 Although some animals and people may go into hibernation at this time of year, the South Portland Recreation Department is not one of them. Director Rick Toll tells Leslie McVane that their winter activity schedule is as crowded as ever. Well, Rick, it is the season to be jolly in South Portland. Absolutely. Absolutely. You've got a lot of fun things coming up. Well, yeah, we look forward to this time of the year. People would think with parks and recreation, we would go and hibernate. Uh-huh. It keeps rolling. Yeah. You don't stop. Now, coming right up is the Christmas tree lighting in the park. Yeah. It's an annual event that we're really proud of and the Rotarians and the businesses in downtown Mill Creek area, they really get behind us and they support it and we thank them for their generosity, but they light the trees in the park up with the festive lights that we put in them as the Parks and Recreation Department, and it's really a neat thing to see and the kids all come and they're amazed, but there's events from early afternoon into the evening on December 7th, so we encourage people to come back out to that annual event. Will there be hot chocolate? I'm assuming there will be, yes. Absolutely. It usually is, it looks like that. And not only will you be having this annual event, but it'll be in a new park. Yeah, the park's been renovated, so we have a lot of areas that we can use that we couldn't over different times of the year in the past, so people could come in from the formal garden entrance now on Ocean Avenue and Broadway. We maybe take a picture this year and if we get some snow between now and then there's some really neat new places to set up to take a family picture for the Christmas holidays that you send out to all your friends. Oh, what a great idea. Yeah, the new plaza that's sitting there too. Oh, what a great idea. So even if people have been in the past, this is going to be totally new and exciting. Yeah, it's very different for them, ways they can use the park they couldn't in the past. Yeah. Well, you've got other things coming up too. As you said, Parks and Rec doesn't close up shop after the good weather stops. No. We have our basketball program that's already underway and things for youth, but we encourage people to come into everything from drop-in sessions where they can just come in and participate, but they can also sign up for regular classes or programs they want to sign up for, ranging from art and yoga all the way to, you know, them getting involved with swimming and getting in more in the pool and I encourage that this time of the year, significantly. Well, it's hard for people who are outdoor runners or bikers or something and then all of a sudden that snow comes or just the cold weather. Yeah, if you're an orthopedist, you're loving it because all these people are too stubborn to go indoor and do something that when it gets icy on the sidewalks or the roadways and things, we're encouraging them to avoid that hazard, keep up and keep in shape. But the simple ways for folks who are just trying to do it for basic health is we have an indoor walking track inside the community center located on Nelson Road in South Portland. We have a 12th mile, so you do 12 laps and it's a mile. You can walk, which is really good for you, but you can also do a combination with that of swimming. And if you don't know how to swim, we have the lessons all winter, too, that you could take and start with that and then build up. We have cardio fitness programs in the pool. We also have cardio fitness programs in the gym and they're age-appropriate. So if someone's a senior, they can join a senior group if they want. If they're a little more fit, they can join another group. So it's neat to see that it's like a hibernation on, you know, on a treadmill. You know, everybody just kind of goes, goes, goes inside that building all winter. And we all know how important that is that if you stop using something, it's just going to break. Well, the hard part is, like I said, all summer and fall, you see people put all the excellent time in and the holidays can kick in the butt a little bit because, you know, you get active and do things socially, but if you don't stay with it, it's twice as hard on your body, twice as hard on you mentally in the spring to pick it back up. Yeah, it's so true. It's so true. Now, the classes you offer, when you say you can teach people to swim, and that is any age, even someone who's 70 years old who's never been swimming but thinks, you know what, it's time I do this. Absolutely. You can be any person and start out and start from scratch, or you can be a person who's been swimming and we can help you advance your strokes or advance the way you're doing it. So we have a great staff. Our aquatics crew is really neat. That's great. Now, do you have special children's programs that are geared just for winter coming up? Oh, yeah. We have, like I said, we've got these kids that want to be artistic and do things and use their hands, and we have a great art classroom or two that we do that with. We have teen-based programs, teenagers, a lot of times, it's time of the year. You know, you're kind of sick of seeing them, and we started a new one at our Red Bank Community Center in that facility each evening of the week and some weekend activities for them. Some of the teenagers like to go into our skiing program, our learn to ski program. Oh, great. This is the facility we go to, Slope, there's lots of things like that. Well, thank you for being here. And if they want to find out more, they can go to... Well, obviously, you can find us on our website at any time at southportland.org, and we'll click on Parks and Recreation and you'll weave your way through there and find things. You can also call us at our offices at 767-765-0, and we'd be happy to help you as well. Well, great. Thanks, Rick, for being here, and I look forward to doing some of this myself. Well, I appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you. Okay.