It’s time to shake off the cold damp days and look forward to the sunny warm days of summer—and the town’s Parks & Recreation Department is getting ready, too, doing projects to prepare the town’s parks, fields, and beaches for summer use.

A key sign of that transition to summer is the opening the town’s Saybrook Point Mini-Golf course. That occurs this weekend and the cost of one round is still just $5. It will be open on weekends through Memorial Day weekend.

The department’s crews have been busy getting the rest of the town’s facilities ready for use.

“We have re-sodded Trask baseball field and added irrigation,” said Parks and Recreation Director Ray Allen. “We also have re-decked the area around the bathhouse at Harvey’s Beach and the viewpoint decking at Fort Monument Park.”

Annual athletic field maintenance tasks have been underway, too, in the last two weeks and will continue this week. Fields, including those on Ferry Road, off of Maple Avenue, and at Town Park and Trask Field, have been fertilized, aerated, and overseeded with new seed, where needed.

Allen said that fortunately, despite some big winter storms that led to some flooding, the town’s trails are mostly clear and the beaches appear to have retained their sand.

“We lucked out. The beaches held their material,” said Allen.

At the recently rebuilt Town Beach Pavilion, a donation of time and materials by Chuck Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Painting means that the pavilion’s wood will get a new coat of protective stain.

Town beach passes are now on sale at the Parks & Recreation Office on Sheffield Street for the summer season. To confirm town residence, bring a driver’s license when buying a pass.

Allen also said that the department is now taking registrations for summer camps and activities.