About Us
The Lamoille Area Recreational Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in Morrisville, Vermont.
A Brief History in Time
The first unofficial Lamoille Area Recreational Center (L.A.R.C.) meeting was held in January 1998. Over 50 people attended and voiced their ideas on what they felt was needed in the area. A survey was then sent to Lamoille County residents and nearly 1300 came back in support of L.A.R.C.’s initial vision. Capital funding came from grants, private donations and major fundraising efforts. The Board of Directors was relentless in pursuing their dream and worked tirelessly until L.A.R.C. opened its doors in 2004.
Dedication, Innovation, and Belief
L.A.R.C.’s purpose is to create a multi-generational community facility that will provide a variety of activities intended to increase recreation, education, exercise and wellness among residents of Lamoille County and beyond. We are implementing new ways of generating revenue to help expand and enhance our current services offered to the families of Lamoille County including after-school programs, sporting activities and educational resources. In order to do this we must think out of the box and into the future with the creation of… The Ultimate Poker Charity Challenge.
Programs and Services
L.A.R.C.’s programs and services include: hockey, soccer, skating, curling, basketball, hiking, biking, and family & teen night youth programs. Listed below are our exciting new programs:
Youth Family Nights: Last year L.A.R.C. started a weekend program to help keep teens off the streets by providing a safe place for them to interact. After a year of providing a positive environment, we now have nearly 200 teens attending Family Youth Night. We continually receive positive feedback from teens, parents, and town officials for the program’s success.
X-Treme Paintball: This spring L.A.R.C. will offer X-Treme Paintball with the construction of two tournament-style paintball courses. We are positioning the X-Treme Paintball program to be a major hub for the National Professional Paintball Circuit and put Vermont on the map with this highly popular sport.
30 Acre Peninsula Trail System: In an effort to ensure that our trails remain open for generations to come, we have deeded our trails to the Vermont Wildlife Conservation Corp. Whether for hiking, biking, snowshoeing or cross country skiing, this land will be forever available to the public. We are also in the process of converting our trail system into an educational nature preserve, giving schools the opportunity to bring class trips down to walk, look at animal/vegetation signs, and learn to recognize these elements in their natural environment.
Operation: No Child Left Behind
Our goal for The Ultimate Poker Charity Challenge is to help raise money for new programs and services. This money will help retrofit an existing space in our facility into an Educational Learning Lab with four computer workstations and free Internet access. Student tutoring sessions will be available for grades 4- 9 and will include SAT/LSAT preparation courses. The Educational Learning Lab will complement our current after-school programs by giving children a safe and constructive place to go after school. Parents will now have a place to send their children for supervision and quality help in securing their futures.
Two professional tutors as well as Education Major Interns attending nearby Johnson State College will perform our tutoring.
Our unfinished, handicap-accessible existing space is 25’x25’. The room will be arranged to hold 6 - 8 students at a time-the prime number for close, one-on-one tutoring support. Our Educational Learning Lab will give students the extra help they desperately need and cannot get in our crowded school classrooms.
We will evaluate our level of success with a number of methods: class attendance, tutor/teacher remarks, parent feedback, and finally by the smiles on the faces of the children we help in accomplishing their goals of better preparation for college and life.
We believe our new Educational Learning Lab will be a landmark program for Lamoille County and the State of Vermont. It will complete our mind/body/spirit mission to help the children and families of our area through recreational, athletic and educational programs.
