Great Bend Recreation Commission Monthly Board Meeting
May 11, 2026
Old Business Items:
Reports
ENRICHMENT REPORTS- Garet Fitzpatrick, Enrichment /Activity Center Director
The following is a list of enrichment classes that were held during the month of April:
- Pre-School: I Love You Mommy
- Family: Imagination Playground, Family Saturday Craft, and Painting with Mom
- Elementary: Bunny Brushy Craft Studio, My Favorite Teacher, Mother’s Day Surprise, and Spring Craft Workshop.
- Adult: Colors of Spring, Watercolor Mornings, Acrylic Spring Pour Painting, Introduction to Fly Casting, and Mix it Up Mix Media Painting and Spring Door Decoration.
We didn’t have a lot of snow for our annual Snow Sculpture Facebook contest. We ended up with 10 sculptures with three winners randomly drawn to receive a gift package from the Great Bend Rec.
Wow, I didn’t know the Rec had so many jellybeans fans that followed our Facebook account. We offered our 2nd Annual Facebook Jellybean guessing jar contest. We ended up with 530 guesses this year. There were 624 Jellybeans in the jar. Tera Zecha was the winner with a guess of 627. Tera won the jar of jellybeans along with a $20 gift card donated by the Great Bend Rec.
Get your favorite lure ready and see how lucky it is to catch a tagged fish from Stone Lake or Vet’s Lake. With help from the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Dept, the Great Bend Rec will tag 20 fish at each Lake. The fish will be tagged in early May. Once the tagging has taken place the Great Bend Rec will announce it on our Facebook page.
If you catch a tagged fish, you will need to take a photo of the fish and you and e-mail it to the e-mail address (gfitzpatrick@gbrec.net) on the tag along with the tag number printed on the tag. Participants will receive an e-mail back within a couple of days informing them how to collect their prize. After taking the photo and getting the tag number you may cut the tag off and release the fish or keep it if you like.
Each tag number will be assigned a prize for that particular tag. In order to participate in this event, all participants must follow all the regulations and Kansas licensing requirements for fishing in the state of Kansas set by the Kansas Wildlife & Parks Department. Prizes will vary from gift cards, fishing tackle, outdoor gear, and more. These donations will be provided by the Great Bend Rec.
Summer is in full planning mode. Instructors and aides are secure (as of now). Materials are being ordered and organized for summer classes.
ENRICHMENT REPORTS: Enrichment, Aquatic, Marketing Director-Megan Hammeke:
- April Adaptive Activities:
- 4/7-4/28 – SN Bowling. 140 participants.
- 4/10 – Spring Dance. 60 participated in our annual event.
- 4/20 – DIY Terrarium – Craft Class. 12 enrolled for this craft class.
- 4/27 – Ceramics & Treats – Craft Class. 16 enrolled for this craft class.
- 4/30 – Easy Cooking. 18 enrolled for this cooking class.
April 50 Plus Activities:
- 4/8 – 50 Plus Craft Class. 8 enrolled for this craft class.
- 4/14 – Coffee & Craft Class. 7 enrolled for this craft class.
April Events:
- 4/12 - Grandma & Me Tea. 28 grandmothers, daughters, and grandchildren participate in our annual tea party.
May Adaptive & 50 Plus Activities:
- 5/6-5/27 – SN Bowling.
No other May programs are planned as we prepare for summer programs. March
April Activities:
- 4/6-4/29 – Fit for Life exercise Class met 11 times and had 414 participants.
- 4/6-4/30 – Midday Stretch met 16 times and had 233 participants.
- 4/6-4/29 – Yoga met 8 times and had 62 participants._
- 4/6-4/29 – Cardio Blast met 8 times and had 25 participants.
- 4/6-4/30 – Gentle Yoga met 8 times and had 127 participants in the 3pm class and met 8 times and had 106 participants in the 6:30 pm class.
- 4/7-4/30 – Chair Yoga met 8 times and had 169 participants.
- 4/6-4/30 – AM HIIT Suspension Training met 8 times and had 76 participants.
- 4/6-4/30 – Sunrise Yoga met 8 times and had 40 participants.
