Hello New Windsor. As the Recreation Director for the Town of New Windsor one of the things that we offer are day trips to sporting events, shows, casinos, etc. We have been running trips for many years and in the past when we would purchase group tickets to a game or event, the tickets would always be sent to us ahead of time, and on the day of the trip we would hand out the tickets on the bus. The reason we did it this way instead of giving the tickets out ahead of time, is because it is much easier to make sure people that want to sit together get to do so, as many times people who are going on the trips together do not sign up at the same time but at different times.

Since Covid 19 paper tickets were eliminated and venues started using digital tickets. They said at the time it would help to keep from spreading the virus be eliminating the touching of tickets by multiple parties. Now someone entering the venue will have the ticket on their phone and only have to show it to the usher who scans it, eliminating multiple people having to handle the ticket. This process thought has made running a group bus trip a lot harder.

Now instead of handing out the paper tickets on the day of the trip we have to transfer digital tickets to everyone. This is quite time consuming and very difficult especially dealing with some participants who are less tech savvy than others. Recently I ran a trip to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Knicks play the Charlotte Hornets in an NBA game. As people arrived at the bus to check in I told them to get a head start and download the Madison Square Garden App on their phones as I was checking everyone in. Once the bus got underway I told everyone that groups that wanted to sit together needed to elect on tech savvy person in their group to be the group leader in who I would transfer the digital tickets to. The bus trip to the Knicks game had 50 people attend, so we had 10 or so different group leaders I needed to transfer the digital tickets to. It took me the entire two-hour bus ride to Madison Square Garden and another 10 minutes on the street outside of the Garden to transfer everyone their tickets. It should not be that difficult to give someone their tickets.

Can we please go back to paper tickets? Something that started out as a rule due to the Pandemic has turned into the new norm because it saves these venues millions of dollars not having to print out tickets. Those savings mean that more than likely we will never be able to have paper tickets again.

The Town of New Windsor Recreation Department is pleased to announce some upcoming Recreation trips. On Wednesday May 24 the Recreation Department will be taking a bus trip down to Yankee Stadium to see the New York Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles in a night game. The bus leaves the New Windsor Town Hall Complex at 4 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. game. The seats are located field level section 129. The price of the trip is $100 which includes bus ride and ticket to the game.

And then on Wednesday May 31st the Recreation Department will be taking a bus trip down to Citi Field to see the New York Mets take on the Philadelphia Phillies in a night game. The bus leaves the New Windsor Town Hall Complex at 4pm for the 7:10pm game. The seats are located field level section 124. The price of the trip is $100 which includes bus ride and ticket to the game. To sign up for any of the above trips you can visit the Recreation Department website at nwrecisfun.com or call the Recreation Department office at 845-565-7750.

The Town of New Windsor Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for Sunday April 2 at 2 p.m. at Kristi Babcock Memorial Park and is for ages eight and under. Besides the hunt participants will be able to visit with the Easter Bunny, play games and do a craft, and will be able to enjoy a petting zoo, and the Bubble Bus which will be on hand shooting bubbles and playing music. This event is for New Windsor Residents only, and pre-registration is not required. Parents make sure to bring a basket or bag to collect the eggs during the hunt.

The Town of New Windsor has open registration for our Summer Camp program for ages 3-12. In years past there were two separate locations to choose from but this year we have combined the camp locations into one and camp will be exclusively taking place at Kristi Babcock Memorial Park.

The Summer Camp program starts on Wednesday July 5 and will go to Friday August 11. Camp prices are $80 a week for New Windsor Residents and $125 a week for non-residents.

The first week will be prorated since it is shortened due to the holiday. The preschool camp for ages 3-5 will meet from 9 a.m. to 1.p.m., and the camp for ages 6-12 will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early drop off and late pick-up are available for an additional cost.

For more information or to register for camp please visit nwrecisfun.com or call the Recreation Department at 845-565-7750.

Birthday shout outs this week go to Jimmy Petro whose birthday is on March 18, to Dennis Kiley and Tyler Dineen whose birthdays are on March 19, to Shea Basso and Angela DeMartino whose birthdays are on March 22, and to anyone else out there celebrating birthdays this week Happy Birthday! If anyone has a birthday or other special event you want mentioned in my column, or have anything going on in New Windsor that you want the world to know about you can reach me at mveronesi@optimum.net or by calling 845-629-1260. Have a great week.