Summer schedule starts up at Westside Center

The Westside Community Center, 1628 W. Bijou St., is beginning its summer schedule. During the first of four benefit lunches for Westside CARES May 21, Jeff and Amy Hill (foreground) look after their 3-week old son August between bites of food. The food is prepared by volunteers with the Woodmen Valley Church's Mobile Kitchen; the suggested donation is 50 cents a meal, with all the proceeds going to Westside CARES, which provides emergency aid to local residents in need. Westside Pioneer photo        Free opportunities include the use of ping-pong tables in the center's gym Mondays and Fridays from 1 to 3 p.m.; a bike repair clinic the second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; a book discussion group on the second Thursday from 12:30 to 2 p.m.; Old Colorado City Library children's programs Thursdays at 10:30 a.m.; and Crafts Unlimited Fridays, a social/project-building time Fridays from 9 to 11:30 a.m.        Available at the center for a fee are a summer day camp for children and classes or workshops in photography, resistance fitness, yoga, karate, table tennis, and music and movement.        The Golden Circle Meals program, open to ages 60 and over, provides lunches Monday through Friday for a suggested donation of $2 (reservations necessary).        For families in tight-money situations, free breakfasts and lunches for children will be offered Monday through Friday (see story, this page), and Peak Vista Community Health Centers will offer free dental care (as long as a grant lasts) by appointment June 9, 10, 17 and 24.        For more information or to sign up for any of the above, call the community center at 385-7920 x100.               In other center news... A giant National Geographic map of North America, measuring 26 feet by 35 feet, will be spread out in the gym at the Westside Community Center Thursday, June 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of the Old Colorado City Library's free summer reading program.        Designed for grades K-8, the map tours with various accessories, including interactive games, geography adventures, atlases and books that teach students about the physical characteristics of North America as well as its history and cultures, a press release states.        The Westside Center has been selected as a site for District 11's summer food service program.        The government-funded program will provide free breakfast and lunch to anyone up to age 18 Mondays through Fridays (except July 4) from June 6 to July 22, regardless of income level, according to the center's summer program publication.        The times are 9 to 9:30 a.m. for breakfast and noon to 12:30 p.m. for lunch, a District 11 press release states.        Adults can eat too, but the price is $1.50 for breakfast and $2.75 for lunch.        For more information, call 520-2924. Westside Pioneer/press releases