The Rec opens for the season in Detroit Lakes; more kids needed, staff says

Young adult staff members at The Rec in Detroit Lakes gathered Monday to open the free, summer recreation program aimed at entertaining kids throughout the summer.

The only problem, they need more kids to come and hang out, according to Rec staff members.

"I don't know if many parents know about it anymore," said Zack Oistad, a staff member at The Rec, which is on North Shore Drive, near the Washington Avenue Ballpark in City Park.

Oistad graduated from Detroit Lakes High School in 2021 and works at The Rec with Alex Bettcher, incoming senior, and Mason Omberg, incoming junior. The staff said they remember just five, or six, years ago it wouldn't be uncommon to see around 50 kids out there everyday.

"We could get anywhere from 17 to 45, or 50, kids in the morning, or afternoon, it just depends on what the kids are doing, and the group and stuff like that," said Dave Harman, youth and adult sports director at the Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center. "So it's really a unique program because its free for all those kids. But it is geared toward more 9 to 10-year-olds, and up, the kids that can really take care of themselves."

The staff members said they feel part of the decline in The Rec's popularity in recent years has been the rise of the video game sensation: Fortnite.

"The last couple of years, it's been Fortnite, Fortnite, Fortnite," said Oistad. "They come here and talk about it, and I think one kid would bring his iPad and just sit in (the building) and play the mobile version, it's bad."

Alex Bettcher said she thinks The Rec provides a necessary time away from electronics.

"I think it's a good spot to get away from electronics, and all that stuff, and have fun with your friends," said Bettcher.

Harman also said one of the goals of The Rec is to give kids options with how they want to spend their days during the summer. Youth leaders could be organizing a basketball game for a group one minute and taking a group of kids disc golfing the next, he said.

"It is just one of those really unique things that Detroit Lakes has done for years … especially nowadays, when we're just coming off the pandemic and also with all the interaction (the kids) have had to do onscreen, it's just going to be great," said Harman. "It gives parents an avenue to say, 'no, you can go over to Rec and I know you can find something to do for a couple hours.'"

The Rec is open from 9 a.m. noon, and 1 to 4 p.m. everyday during the week, unless it rains. It features sports equipment that can be checked out, or other fun things, like pogo sticks or a ping-pong set.

"What's better than playing games for a job?" said Mason Omberg. "I used to come here because I know my dad came here a long time ago, and a whole bunch of my friends started coming, and I just stayed."

The staffers shared their stories about how their parents hung out at The Rec when they were younger and it seems like a tradition they wanted to pass done to them. Looking around the building, signatures still line the walls from staffers, and kids, who attended The Rec from more than 30 years ago.

Bikes would always fill the rack, the staffers said, when they were younger and some would even bike across from the other side of the lake to hang out at The Rec with other kids, but those traditions seems to be on the way out.

One of the coolest things about The Rec, staff members said, is the beat up, handwritten record book that has kept the area's best scores for a variety of activities for multiple decades.

For example, Tanner Schnorthorst set a pogo stick record of 10,001 consecutive jumps in 2009, which has yet to be broken 12 years later. He also set a no-handed pogo stick record of 900 consecutive jumps in 2010 that also still stands.

There are also records for running around the block, doing wall sits, consecutive volleys with a ping-pong paddle and ball and most bounces on inflatable hippity-hop, among others.

"We run a variety of different programs and games over there," said Harman. "But, it's also kind of unique because kids can come, and leave, when they want. It's not a sign in, where you'd have to be there all day."

Harman also said The Rec is great for the kids of tourists visiting the lake over the summer because, if their kids don't want to spend the afternoon on a boat, they can always find fun things to do outside with kids their own age at The Rec.

Oistad said he has kept in contact with many friends that he originally met at The Rec and felt it was a great place to make those connections.

"Make it fun, make it exciting, get out of the house," said Oistad. "I'm trying to do what the old staff members did for me when I used to come here."

• Send your local story tips to Michael at machterling@dlnewspapers.com and follow him on Twitter @machterling .

1/2: Mason Omberg, left, Detroit Lakes High School junior and staff member at The Rec, plays ping-pong at The Rec with Gus Okeson, 13, on June 7, 2021. The Rec opened for the summer on June 7, but needs more kids to attend the morning and afternoon activities to make them more fun, staff members said. The Rec is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Michael Achterling / Tribune)

2/2: Mason Omberg, right, Detroit Lakes High School junior and staff member at The Rec, plays ping-pong at The Rec with Gus Okeson, 13, on June 7, 2021. The Rec opened for the summer on June 7, but needs more kids to attend the morning and afternoon activities to make them more fun, staff members said. The Rec is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Michael Achterling / Tribune)