What’s there to do in Pocatello this summer? The library and parks directors answer that question

POCATELLO – The directors of two city departments have a few ideas for anyone trying to figure out what they’ll do for fun over the summer.

The city of Pocatello held a town hall meeting Tuesday evening, where the director of the Parks and Recreation Department and the director of the Marshall Public Library listed off a host of activities that will be offered over the summer by their respective departments. While Mayor Brian Blad wanted to get the word out about these events before kids got out of school for the summer, he said that the city will be offering events and programs for all ages.

“I would encourage everybody to get as involved as you possibly can. There are a tremendous amount of things to do in the community all year long, but we thought it would be important to be able to talk about some of the things this summer that’s happening,” Blad said.

Parks and Recreation Director Ann Butler promoted a variety of places where people can go and have fun for free.

For people interested in disc golf, “there’s lots of disc golf to be had,” Butler said. There are multiple courses around the city of Pocatello, including the ones at Sister City Park, Sacajawea Park and Upper Ross Park.

People who want to get out and move their feet have plenty of trails where they can do it, Butler said. There are miles and miles of Portneuf Greenway trails in and around the city, and there are more than 25 miles of trails in the City Creek Management Area for hiking, running and biking.

“There’s lots of beautiful country around here to check out if you’re interested in that,” Butler said.

Butler brought up a variety of free community events, such as free concerts by the Pocatello Municipal Band, which happen every Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Ross Park Band Shell, going from June 29 to Aug. 3. She also mentioned Free Day at the Zoo on May 31 and Poky Paddle on June 13.

Marshall Public Library Director Eric Suess started by raising attention to the library’s summer reading program, this year with the theme “Color Our World.” Registration for children, teenagers and adults begins on May 27, and there will be a registration party on June 7.

For elementary age children, the library will host educational programming from a variety of guests. Some of these guests will come from the Idaho Museum of Natural History, the Idaho State University Physics Department and Idaho Fish and Game.

There’s also a variety of activities focused on teenagers, including craft activities on June 10, June 16 and July 15, and writing workshops with visiting writers on June 5, July 10 and August 7, a Dungeons & Dragons gathering on June 29 and an after-hours board game night on Aug. 8.

But “just when you think only the kids get to have fun, the adults have lots of stuff too,” Suess said.

Some of the events for adults the library will offer this summer will be a “book tasting” on June 12, where people can sample books they may not have picked up on their own, a bread-breaking program on July 12, offering guests the chance to try breads from around the world and the library’s second annual Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament, where teams compete to test out their jigsaw puzzle skills.

Suess said that people will be able to find relevant information about these events and more on the Marshall Public Library website and Facebook page.

The full video of the city’s town hall can be found on its Youtube page.