Paso Play on Wheels brings outdoor fun to kids in a squirrel-themed van
In the line of cars parked at the Oak Park public housing complex on Friday, one stood out among the rest — a brightly colored van sporting a cartoon squirrel and the words “Paso Play on Wheels.”
The van, filled with games, activities and crafts, is home to a mobile recreation program managed by the city of Paso Robles Recreation Services Department. The program put on its first mobile pop-up in coordination with the Paso Robles Housing Authority in Oak Park last week.
The pop-up took place on a large lawn covered in games brought by the van — hula-hoops, foam building blocks and puzzles. The event officially kicked off at 3:30 with a group of several kids, and more began to join in as their families walked by and spotted the lively play area.
Paso Play on Wheels relaunched this summer for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, when the program was created as a way to offer kids a safe, outdoor recreation option.
“Our idea was, let’s come up with a mobile recreation program,” Heather Stephenson, the city of Paso Robles recreation coordinator, told The Tribune. “We had a van that we used for a lot of other things, but we put some stickers and magnets on the side, and we’re like, ‘We’re going out into the community.’ So, we got some sponsors, and we created recess kits, which were little bags of fun that had sidewalk chalk and bubbles and Frisbees, and we went to the schools where they were having families drive through to pick up their lunches.”
Stephenson said that, during the pandemic, families were “so grateful” for Paso Play on Wheels. After the pandemic ended, she said, the program was discontinued, but “still always in the minds” of the Recreation Services staff.
But Recreation Services didn’t have a van that could be used specifically for the program — until Angelica Fortin, community services director for the city, received a call from Paso Robles native Arthur Ludwick. Ludwick and his wife, Sarah, had a van that they were interested in donating to the community after reading about the launch of the Paso Robles Library “Bookmobile” program.
Fortin told the Ludwicks about the Paso Play on Wheels program, and they were in. In addition to the van, they also donated seed money for the program, which was used to refurbish the van and purchase recreational supplies.
Ludwick, a philanthropist who established the Ludwick Family Foundation, has continued to stay connected to his hometown and looked for ways to give back to the Paso Robles community.
“One of the things about Paso is, he really feels like this community invested in him when he was a child,” Stephenson said. “He had such fond memories of growing up here, of his first job delivering the Paso Press.”
Through Ludwick’s donation, Paso Play on Wheels officially relaunched on June 11 at a Paso Robles Concerts in the Park event. Stephenson said that the program now has several more events planned throughout the summer, including more in partnership with the Housing Authority, like the one that took place last week.
Kristal Roman, the youth services coordinator at the Paso Robles Housing Authority, said the Paso Play on Wheels program supports her agency’s goal of offering free recreational opportunities for local youth.
“We love being able to offer resources that are outdoors and visible, because we feel like that’s what really brings folks in,” Roman said. “Our youth and just anyone in our local area can always benefit from that feeling of community and that type of belonging. And we feel like things like this, things like play and joy, are those types of activities that are really attracting people.”
Stephenson said that the ability to provide a mobile recreation program, as opposed to events hosted only at the department’s Centennial Park location, is “a game changer.”
“Being able to be mobile allows me to come to an area where they might not have access to getting Centennial Park on an afternoon,” Stephenson said. “You know, like, this one lady tapped me, and she was like, ‘I have four kids. I have a 1-year-old over in the apartment right now. You being here right now, my kids can just come play right where we live, and that’s really cool.’”
Roman and Stephenson both highlighted the impact of free and accessible outdoor recreation.
“I think when you invest in the children in a community, you never know what ripple effects it has,” Stephenson said. “You might never know, but just to know that you’re creating smiles and happiness on one afternoon in June, that’s good enough, too.”
