Every year, Auburn Parks and Recreation hosts an action-packed summer event to allow residents of all ages to enjoy Auburn with unique outdoor events and activities.
Parks and Recreation has filled their schedule with a variety of events, both wet and dry, to keep residents busy until Friday, Aug. 22. Event fees are cheap and an adult must accompany children at events.
"Most of Parks and Recreation events are extremely family friendly, but there are a lot of great events for students to enjoy as well," said Meg Rainey, public relations specialist for Parks and Recreation. "One of the favorite parts of what we get to do is putting on community events and coming up with a variety of events that appeal to all interests and ages."
The Auburn City Pools opened for the summer on Monday, May 26; this includes the Samford Pool and the Drake Pool (which has an admission fee of $2).
Duck Samford Park will sponsor a free Summer Outdoor Movie Series. Guests are invited to watch an outdoor movie on select Friday evenings at 8:30 p.m., including an exclusive "Frozen" sing-along on Friday, July 11, and "Rudy" on Aug. 8. Visitors are welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs.
The SummerNight Downtown Art Walk located in Downtown Auburn on Sunday, June 13, from 6-9:30 p.m. will include a free block party with an artistic flair. Guests can enjoy music, art, late night shopping, dining and children's activities. The Art Walk has been popular and could be the start of a new Auburn tradition, according to Rainey.
"SummerNight strives to bring the community together and take advantage of the arts in a creative downtown atmosphere," said Sara Custer, SummerNight co-coordinator. "We create an environment where the arts are accessible to everyone. If you are an artist, baker or would like to volunteer, applications can be found at auburnarts.org and auburnalabama.org/arts."
The fifth annual Day in the Clay on Monday, June 28 will give Auburn residents the chance to get their hands dirty at the Dean Road Ceramics Studio inside the Dean Road Recreation Center from 1-4 p.m. Day in the Clay is a free open house event including tours of the studio, demonstrations and the opportunity to participate in hands-on clay creation for $10.
"I think it's a great advantage to live in Auburn [and] to have all of these opportunities," said Art and Education Specialist Cari Cleckler. "It's important for me to let not only kids have an outlet, but recent implants. We have a couple of people in our studio that have moved across the country who have been able to join our studio as a way of not only socialization, but also a creative outlet. Things like Day in the Clay where fathers and sons, moms and children, grandparents and children come to do something for a couple of hours that doesn't cost an arm and a leg."
The annual Fourth of July celebration is sponsored by Briggs & Stratton Corp. which spends $10,000 every year for the display.
Gates will open at 6 p.m. behind the home-side of Duck Samford Stadium followed by live music at 7 p.m. and fireworks at 9 p.m.
The Farewell Summer Block Party and Outdoor Summer Movie sponsored by Chick-fil-A on Magnolia Avenue will take place at Town Creek Park on Friday, Aug. 1 at 6 p.m.
There will be a free concert and the movie "The Blind Side" will be featured.
The event is held in conjunction with the sales tax holiday weekend, so there will be several giveaways and coupons, according to Rainey.
"Auburn recently released the results of its annual citizen's survey and 92 percent of residents surveyed said they are satisfied with the quality of life in the city," Rainey said. "We certainly hope that the events help add to that. We are grateful to the citizens of Auburn for supporting our events."
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