- 4/9-4/30 – Tai Chi Intermediate met 8 times and had 52 participants.
- 4/7-4/30 – Tai Chi Beginners met 4 times and had 25 participants.
- 4/7-4/30 – Rhythm Ride (PM) met 7 times and had 31 participants.
- 4/6-4/29 - Spin Strength Stretch met 8 times and had 3 participants.- 4/6-4/29 – Rhythm Ride (AM) met 8 times and had 77 participants.
May Activities:
The 2nd Spring session of Fitness classes began the week of April 9th & will end May 21st. Summer enrollment for Fitness classes began May 4th. We will once again offer Water Aerobics at the Wetlands Waterpark.
SPORTS REPORT-Shane Sandberg- Sports Director:
Lil’ Ballers instructional basketball ended on April 17th at the City Auditorium. During the final week we played scrimmage games instead of just doing drills and all participants really enjoyed the snacks and medals they received on the final night.
On April 18th we hosted a one-day Hap Dumont tournament at the Great Bend Sports Complex. 24 teams competed and games were played from 8am until 10pm and we received several compliments on the complex conditions. I always make sure to pass those comments onto the city workers who take care of it daily.
Baseball and Softball enrollment has ended. Teams have been formed, we have completed meetings with the coaches, and practices start Monday May 11th. After sending out a couple hundred text messages in the middle of April, we are busting at the seams with participants this year. We have almost 100 T-Ball boys enrolled and that pushed us up to 8 teams in that league. Every other league through 5th-6th grade has at least 4 teams in it and we will have to use all Veterans Memorial Park fields along with the complex this Summer.
Our 13-15-year-old boys will have 2 teams in the travel rec league with Hoisington, Ellinwood, Ellsworth, and Russell again. Due to Ellinwood trying to get the 13-15-year-old girls’ league back up and running again this year, we did not have quite enough players for 3 teams in our league. They could not find any other opponents, so we decided to collaborate with 2 Great Bend teams, 1 Ellinwood team, and 1 Great Bend/Ellinwood hybrid team. We will play doubleheaders twice a week just like the boys that age do.
Attendance Report- Joe Henry, Business Director:
In the month of February, there were 2,497 people enrolled in programs sponsored by the Recreation Commission. Total participation for the month was 11,883 and of that total, 3,191 were spectators. For the month, a total of 1,544 hours of supervised activities were offered.
Last year there were 2,238 people enrolled in programs with participation of 10,534 and included 3,957 spectators.
NEW BUSINESS: Chris Umphres, Executive Director
1. Request for Renewal: Action Item
Great Bend Recreation Commission’s health and dental insurance contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas will be renewed on July 1, 2026.
The Recreation Commission health insurance plan is a non-grandfathered plan in the national small business pool. This pool includes high to minimal risk for small businesses and individuals. The Recreation Commission complies with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act for this employee health benefit.
2. Golf Course Architect Services: Action Item
The next phase of the Golf Course Project is to have the Golf Architect start working on construction documents. The foundation approved this process within the scope of duties using private funds in the foundation. The Commission will need to formally approve this quote/document since it is being executed on Commission property and on behalf of the Commission.
3. Golf Course Architect Irrigation Services: Action Item
The next phase of the Golf Course Irrigation is to have the Irrigation Architect start working on construction documents. The foundation approved this process within the scope of duties using private funds in the foundation. This is just the document needed for bidding and construction. The Commission will need to formally approve this quote/document since it is being executed on Commission property and on behalf of the Commission.
4. Golf Course Maintenance Building Remodel: Action Item
The Golf Course Maintenance Building is going to stay in its current location and will be where the superintendent and grounds staff will be located. This building had damaged siding and roof panels. The insulation was either missing or damaged in most of the building. The exterior windows, entry doors and garage doors are all damaged. I was able to get a quote from Mpire Improvements to replace everything and include a new concrete pad for a mower wash off bay. The foundation approved this process within the scope of duties using private funds in the foundation. The Commission will need to formally approve this quote/document since it is being executed on Commission property and on behalf of the Commission.