Santa Maria Rec and Parks Department prepares to reopen more activities including ATV classes during pandemic

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Whether you like riding on the sand dunes or hitting the gym the Rec and parks department of Santa Maria is working hard to offer more safe activities to the community.

"Ride 3 is coming back to Santa Maria. It’s an atv training course.
We’re looking to teach young riders 12 to 16 how to ride ATVs safely," said Dennis Smitherman with the Rec and Parks Department.

Smitherman says California state law requires anyone up to age 16 to undergo a safety training course.

And with the training comes strict COVID-19 health protocols.

"In order to meet our COVID safety guidelines we are limiting the size of the classes to small groups and we’re making sure all the equipment sanitize well before students get there mediately after the students use them," said Smitherman.

This year’s ATV classes will have a new online portion to help teens prepare for the hands on training.

"At the end of the course one of the final exercises without an experiment a little bit with all the skills that they’ve learned with a little bit of a trail ride so they can experience firsthand all the skills that they’ve learned throughout the course," said Senior Park Services Officer Casey Stone.

In addition to ATV classes, the department is getting ready to reopen the Lawn Green Bowler and Russle Park.

As for the ATV classes, the first class start November 14th.