Great Bend Recreation Commission Monthly Board Meeting
Oct. 12, 2026
Old Business Items:
Reports
ENRICHMENT REPORTS- Garet Fitzpatrick, Enrichment /Activity Center Director
My BackYard playground was the place to be on Friday, Sept. 25. Great Bend-Brit Spaugh Zoo was on hand for a free animal presentation that started at 10:00 am and lasted approximately 30 minutes. We had appositely 70 total people attend the program and enjoyed a cool morning on My BackYard playground.
If you enjoy painting, socializing, and eating, we have just the class for you. Paint, Dine & Unwind was held on Thursday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Rec. Participants are encouraged to bring any type of painting materials from acrylics and watercolor to texture mediums. We also ordered Pizza for lunch. We ended up with 10 participants.
The catch tagged fish continues with 12 fish left in each Vet’s Lake and Stone Lake for our Fish Tagging program that will run until all the fish are caught.
Let’s play BINGO. Meet us at the Rec and have some fun playing BINGO with your kids and win some prizes. We’ll even supply donuts and drinks. A parent or grandparent needs to accompany each child to class. We’re offering two opportunities one Friday, Oct. 2 (7 participants) or Saturday, Oct. 10 with both days starting at 9:30 a.m.
Experience the spectacular fall migration at Cheyenne Bottoms on a guided 2-hour birdwatching van tour with the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. Learn basic birdwatching while searching for thousands of migrating shorebirds and waterfowls. Binoculars and field guides provided. Children must be accompanied by at least one adult. Other birdwatching tours will be provided during the fall months through KWEC. Check wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu for details. This Tour left from the Great Bend Recreation Activity Center parking lot located at 2715 18th St. on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. and returned at 11:30 a.m. The fee is $5.00 per person.
Once again, this fall we will be offering free drop in Stop N Learn programs starting at Noon at the Activity Center. This years program include: Flu Shots (Oct. 7), Fall Prep For Spring Landscapes (Oct. 7), Bonding Thru Board Games (Oct. 14), Safe Sleep Recommendations for Parents & Grandparents (Oct. 21), Community Developmental Disability Organization (Oct. 28), Hidden In the Plains Sights: Recognizing Human Trafficking in Rural KS (Nov. 11), Basic First Aid & Stop the Bleed (Nov. 18), and Documents needed for Tax Season (Dec. 16).
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, we hosted our staff training for our enrichment staff for fall. During this training we introduced staff, highlight our staff expectations, and reviewed policies and procedures.
ENRICHMENT REPORTS: Enrichment, Aquatic, Marketing Director-Megan Hammeke:
September Adaptive Activities:
9/1-9/29 – SN Bowling. Bowling met 5 times and had 172 participate in the weekly bowling program.
September 50 Plus Activities:
9/22-23 – Defensive Driving. We had 10 participants take this 2-day course offered by the GBRC and facilitated by Steve Billinger, Barton County Sheriffs Office.
There was no other September activities planned as we began preparing for our Fall programming.
October Adaptive Activities:
10/6-10/27 – SN Bowling
10/8 – Easy Cooking – Pumpkin
10/14 – Pumpkin Decorating
10/16 – SN Halloween Dance
10/28 – Fall Acorn
October 50 Plus Activities:
10/7 – 50 Plus Craft
10/15 – Coffee & Craft – Fall Acorn
10/30 – Halloween Party at the Senior Center
September Activities:
8/31-10/2 – Fit for Life exercise Class met 14 times and had 468 participants.
8/31-10/1 – Midday Stretch met 19 times and had 263 participants.
8/31-9/30 – Yoga met 8 times and had 54 participants.
8/31-9/30 – Cardio Blast met 8 times and had 22 participants.
8/31-10/1 – Gentle Yoga met 9 times and had 106 participants in the 3pm class and met 10 times and had 55 participants in the 6:30 pm class.
8/31-9/30 – Chair Yoga met 9 times and had 198 participants.
8/31-9/30 – AM HIIT Suspension met 9 times and had 65 participants.
9/1-10/1 – Sunrise Yoga met 10 times and had 58 participants.
9/1-10/1 – Tai Chi Intermediate met 10 times and had 41 participants.
