Mobile fun

MOSES LAKE — Four-year-old Leilani Torres examined her artwork critically. 

“Okay, what else do I need?” she asked, as she searched through the piles of construction paper.  

The mobile recreation van sponsored by Moses Lake Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department was in Maple Grove Park on Wednesday morning, with toys to play with and special guests from the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. 

The museum employee brought a craft project, and Leilani thought an important tool was missing, 

“Okay, we’re going to need some scissors,” she said. 

The project, however, was something entirely different. 

“No, we didn’t bring any scissors,” said Jenni Shelton, creative programs coordinator for the museum. “We’re going to have to tear it.” 

Well. Leilani wasn’t sure about that at first, but eventually she got into the spirit of it, tearing green, blue, orange and yellow construction paper to make a landscape. 

The mobile rec van is out and about all summer long, based on the principle that recreation programs and toys should be available to children all around town. Qualifying children also can pick up a sack lunch and water at no charge. 

The van visits Knolls Vista Park every Monday, Carpenter Park on Tuesday, Maple Grove on Wednesday and Peninsula Park on Thursday. 

The van usually visits from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., but those hours can change due to weather conditions. Wednesday’s hours were adjusted due to the anticipated triple-digit temperatures.  

Alyssa Torres brings her two children, Lelani and her brother, Jordan Torres, to play at the mobile van nearly every day no matter what park they’re in. 

“We love this,” she said. “They love having something to do. There's not very much here, so it’s nice when there are things to do.”  

Museum employees join the rec van team once a week and always bring a craft project. Children have planted flowers, played with bubbles, made necklaces and butterflies. Museum days are popular with the Torres children. 

“They chose this over the free movie,” Alyssa Torres said.  

Ian Garza and Grace Nixon operate the rec van, taking it on its weekly rounds and to special events. Attendance is partly dependent on weather and the crowd usually thins out on hot days. But the van is popular on its stops around town, they said.  

“We do get a lot of families and children,” Nixon said. 

When weather permits the van draws a crowd. 

“We’ve had days when we’ve had up to 40 people,” Garza said.  

The van’s summer program has about two weeks to go, with the last visit scheduled for the week of Aug. 11-14.  

At the craft station, Leilani added trees to her landscape, grass and a bright orange sun. 

“I think that’s it,” she said. “No more room.” 

    Mobile recreation van employees Ian Garza, left, and Grace Nixon, right, talk to a child in Maple Grove Park. The rec van visits the park once a week during the summer.
  

    Jenni Shelton of the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center shows a picture of her cat to Leilani Torres during a conversation and the cats owned by Leilani’s grandmother.