Beat the heat while enjoying St. Joseph activities this summer

By Ashley Luthans

The heat is picking up in St. Joseph, but there are several inexpensive and fun activities to do with the family while staying cool during the hot summer months.

The Liberty Oak Splash Park at Hyde Park provides a free place for children to splash around in the cool water and enjoy time outside.

Kim Esely, a St. Joseph parent, brought her children to the splash pad Wednesday.

“Well it’s a super hot day,” Esely said. “We’ve got my oldest at gymnastics during this middle-of-the-day naptime period, so I’m letting them cool off in the splash pad … but when you do get in the middle of summer and it’s so hot, it’s hard to be outside if you’re not in some sort of water, whether that’s a pool or a splash pad.”

If the sun is still too much, there are also many indoor options available to stay out of the heat.

St. Joseph Museums offer something for the whole family, from historical artifacts to interactive exhibits.

A new exhibit has opened at the museum location at 3406 Frederick Ave., showcasing archeology, paleontology and Native American artifacts.

Kami Jones, communications and group tours manager of St. Joseph Museums, said there’s more than to the campus than what people might know about.

“Of course, the museums themselves are all air-conditioned, so stay out of that summer heat,” Jones said. “We have four that are here at the Frederick Avenue location and I think people don’t realize that. They know Glore Psychiatric, but they don’t realize the other ones that we have here. So, we have the Black Archives Museum is located here at this campus, the Doll Museum, which is our smallest of our museums, and then we just opened last week phase one of the new archeology and Native American galleries.”

The East Hills Library offers many free programs for children throughout the summer. These programs provide educational fun and keep kids out of the heat.

Misty Snider is the youth services department manager at the East Hills Library. Snider explained why people should come to the library this summer.

“We think it’s important for kids to come,” Snider said. “Not only just to keep reading over the summer and avoid that summer slide, but also, you know, just to see all the fun stuff there is to do in and around our area. We have all kinds of things going on all summer, and everything is free, so there’s no reason to sit home and be bored.”

There are also free adult programs offered at the library. A full schedule of library programs can be found at sjpl.librarymarket.com.

News-Press NOW’s Storm Tracker Chief Meteorologist Jared Shelton said that over the next week, temperatures will remain high.

“Afternoon high temperatures are forecast to reach well into the 90s here in St. Joseph for the next 5-7 days, with high humidity resulting in triple-digit ‘feels like’ temperatures,” Shelton said.

When outside in the heat, make sure to drink plenty of water and wear the proper sun protection.