9/3-10/1 – Tai Chi Beginners met 5 times and had 46 participants.
9/1-10/1 – AM Rhythm Ride met 10 times and had 49 participants.
8/31-9/30 - Spin Strength Stretch met 9 times and had 36 participants.
8/31-9/30 – PM Rhythm Ride met 8 times and had 37 participants.
October Activities:
The next session of Fitness classes began the week of Oct. 5. Below is a list of offered Fitness classes:
Fit for Life & 50 Plus & Fit
AM HIIT Suspension Training
Sunrise Yoga, Yoga, Chair Yoga & Gentle Yoga
Cardio Blast
Midday Stretch & Strength and Spin Strength Stretch
AM & PM Rhythm Ride
Tai Chi Beginners & Intermediate
SPORTS REPORT-Shane Sandberg- Sports Director:
Instructional Outdoor Soccer finished on Sept. 24. We had 32 participants this year, the exact same number as last year. Instructional Indoor Soccer starts Oct. 20, and we will have a record breaking 69 participants split into 2 classes.
1st and 2nd Grade Instructional Volleyball also finished on September 24th. We had 27 girls in the class this year and they practiced for 3 weeks and then had scrimmage matches during the final week. 3rd through 6th Grade Elementary Volleyball started September 29th and there are 49 girls participating. They practice twice during the week and play scrimmage games on Saturday mornings.
K – 6th Grade Flag Football will be playing championship games on Tuesday 10/13 and Thursday 10/15. The season was scheduled to finish the week before that, but some lighting and weather challenges caused several dates to be rescheduled. The 1st/2nd place games in all 3 leagues should be very competitive.
K – 8th Grade Outdoor Soccer still has a few weeks left to play. Championship games are scheduled to be played on 10/24. We had one week that we had to have a late start and had to postpone a few dates due to the rain over the last couple weeks of September.
The 1st Fall session for Adult Volleyball will be wrapped up by the end of October and session 2 will start in the second week of November. We have 22 teams participating in the 1st session and 2 of our new teams still have a shot a winning their respective league.
Attendance Report- Joe Henry, Business Director:
In the month of September, there were 1,651 people enrolled in programs sponsored by the Recreation Commission. Total participation for the month was 16,299 and of that total, 6,884 were spectators. For the month, a total of 1,426 hours of supervised activities were offered.
Last year there were 1,916 people enrolled in programs with total participation of 17,461 and included 8,025 spectators.
The slight year-over-year decrease in attendance is due to Coed Softball activity in September 2025, but none during September 2026.
NEW BUSINESS: Chris Umphres, Executive Director
1. Commission Member Appointment: Information Item
This year a school position is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2026. Colleen Newman currently holds this position. She is eligible to be re-appointed to the Commission Member school position for a second term.
To fill a vacancy on the board resulting from expiration of term, “a successor shall be selected to fill such vacancy in the same manner as for the unexpired term of the member such person is succeeding in accordance with Kansas Statutes, K.S.A. 12-1926.
The School District and City will follow their procedures for appointing a new Recreation Commission member.
The Recreation Commission’s By-Laws allows the Recreation Commission to make a recommendation of no more than two names to the appointing agency to fill this expired term. The appointing agency is under no obligation to honor this recommendation. A notification letter will be sent to the School District and the City of the vacancy and any recommendation. The Commission Member at Large position is voted on by the Board.
2. Appointments & Designations: Action Item
The Recreation Commission shall approve appointments/designations for the fiscal period of 2026-2027. This was done at the July meeting prior to Vandy’s retirement. The duties and guidelines of these appointments are prescribed in KSA 10-803, KSA 10-805, KSA10-1118. Alyssa Satterthwaite would resume those positions.
3. Golf Course Project Lease: Action Item
Pursuant to K.S.A. 12-1928(l), the Great Bend Recreation Commission has the statutory authority to acquire title to the golf course property.
Additionally, K.S.A. 12-1928(h) and (m) provide authority for the Commission to enter into lease agreements for real property, subject to a term not exceeding ten (10) years and approval by the USD 428 Board of Education, as applicable.
The purpose of the proposed lease financing would be to fund capital improvements necessary to complete the golf course project and enhance recreational facilities and services at th