City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation hosts virtual contests

Published 4:29 pm Wednesday, April 22, 2020

BY BRITTNEE NAVE

STAR CORRESPONDENT

The City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation is hosting virtual contests weekly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The contest series began during Easter with a virtual egg hunt. For this, the organization partnered with Downtown and the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library. After this initial contest, two more have since taken place, being run by Parks and Recreation and the library. Last week’s contest consisted of people sending in their best Fortnite dance moves. This week has been creating a replica of where you are spending your quarantine, using legos.

Kelly Kitchens, Program and Special Events Coordinator, said the goal is to encourage fun activity from home.

“We don’t want to encourage people to really go anywhere because of our shelter in place at the moment,” she said. “So we wanted to do something that they could do safely from their own homes that encourages physical activity or using their imagination.”

According to Kitchens, the response so far has been pretty good, and winners are chosen from a panel of judges. These judges make the choice on winners based on what is asked in the contest. This week’s challenge for instance, asks for the portrayal of where people are during quarantine.

“This time we’ve asked that you include a lot of detail, that you let us know, both in building your replica, but also tell us where you’re spending your quarantine, whether it’s your favorite place outdoors, your bedroom, your home,” she said. “So it’s definitely just really from perspective, which is a hard thing to judge. We’re just looking at really who does the best job with portraying that.”

While there has been one winner to each contest overall, Kitchens said it hasn’t been easy to narrow down, and likely more could be awarded. Winners are given prizes, which change for each contest.

Kitchens said those who wish to enter can do so by sending their submissions to the City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation’s Facebook page.

Contests run from Monday to Fridays at noon. Winners are selected on Friday. Contest challenges for the week are released on Sunday. This is open to all ages, and working with those you live with is encouraged.

Kitchens said this will run likely as long as needed. While shelter in place is being lifted, reopening and returning to normal will not happen immediately. She stressed the importance things like this have on maintaining connections to our well-being.

“We want to make sure that even though they can’t walk into our doors [City of Elizabethton Parks and Recreation], that we are still meeting them where they’re at,” she said.

For more information on contests, check out their Facebook page.

“I think connection is just a huge thing that people are looking for. You know a lot of us are isolated within our homes,” she said. “I think the more we stay connected in that manner, and keep that sense of community that Elizabethton so deeply has, then we are really supporting each other and being there for each other.”