubble machine will be on hand throughout the party.
“We are excited,” said Ajsa Roach, Parks and Recreation Department deputy director. “We couldn’t have done any of this without the support of the community and staff. It is just awesome, and we are super excited to celebrate 20 years.”
The rec center opened on Aug. 29, 2005, although the facility’s outdoor water park started operating on Aug. 20 that year. The city paid about $16 million for the 55,000-square-foot facility. In addition to the water park, the rec center includes an indoor pool, a walking track, gym, fitness equipment, conference/party room, meeting rooms and more.
Contests
Arnold will hold a series of free events starting Monday, Aug. 11, leading up to the party.
Roach said anyone who purchases a single-day pass between Monday and Friday will be entered into a drawing to win a one-year rec center membership.
In addition, daily scavenger hunts and three contests will be held during the celebration. People may enter the contests starting Monday.
One is a children’s coloring contest. Children may use crayons, markers or colored pencils and then submit their completed page featuring a three-tiered birthday cake over the caption “Anniversary 2005-2025 City of Arnold Parks and Recreation” until noon Friday. The submissions will be entered into one of three age groups: kindergarten and younger; first through fourth grade; and fifth through eighth grade. Entries will be judged on creativity, neatness, use of color and eye appeal, according to the contest rules. Only one entry per child will be allowed.
The other two contests are photo contests, and people may enter those through the Arnold Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page.
The first contest is a history photo contest. People will be asked to share their photos from past events, programs or daily visits to the rec center from the past 20 years.
The other photo contest calls for people to take a picture at one of two backdrops set up in the rec center. One backdrop will be near the indoor track at the end of the entry hallway, and the other will be in the lounge. People may submit as many pictures as they want on the Facebook page to enter the random drawings for those two contests. The winner of the history photo contest will receive a $25 gift card to Cracker Barrel, and the winner of the backdrop photo contest will receive a $25 rec center gift card.
The two photo contests run through Friday, and winners of all three contests will be announced on the Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page at noon Monday, Aug. 18.
“I’m so excited for the history contest,” Roach said. “I’ve been with the city since 2007. It will be nice to see the pictures of certain families that I have watched their children grow up. It will be fun to see the different events throughout the years.”
Free events
The free events kicked off this morning, when coffee and doughnuts were served at the rec center. Popcorn and water also were available for free from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the items will be distributed for free from 4-6 p.m. today as well.
On Tuesday, Aug. 12, cookies will be available for free at the outdoor pool. The rec center will charge admission to the pool that day with members entering for free.
Admission for those between the ages of 5 and 54 is $6, for those 55 and older it’s $5 and for children 4 and younger admission is free.
On Wednesday, Aug. 13, the city will offer free admission to the rec center’s indoor pool from 4-7:30 p.m. Also, visitors may spin a wheel to win a prize from 3-5 p.m. that day.
Roach said the prize wheel will be at the front desk, and those who spin it may win items like a T-shirt, cup, sunglasses and a free pass to the rec center.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, coffee and doughnuts will be served for free from 7-9 a.m. Freezer pops also will be handed out to outdoor pool customers that day.
Scavenger hunts will be held every day from Monday through Friday when people may search for two separate envelopes, each one containing two free passes to the rec center, as well as two other envelopes that each contain a signature birthday coin.
Roach said people may go to the Parks and Recreation Department Facebook page each day to find clues to where the envelopes are hidden throughout the rec center grounds, including the outdoor pool area, nearby gazebo and the Veterans Memorial.
“We’ve had a sign up front saying we will celebrate our birthday month in August since January,” she said. “As more information has come out, people have become more excited.
“I’m just excited to see people come and help us celebrate our birthday. We hope a lot of people will come.”
Roach said it will cost the city less than $1,000 to offer the weeklong celebration.