It is hard to beat the fall season in Centre County, with the cool crisp weather and beautiful fall foliage. Centre Region Parks and Recreation offers many opportunities for people in the area be active and enjoy it all.
“So much of the fall season in this area revolves around football, and that’s great,” said recreation supervisor Beth Lee, “but we want to offer a people a chance to get outside and see what else the area has to offer.”
Along with a multitude of ongoing wellness programs, CRPR has a few big upcoming fall events.
From 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, CRPR will be holding a nature walk in Millbrook Marsh with a naturalist. It will give participants a chance to observe the seasonal changes that take place at the marsh, and then take the information home so they can identify the changes in their own backyards, said Lee.
Also upcoming for the organization is the 70th annual downtown Halloween Costume Parade at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30. This State College tradition offers multiple prizes for different costume categories, including tiny tots (age 2 and younger), movie characters, group costumes and more. New this year is a category for people dressed in costumes themed after their favorite apps or websites, such as Pokemon or Minecraft.
“This is such a long-standing community tradition; we have people who walked in this parade when they were younger and now are bringing their grandkids,” said Lee. “The creativity of the costumes is always so much fun to see.”
On Thursday, Oct. 27, CRPR is offering a bus trip to Grove City to visit the outlets and other shops in the area. Lee said the trip is open to all ages and offers a chance to get some holiday shopping started early.
Also new this fall for CRPR is a 7,000-square-foot senior center in the Nittany Mall, which will replace the current center. Opening soon, the large new center will be able to offer many new programs and services for seniors in the area.
Most of the organized recreation and fitness programs that CRPR offers, such as Zumba, yoga classes and sports leagues, are currently in progress, but the new sessions start in early November.
“Starting in November offers people a chance to get moving and help them stay active leading into the holiday season, so it’s a great time to do one of these programs,” said Lee.
Along with the fitness and sports programs, the organization offers book clubs, computer education classes, arts and crafts and other passive activity classes to engage the mind as well as the body.
“We like to encourage people to have well-balanced wellness with our many different activities,” said Lee.
For more information, visit www.crpr.org.
