Jun. 27--BLOOMINGTON -- Staying fit and having fun doing it will be easier than ever next week. Bloomington and Normal parks and recreation departments have partnered with The Pantagraph's Fit Kids initiative to offer Twin Cities Fitness Week -- five days of free activities.
Fit Kids is a nearly yearlong initiative dedicated to identifying and highlighting commonsense approaches to preventing childhood obesity and developing healthier lifestyles for children and their parents.
"The Town of Normal Parks and Recreation Department is pleased to be participating in the Twin Cities Fitness week by offering a variety of fun and challenging fitness activities for the kids of our community," said Director Garry Little.
His colleague in Bloomington, Dean Kohn, agreed.
"We're excited to see it happen. We hope everyone comes out and enjoys," said Kohn, the city's parks and recreation director.
Events will start Monday with free admission from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to the Children's Discovery Museum in uptown Normal. The museum will be celebrating it 500,000th visitor by trying to burn 500,000 calories through a variety of activities, including jumping rope, volleyball, dancing and tumbling.
"Our focus and attention has always been nurturing healthy children and families," said Heather Young, public affairs coordinator for the museum. "What better way to celebrate the half-million mark than to invite children and families to celebrate by participating in many healthy activities and making it a goal to burn 500,000 calories?"
Participants are encouraged to start burning calories by riding their bikes to the museum. Representa-tives from Vitesse Cycle Shop in uptown Normal will offer bicycle safety checks from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A full list of activities and times offered is available at .
But activities won't necessarily end at 5 p.m. Bloomington hopes to offer free miniature golf from 5 to 8 p.m. at the new miniature golf course at Miller Park.
Whether that event happens depends on the delivery of carpet for the course. Kohn said the carpet was supposed to be installed by now but there was a delay in delivery.
If it arrives in time for crews to install it this weekend, the free golfing will be offered. The Pantagraph will update the progress before the planned event.
On Tuesday, residents will be able to swim for free from 4 to 7 p.m. at either O'Neil or Holiday pools in Bloomington.
Normal Parks and Recreation Department will offer the Kid's Challenge Cup at Carden Park from 5 to 8 p.m. The challenge will include a basketball free-throw competition, running, soccer and baseball hitting contest. There will be prizes.
Children and their parents will have a chance to practice their golf swings or try out the sport for the first time on Wednesday. Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington and Ironwood Golf Course in Normal will offer free buckets of balls to children and their parents from 5 to 8 p.m.
Golf clubs will be provided and some instruction will be available.
People also will be able to cool off at the swimming pool or the ice skating rink on Thursday.
Bloomington Park and Recreation Department will offer free ice skating at the Pepsi Ice Center from 1 to 3 p.m. The event is limited to the first 200 people.
That evening, people will be able to cool off at Fairview Aquatic Center in Normal with a free swim from 5 to 8 p.m. There also will be a variety of aquatic events and competitions.
The week will end with a bang on the Fourth of July with the annual fireworks displays at Blooming-ton's Miller Park and Normal's Fairview Park. The Pantagraph will sponsor the Celebrate America concert at 7 p.m. at Miller Park Bandstand. The concert also will take place at 7 p.m. the night before.
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Twin Cities Fitness Week
Bloomington and Normal parks and recreation departments have partnered with The Pantagraph's Fit Kids initiative to offer five days of free activities. Following are the highlights:
Monday
--Free admission to the Children's Discovery Museum, Normal, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; events inside and outside
--Free round of golf at the new miniature golf course at Miller Park, Bloomington, 5 to 8 p.m. (Note: this event depends on the completion of the course)
Tuesday
--Free swimming at Holiday and O'Neil pools, Bloomington, 4 to 7 p.m.
--Kid's Challenge Cup at Carden Park, Normal, 5 to 8 p.m.; competitions and prizes
Wednesday
--Free bucket of balls at Ironwood Golf Course, Normal, and Prairie Vista Golf Course, Bloomington, 5 to 8 p.m.
Thursday
--Free ice skating at Pepsi Ice Center, Bloomington, 1 to 3 p.m. (Limited to the first 200 people)
--Free swimming at Fairview Family Aquatic Center, Normal, 5 to 8 p.m.
--Celebrate America concert at Miller Park Bandstand, 7 p.m.
July 4
--Celebrate America concert at Miller Park Bandstand, 7 p.m.; fireworks at dusk at Fairview Park, Normal, and Miller Park, Bloomington.
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Copyright (c) 2008, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
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