The weather may be cold, snowy, and icy, but that doesn’t slow down the Block Island Recreation Board and its director, Dave Sniffen. Accompanied by assistantKim Cantone, Sniffen orchestrates a robust, year-round program of activities for Block Islanders of all ages. Town Manager Maryanne Crawford provided a listing of all the Rec activities in her report to the Town Council on February 16, including weekend off-island youth basketball for third, fourth, and fifth graders, in addition to separate open gym times for high school, middle school, elementary, and even toddlers. Sniffen told the Rec Board on February 15 that the youth basketball season officially ends in March, but he is thinking of extending it until the gym starts being used by the school’s baseball and softball teams for indoor spring practice.
Cantone also operates the recreation center at Harbor Church, providing a non-sports option on weekend nights for high school kids. The rec center offers ping-pong, pool, foosball, big-screen television with streaming service, two video game consoles, and snacks. Sniffen told the board that attendance was “not great” so far this winter. Saying that attendance among the island’s youth has always been cyclical, Sniffen said he was thinking