Perrysburg outlines 2025 summer recreation lineup; registration opens April 1 for residents

Perrysburg Parks & Recreation staff presented an overview of the department's summer 2025 programs and operational changes, including new activities, updated registration rules and hiring challenges.

Charles, speaking for Parks & Recreation, highlighted new offerings such as skateboarding camp, handball, bracelet making, rhythm and music, engineering design and a family game-show event. He said the department is experimenting with more single-day events and free offerings to broaden participation and encouraged use of the department website for the full schedule.

Staff described a change to T-shirt ordering: rather than bulk-buying thousands of shirts in advance, shirts will be an option tied to registration with requested sizes, a measure staff expects will reduce overbuying and lower costs. The department also plans to purchase a smart TV and document camera for classroom use and will require outside instructors (for camps such as glass art or skateboarding) to complete background checks this year.

Charles said registration opens April 1 for Perrysburg residents and April 15 for nonresidents. He also warned that hiring could be harder this year because student athletes are less able to commit to full summer schedules; his assistant director Josh joined staff in reviewing applications.

Committee members commended staff for improvements to the Summer Rec building and for the Rec Desk system, which staff said saved roughly 100 hours of staff time and costs about $6,500 annually. No formal motions or votes were taken; the discussion was informational.