Sterling Recreation Center's annual Trick or Treat Street event has a new location this year. It will be held at Riverview Golf Course on Halloween, Oct. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m.

"Brent offered it up, so we thought we would give it a try," Recreation Superintendent Monty Waite told the Parks, Library and Recreation Board about at their regular meeting Monday, noting that the new location will allow the rec center not to have to close on a Sunday.

The theme for this year is "Hocus Pocus." Waite said the event will take place inside and possibly on holes one and two.

The rec center staff will also join the City of Sterling in participating in Logan County Chamber of Commerce's Trick or Treat on Main Street, which will be held Friday, Oct. 29, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in downtown Sterling. Trick-or-treaters will be asked to follow the arrows and travel in one direction only.

Additionally, the PLR Department is planning a 5K run/walk on Monday, Oct. 25, to show off the new solar lights at the Kiwanis Fishing Pond.

Krull Park, at Franklin and Dawes Street, will soon be getting a new playground. It was reported at a Sterling Parks, Library and Recreation Board meeting Monday that crews will be tearing out the current playground later this week or next week and the new playground is expected to arrive the first week of December. (Courtesy photo)

During division updates, Kay Rich, Overland Trail Museum curator, invited the board to attend a Logan County Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event on Oct. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the museum, welcoming new city manager Kevin Blankenship.

She also shared the next History Café will be Nov. 27 and the topic is Victorian Mourning and Spiritualism, the Sound of Music Tea is sold out, the Hanging of the Greens will take place on Nov. 20, Christmas on the Prairie open houses will be Dec. 6, 13 and 20 and Blue Santa will be Dec. 4.

Additionally, she told the board the museum has been working with the state preservation office to repatriate some human bones that were donated. The preservation office brought out their Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act official and they are taking the bones and returning them to tribes to be buried.

Rich also shared some "fun donations" they've received recently, including a bench from the music room at the Henderson House and five bronze sculptures representing prairie women, which will be introduced in a program at the beginning of 2022. The museum also received some paintings donated by Brigitte Shafer, a local artist, which will be a backdrop for the new Summit Springs Exhibit.

She also thanked the Chamber for giving them billboard space along Interstate 76.

Sterling Public Library Superintendent Sandy Van Dusen reported Crafty Corner is running the second Monday of each month from 3:30 to 5 p.m. They will be serving their annual veterans lunch on Nov. 10, entry forms are out now for this year's Parade of Trees and their annual Christmas open house will be Dec. 21.

Additionally, the library received $7,200 from the American Rescue Plan and part of the funding will be used to purchase a new AWE station, which is a computer that is preloaded with programs for children. SPL already has two and the children love them. The new station will have different programs than the ones the library currently has.

Van Dusen also shared that during National Library Card Sign Up Month, in September, the library made 25 new cards and 27 people came in and replaced a lost card.

Waite introduced Cody Scherer, the new aquatics supervisor at the rec center and informed the board the company the rec center uses to winterize the outdoor pool is short-staffed, so rec center staff are moving to plan B and trying to figure out how to do it themselves. The indoor pool remains open with open swims Fridays from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and lap swim/water walking Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with open swim following from 1 to 5 p.m.

"Cody is working very diligently on getting some swim lessons up and rolling. We have a list of about 200 people that weren't able to get in during the summer, trying to work around sports schedules and kids' schedules and seeing what we can get pulled out," Waite said.

Youth girls volleyball is wrapping up, youth basketball is open for enrollment through the end of October. They also have registration open now for $50 wallyball, indoor/outdoor pickleball and racquetball leagues. Plus, they are looking at starting a youth boys volleyball league based on interest in Sterling and the surrounding communities.

"We're working with coach (Lisa) Schumacher, some of those at the high school to try to get the parameters and that kind of stuff set up, to see if we can get that going in between basketball and baseball season," Waite said.

Lastly, Parks, Cemetery and Forestry Superintendent Jamie Ulrich reported the parks crews are winding down on spraying and mowing for the year. They have put in three new granite benches at the columbarium at Riverside Cemetery, all of which were donated, and are in the process of getting irrigation changed over to electric valves, so that they will be able to water at night instead of the day, because with the number of people out there on a regular basis it is hard for them to water during the day.

Ulrich also reported crews will be tearing out the playground at Krull Park later this week or next week. A new playground, paid for with Colorado Lottery funding, is expected to arrive the first week of December. There will also be a playground for younger children placed where the swing set used to be, "to make it a little more user friendly for the residents over there," he said.

His crews also hope to start removing the dead trees from the Third Avenue islands next week weather pending, or the first part of November.

Ulrich was asked if they had seasonal help this summer, he said they did but it was the least amount of seasonal help he's ever had apply.