Directors looking to expand programs at Columbia Cove Community Center

The Columbia Cove Community Center is open from about 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and director Eddie Allen and assistant director Corey Fortner are thinking something should be going on pretty much every second.

Allen has been director of the community center for about a month; Fortner came on board earlier in the summer. Their long-term goal is to make a busy place even busier.

Tae kwon do classes for children have started again after the Summer's hiatus, and Allen (who's the instructor) said he's adding adult classes. The volleyball league will be kicking off its winter schedule pretty soon; right now it's junior high and high school girls, but there's room for an adult league if there's interest, Allen said. There are plans to start a badminton league for children and adults; possibly a pingpong league too, and the basketball league will be starting up when cold weather comes. In fact, Allen said he wants to expand the intramural program for children and adults as far as it can go.

There's the boxing ring and equipment over at the old rec center, and Allen is teaching a little boxing to the kids that are interested.

They used to play indoor soccer during the winters at the community center, and Allen said he hopes to revive that program too. Then there's the proposal for a walking program for senior citizens and maybe expanding that to a senior exercise program.

He has someone interested in teaching sewing classes, Allen said, and he's open to the possibility of offering space for other crafts classes. Allen said he hopes to buy some new computers somewhere down the road, and reopen the computer lab. (When that happens the lab will be supervised and have upgraded content filters, he said.) All of that is aside from the people who rent the hall for family dances and parties; the number of rentals had dropped off for a while, but the last five Saturdays were booked solid, Allen said.

Yeesh.

And that's just the activities and possibilities right now. Allen said he's looking for stuff to do down at the community center, the more activity the better. Allen will sponsor a "business appreciation" open house Tuesday, Sept. 16; business owners responded very generously when he went around and asked them for support, he said, but he's not sure business owners or residents really know what the community center is all about. He wants them to see how their money is put to work. "Plus it's a dynamic place, with a lot to offer," and he wants people to know that, he said.

Allen said he's lived in Omak all his life. He worked at Omak Wood Products for 20 years, and when the mill closed he got a degree in early childhood education. He went to work for the EPIC program in Bridgeport, working as a preschool teacher for 11 years and the child development coordinator for 10 of those years. He also taught martial arts classes (which is how he learned about the job at the community center). Allen is a fourth degree black belt-which is about as good as it gets-in tae kwon do, which has its roots in Korea. He's been teaching martial arts classes for "30-plus years," he said. He has three children of his own and likes working with kids; this job gives him a chance to do that, he said.

Fortner grew up in Mississippi; he and his wife moved to the Quad City area about two years ago. His mom Mary Pearson had moved to Pateros; she "recommended this place as a real nice place," and Fortner said he and his wife decided it was time for a new place and a new start. He started working at the community center following the resignation of former director Gary Reese. (There has been some adjustment, coming to the Inland Northwest from Mississippi. "The first white Christmas I ever had, I had four feet of snow in my front yard," Fortner said.)

The two men split the schedule so that somebody is there whenever the community center is open or people are cleaning up, even on Sundays.

People who want to schedule events or want more information about current activities can contact Allen at the community center in Brewster.