Although most people may think summer is the busiest time for the Denton Parks & Recreation Department, the fall season is packed with events for the entire community.
“(As) the weather is cooling down, it’s a great opportunity to get back out into our parks and into our facilities,” explains Nikki Sassenus, assistant director for the Denton Parks & Recreation Department. “Parks and Recreation really does help bring the community together. You get to know your neighbors (and) you get to know new friends by coming out to the events. Parks & Recreation really helps create that sense of community. And so we’re excited to be part of that by being able to offer all these events to celebrate the season.”
Here’s a look at some of the events Denton Parks & Recreation has scheduled in September, October, and November.
Cultural Celebrations
Denton Park & Rec’s fall event line-up kicks off on Saturday, September 17th with the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. This event takes place at the MLK Jr. Recreation Center from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon.
“The MLK Jr. Recreation Center and their staff have started making it their mission to celebrate the diverse cultures that we have in Denton — since last year they’ve been (celebrating) all the different months that we have,” Sassenus says.
Under the theme of Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation, the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration appreciates the community’s history, heritage, and contributions of the ancestors of American citizens who came from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, or South and Central America.
Sassenus says the event will feature a keynote address by Denton resident Lilyan Prado, as well as entertainment and children’s activities.
Then on Saturday, October 15th, the MLK Jr. Recreation Center will host Dia de los Muertos as the next event in their cultural celebration line-up. Also from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, this event celebrates Latino culture.
Sassenuss says the keynote speaker will be Dr. Valerie Martinez-Ebers, a university distinguished research professor of political science and director of the Latino and Mexican American Studies Program at the University of North Texas. There will also be entertainment and fun activities for children.
Halloween Happenings
Also on Saturday, October 15th, Denton Parks & Recreation will hold its Halloween Harvest event at Denia Recreation Center from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Part of that event, says Sassenus, is a trunk-or-treat event from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Trunk-or-treat participants can register for free for their parking space ahead of time, as spots are limited.
“There is an award for the best-decorated trunk,” Sassenus details. “There’s also a costume contest, a pumpkin carving contest, and there will be games in the area for people to enjoy.”
Also part of this year’s Halloween Harvest is a S’mores and Stories event from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Families can enjoy a “spooky” story told by Tejas storytellers around a campfire while enjoying s’mores they make themselves. Participants can purchase s’mores kits for $3.
The Halloween hijinks continue on Saturday, October 22nd. During the day, families can enjoy the Howl-O-Ween Carnival, in partnership with the Denton Animal Shelter, at the MLK Jr. Recreation Center from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon.
“There’s carnival games, goodie bags, face painting, bounce houses, costume contests, trick or treating — all the normal things that we have,” Sassenus says. “But on top of that, the Denton Animal Shelter will be there and they’ll have dogs available for adoption. It’s great to help lower the shelter population. Plus people love an opportunity to dress up their pets!”
Carnival goers can also bring their own dogs as long as they are on a leash. There will be a costume contest for the best pet, baby, youth, and adult costumes starting at 10:30 am with awards at 11:30 am.
And then for those looking for spookier entertainment, the MLK Jr. Recreation Center will transform into a Haunted House on the evening of Saturday, October 22nd from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Sassenus says the theme of this year’s Haunted House is classic horror movies and is more geared towards older children and adults. “It takes place throughout the entire MLK building,” she adds. “They’ll go through different themed rooms and there will be dressed actors who will pop out and scare you, so beware!”
Environmental Events
On Saturday, October 15th, Denton Parks & Rec will partner with the City of Denton Sustainability Office to host Stream Clean 2022.
“Stream Clean has been around for more than 15 years,” explains Katherine Barnett, sustainability manager for the City of Denton Sustainability Office. “It is a fall clean-up event to help clean up Denton’s waterways. Whenever we have our heavy rainfalls, it washes trash and debris into our channels and then those channels make their way to Lake Lewisville, which is one of our drinking water supplies. So anything that we can do to help keep those streams and channels clean just helps on the water supply, it helps keep our watershed clean, and just helps the overall environment, too.”
Barnett says volunteers can register for the Stream Clean event and then pick-up their supplies and T-shirts the Wednesday and Thursday before the event. “We provide trash bags, gloves, recycling bags, all kinds of fun stuff, and we also have T-shirts for the first 500 folks who register,” she adds.
Participants can register as individuals or as part of a group. “And then a week before the event, we will look at the channels that need the most help here in town and then we assign groups based on that,” Barnett explains. “And of course, we have easy sites that are more appropriate for kiddos and then some of the college teams like to do a little bit more challenging sites. We have all different types of sites that folks can sign up and we can link them up with.”
In Texas, Sassenus says the best time to plant trees is in the fall. For that reason, Denton Parks & Recreation offers two tree planting events in October and November.
On Saturday, October 22nd, the department will hold its annual Community Tree Giveaway, which Sassenus says is the department’s longest-running tree distribution program. “It’s part of an effort to restore Denton’s urban tree canopy and really highlight the importance of trees in our community and just for our city,” she says.
Denton residents are invited to register in advance starting at 10:00 am on October 4th on the department’s website. Residents will then be assigned a pick-up time between 8:00 and 12:00 noon to pick up their tree on October 22nd. Parks & Rec will have a total of 700 trees to distribute through the program, so trees are limited.
Sassenus says residents have the opportunity to choose a tree from seven different species, all of which have been selected by the department’s urban forester as the most appropriate for our area. “We take into account things like our soil, our already existing trees, what thrives best in our North Texas region, and that’s how we select the trees,” she details. “We typically have similar species each year.”
Then on November 5th, the Parks & Recreation Department will take part in the annual Texas Arbor Day Tree Planting. Sassenus says the day will begin around 8:00 am and the Department will be announcing volunteer sign-ups soon via their Facebook page.
“Trees really are beneficial for our community,” Sassenus says. “They help with not only beautification but also provide shade and help with our heat index. There are a ton of benefits to trees — I really can’t understate the importance of trees to our community. And it’s just one way that we’re hoping to be able to impress that importance upon our community and really get them involved in the preservation and in the growing of trees.”
More information on all Denton Parks & Recreation events can be found on their website and Facebook page.
Additionally, the department will publish the Fall/Winter 2023 PLAY Guide in late September. The PLAY Guide features information on all of the department’s events, programs, leagues, and activities. The PLAY Guide can be accessed digitally on the department’s website or printed at all Denton recreation centers.