Hot spots

Most communities offer low-cost activities to entertain their youngest residents

(Globe Correspondent / Travis Dove) Counselor Brendan Pyburn rounds up loose balls after a dodgeball tournament at Emerson Park in Peabody.

Though money is tight, many local cities and towns are making sure kids have a safe, affordable place to play this summer.

Some communities, including Beverly, Danvers, Lynn, Gloucester, Nahant, and Revere, still are able to offer free programs, which is good news for parents who may not be able to afford summer camps.

"No cuts. There have been none," said James Marsh, chief of staff for Mayor Edward Clancy of Lynn.

Lynn will employ two counselors each at 10 city parks to oversee daily sports and activities in a program that has been popular for decades. The city also will offer free evening basketball and tennis clinics and, along with Gannon Golf Course, will continue weekly clinics on the links.

"A lot of the money - a majority of the money - that we use to fund our parks and recreation programs and our community development jobs program is off budget," Marsh said, referring to state and federal aid.

Danvers offers a free playground program, and other summer activities such as tennis clinics and theater workshops are subsidized to keep the fees low. Two weeks of tennis lessons with Ken Rawson, the boys' coach at Danvers High, costs $50.

"Our free playground program is paid for through local taxes and budgeted through the town," said Cheryl Marshall, Danvers recreation program manager. "Our subsidized programs are paid for part from taxes and part from registration fees."

Beverly also has been able to maintain a free morning parks program, while locals gather at Lynch Park for special events on Thursdays that include a luau, a carnival, and a trip to the beach. The events cost $5; bus trips from other city parks to Lynch are $2.

"Our budget was cut pretty hard back in 2003," said Bruce Doig, Beverly's Recreation Department director. "It was almost cut in half. So, we did have to eliminate some of the parks that we staffed at that point. But our free programs are the lifeguards that we staff our beaches with and the park instructors that we staff for about a dozen parks. That's still going to be the case again this year."

Beverly also has added a free afternoon program at Balch Playground with counselors for basketball, baseball, soccer, and in-line hockey.

"So we're actually expanding a little bit in that regard," Doig said. "That program will actually cost us probably an extra $4,000 or $5,000. But we feel it's worthwhile to create more opportunities for kids to be active."

Communities such as Peabody that charge fees for summer programs have seen a dip in participation.

Jennifer Davis, Peabody's recreation program supervisor, said the city receives no state or federal money.

"We are strictly making the program affordable for everyone in our community," she said. "Our sports clinics that are 15 hours of participation are only $35, and then our playground program, break it down and it's less than a dollar an hour with supervision . . . with field trips and all sorts of different activities throughout the day."

Fees for the playground program, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. for children 6 through 12, range from $45 to $80 per week, depending on financial need.

"We really haven't been hit hard [by budget cuts]; it's our registrations that have been hit hard," Davis said.

"We don't know if it's economic or if it's that people have aged out of the program or what. But some of our numbers in some programs that have been popular in the past are down, and then programs that have been not so popular in the past are up."

Davis said no child would be restricted from an activity based on a family's inability to pay.

"We'll never turn away a child who wants to participate in a program, if they just ask," Davis said.

In Haverhill, programs will be similar to those offered in recent summers because budget cuts were made several years ago.

"It really hasn't been any different for the last five or six years," said Vin Ouellette, the city's director of human services. "I think most communities are starting to feel the pinch.

"Most of our programs, you pay a fee. We offer day camp programs, tennis lessons, all-sports camp, and soccer clinics, and we also have a public beach, which is still free to walk onto the beach. We do charge $2 since 1981 to park. But, essentially, it's free if you walk in."

In Revere, the $75,000 recreation budget just got hit with a $10,000 cut. While the city offers many free hourlong programs, including storytellers and magicians, with a free lunch, a week of camp at the Garfield School costs $70 per child.

Adrienne Maguire, the city's recreation director, said the budget cut will not affect this summer's programs, and she'll look to see what has to go in the fall and beyond.

"At this time, I'm not quite sure where we'll see the cuts," she said.