The opportune moment to finally learn that new skill or pick up that new hobby you’ve been procrastinating on for who knows how long has finally arrived—at least, as long as said activity doesn’t break social-distance protocols.
While the primary demographic for the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department’s online educational video series is the city’s youth (in response to the closure of public schools), community members of all ages can take advantage of the series’ enrichment programs.
By initiating the series, the department has joined a nationwide movement, explained Dennis Smitherman, the department’s recreation services manager.
“The city of Santa Maria works closely with hundreds of recreation and parks agencies, not only in the state of California, but also nationally through CPRS (California Parks and Recreation Society) and NRPA (National Recreation and Parks Association),” Smitherman told the Sun. “Many of our colleagues started to produce a variety of programming online. It has definitely been a large-scale effort across the U.S.”
The new series—available for free on the department’s YouTube channel—features several step-by-step arts and crafts activities. Featured projects include origami projects with instructor Diego Sanchez-Zamora and a seasonable egg hatchling craft—just in time for Easter—with instructor Liz Escalante. One factor that makes the projects easily accessible is the required materials, which are mostly minimal: paper, scissors, and glue cover the basic essentials.
The series isn’t limited to crafting however, as other videos encourage viewers to learn a variety of skills and hobbies from the comfort of their own home. Learning a new musical instrument, for example, might be the perfect cure for cabin fever during this period of shelter in place (“the only prescription is more cowbell”). Viewers of the series can take advantage of free music lessons from instructor Joe Payne (former managing editor of the Sun), who hosts intimate, introductory courses on guitar and piano.
Despite the video format of these lessons and demos, the point of the series is actually to reduce the amount of screen time its viewers spend in the long run, Smitherman said.
“The concept behind these videos is to encourage our communities’ youth and youth across the U.S. to put down the phone, tablet, or remote control and continue to be creative, physical, and studious,” he said.
But the series isn’t limited to stay-at-home activities either, as other educational videos encourage the community to take advantage of the city’s parks during this time—but respectfully and within appropriate social distance norms, Smitherman said.
“Our hope is that everyone will do their part in social distancing when at the parks, wash their hands, and avoid unnecessary exposure risks,” Smitherman said, “so our community can get back to all the great activities and programs that make our community a great place to play, live, and work.”
Hosted by the department’s education coordinator, Susan Tuttle, one specific set of videos is geared to keep the public informed on the parks, the various wildlife that inhabit them, and these animals’ beneficial impact on the parks’ ecosystems.
“We have such a large diversity of ecosystems all within miles of each other. The oaks, hills, and trails of Los Flores Ranch; the rocky, somewhat flat terrain of the riverbed; the pond at Jim May Park,” Smitherman said. “And of course all the green space open areas within the rest of the city’s parks—there really is a park or two for everyone.”
Send Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood more cowbell at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2020.
