Clayton Creates A Sensory-Friendly Way To Enjoy Holiday Tradition
CLAYTON, N.C. – Holiday traditions can bring bright lights and excited crowds with plenty happening all around. For some individuals and families, though, that kind of busy setting can make it harder to take part.
Clayton Parks and Recreation is creating another way to enjoy the season after receiving a $1,500 New Initiative Grant from the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association. The funding will help expand the annual Merry Municipal Express with a second evening designed with sensory needs in mind.
The sensory-friendly event will offer smaller crowds and a calmer setting. Participants will also have more time to board and enjoy the train. These changes are designed for people who may find large crowds or busy events overwhelming.
Clayton Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Lauren Box hopes this new evening will make participation more accessible for residents who may have missed similar events before.
“We want families to be able to share in the magic of the season together,” said Box. “Someone may have been interested in riding the Merry Municipal Express in previous years but felt it wasn’t accessible to them. We hope this new option allows more families to take part in a beloved Clayton holiday tradition.”
The grant supports new community programs and events that promote health and wellness while opening recreation opportunities to more people. In Clayton, the program reflects the department’s ongoing commitment to creating inclusive opportunities for all members of the community.
Earlier this year, Clayton Parks and Recreation completed a year-long program through the National Inclusion Project’s Network of Inclusive Communities. Staff learned new ways to welcome people with different needs and began putting those ideas into practice along the way.
Residents have already seen some of those changes. Sensory Kits are available at Town activities and special events to help participants feel more comfortable. Noise-reducing headphones also gave people with sound sensitivities another way to enjoy Clayton’s Independence Day Fireworks Display.
Now, that same approach is being brought to Merry Municipal Express.
“Inclusion is not a one-time effort. It is an ongoing commitment,” said Box. “The more we learn about our community’s needs, the more we can adapt and expand opportunities for everyone to participate in the programs and traditions that make Clayton special.”
More details about the sensory-friendly Merry Municipal Express, including the date and how to participate, will be shared as plans are finalized. Residents can learn more by visiting claytonparks.org.
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If there are people in Clayton who find large crowds of people “overwhelming”, they probably need to move to southern New Mexico or northern Alaska, because Clayton is now home to large crowds of people.
It’s fine to have this, but it’s pretty silly. As an adult, you need to cope.
It’s the world we live in.
@JR: Is this somehow diminishing your holiday? Are children with special sensory needs somehow infringing on your ability to celebrate? Do you also think it’s “pretty silly” to have the new tactile curb warnings on walkways for low vision individuals. Or sign-interpreters at events for the hearing impaired? Maybe you’re the one whoneeds to cope?
This is an event for children… Maybe you should learn to cope with the idea everyone experiences things differently.
So long as a drag queen ain’t reading to children or I don’t have to call a dude a chick to keep from hurting their feelings idc, h*ll blindfold, put hearing protection and a helmet on them and waste all of our taxpayer dollars on being included in something they may not have the sense to hate. Inclusive is Cary. Clayton is country. Don’t understand why yall didn’t get the memo. Might’ve misheard where to move to. Oh and while your at it dig another Falls Lake cause I don’t know where everyone thinks water is going to come from to full up all these swimming pools. They’re digging in their back yards.
@Mark: “Inclusive is Cary. Clayton is country.”
I think you misspelled “bigot.”
i think you forgot to clarify
Disability doesn’t choose where to live. It can be anywhere and everywhere. There is no excuse for this ignorant comment. Inclusion isn’t political it’s the right thing to do.