Cecily Hall, who lives in Nelsonville, is the new director of the Philipstown Recreation Department.
How long have you been with the Recreation Department?
Ten years. As a recreation leader, I organized programs for seniors, children and adults. I also was able to integrate my background with fitness and wellness and develop my own classes. During the pandemic, I worked for a school in the city doing event and program coordinating and continued to teach here. Then, in 2022, I was pulled back in as interim director. You come here because you want to work with people. Each day, I say hello to the preschool kids, get to teach with the adults, get to see my seniors in their art classes and get to teach them as well. That’s the reward.
What’s your most popular program?
Summer camp has always been our biggest draw. Typically, we have 200 kids, but we expanded because of demand, so it’s 225 to 240 this year. The price is the best around, there’s so much activity and we’re all outdoors. We’re in the sprinklers, we’re out playing gaga, they do gym time. The teen travel group goes to the city, plays paintball and goes to the movies. That demand is higher because more teens want in and parents love the idea of their teens being here. It’s safe, they’re busy and not home on their electronics all day, and they’re with peers.
With the expansion, do you still have a waitlist?
Not so much early in the summer, but later. Many families know that our last week of camp has a big carnival with waterslides and games, so there’s a huge waitlist that week. But we’ve culled that down. As the summer progresses, people make changes in their travel plans, so they’ll take their kids out of camp and kids on the list will move in.
Any other changes?
There are more families with young children, so Lindsay, our office manager, spearheaded a huge social media push for family events. Family movie night was huge in the spring. We do a family dinner and bingo. We’re excited about the new pavilion [at the town park]. We’re waiting now to drill water lines. We want to have a community event where we can celebrate the opening. We’ve also started pushing more park usage. People know about the soccer fields, but we also have football and, on the south side, basketball and pickleball.
How does the recreation director recreate?
What’s most important to me is being active with my two kids. We hike, we walk, we exercise together each week. I also hike, run and teach my classes. That’s my therapy.
