Santa Maria now providing newly expanded services, announces several upcoming community events

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A busy summer continues in Santa Maria with the city announcing several upcoming community events to go along with newly enhanced public services established over the past few weeks.

This weekend, Santa Maria will hold its "Summer Splash" recreational swim day on Sunday, July 28, from 12:30 pm. to 3:30 p.m.

The free event will offer residents an opportunity to enjoy a few hours at the pool, along with music and summertime fun.

"This is a really good opportunity to enjoy the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center free of charge, thanks to our PLAY Inc. partner," said Dennis Smitherman, Santa Maria Recreation Services Manager. "It's right in the center of the community so everybody can come out, bring a swimsuit and a towel and enjoy the pool. This weekend is supposed to be very comfortable and the pool is heated as well, just to make sure everyone stays warm. but we have two pools available. We have a big pool at 50 meters, and then a nice recreation pool for the whole family to get in, so whether you're beginning swimming, or you're an advanced swimmer, we've got something for you."

Also happening on Sunday is Santa Maria's "Concerts in the Park" series, which just kicked off earlier this month.

Taking place each Sunday at two locations, Rotary Centennial Park and Acquistapace Park, the concerts are held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and are free to attend.

"We have some great summer concerts in the park going on at Rotary Centennial Park and Acquistapace Park here in Santa Maria," said Smitherman. "There are a great variety of different styles and genres, and it's really a good opportunity for you to come out, enjoy the park and have a great seat and enjoy some great music."

The Santa Maria Public Library continues to offer a full slate of activities that are aimed for community members of all ages.

The library's fourth and final installment of its ongoing one-on-one Tech Help series will held on Sunday, July 28 from 2 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

"This Saturday, the 27th, we actually have programs like crafts where you can come in and make shell trinket trays," said Devin Florendo, Santa Maria Library Technician. "We have a technology focused, program for Tech Made Easy where you can come and learn about e-books, audio books, how to download apps so that you can access our digital collection at all times, and then we even have a local organization Transitions Mental Health coming out to teach how to cope with mental health crises as well."

Later on, the library will begin a series of five free craft workshops for adults during the month of August.

The program is free to attend and is intended for people who are 18-years-old and older. The schedule for the craft series is:

• Craftworks: DIY Wind Chime; Saturday, Aug. 3, 10:30 a.m.
• Casual Crafternoon: Thread Wrapped Bracelet; Tuesday, Aug. 6, 12 p.m.
• Casual Crafternoon: Tassel Earrings; Friday, Aug. 9, 4 p.m.
• Saturday Crafternoon: Jute Coasters; Saturday, Aug. 24, 2:30 p.m.
• Casual Crafternoon: Felt Cord Organizers; Monday, Aug. 26, 4 p.m.

"We have programs for all ages," said Florendo. "Come into the library, check out our online calendar. We have a physical calendar here at the library. See what we have to offer and see anything that might pique your interest."

Santa Maria recently announced visitors to Grogan Park in the northern part of the city may now enjoy free Wifi access.

Users can use the free service by connecting "Santa Maria Guest" on their device.

They will need to provide an email address and accept terms and conditions. The complimentary internet access is currently available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

"The city is improving Wifi connectivity for two reasons," said MarK van de Kamp, Santa Maria Public Information Manager. "One is for our workers, our employees, so that they can have connectivity to our network at different city facilities that didn't have it before, and part of this is also to extend free Wifi for the community. These are going to be in low to moderate income underserved neighborhoods and Grogan Park is one of those. This is another way to ensure that, people are connected with all the needs they may have for business or leisure or work so that they can get connected. We are continuing to roll more of these locations out, strategically. And so we'll make more announcements in the months ahead."

Santa Maria is also getting ready to hold a blood drive at the end of the month near City Hall, with the Vitalant bloodmoblie scheduled to be parked across the street from the Santa Maria Public Library on S. McClelland St.

"We're doing a blood drive on July 31st," said van de Kamp. "It's going to be held from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and we still have some sign ups. All the blood stays locally here in Santa Maria, and there's a dire need for blood right now. There's been a shortage since the 4th of July, and we're proud to partner with Vitalant. It's a nearly painless way to help somebody else. You can save one to three lives with a single donation and it's well worth it. We encourage anyone who would like to join our city employees in our next blood drive to go online and go to the city website. It'll take you 45 minutes or so, and you'll get some refreshments at the end and walk away knowing that you have made a real difference."  

Another recent enhancement to Santa Maria has been the continued upgrading of Santa Maria Regional Transit (SMRT) system.

"We've seen tremendous growth in our transit ridership," said Gamaliel Anguiano, Santa Maria Transit Services Manager. "We closed out the last fiscal year with our ridership 24% higher than it was the previous year. All models indicate this will continue to be the trend, at least for the foreseeable future."

Earlier this summer, SMRT debuted new scheduling that focuses on the Broadway corridor. This week, brand new sleek, modernized bus shelters began to be rolled out.

"In addition to modernizing our routes and our vehicles, we haven't lost sight that our transit riding experience starts at the bus stop," said Anguiano. "This is your gateway to that enhanced experience, so we've also invested in new additional bus shelters that have a number of benefits for our riders."

The new shelters are currently only a couple of spots, but will phased in at other locations, beginning with the Broadway area, in the near future.

"This newest model is a little bit more aesthetically modern and is actually less prone to vandalism," said Anguiano. "It is open air. It also helps with the visibility of a rider of both seeing when the bus is coming in for our bus drivers to see the passenger. Outfitted within them also is solar powered lighting, and many of them also also have real time information signs on them."