Families, skaters, sports teams, dog owners, and many more Encinitas residents flocked to the grand opening of the Encinitas Community Park for the four hour extravaganza Saturday, Jan. 10.

The park was under construction since Sept. 2012, and is located behind the Vons shopping center off of Santa Fe Drive.

The day began at 10 a.m. with the Skate Plaza ribbon cutting and continued on each hour with ribbon cuttings for the Maggie Houlihan Memorial Dog Park, named for the former Encinitas councilwoman who died of cancer in 2011, and finally to the ballfields.

Besides the ribbon cuttings, the whole park was filled with a festive and excited atmosphere.

Skaters aged 5 to 65 eagerly awaited their turn to drop into the bowl, while music blasted from a tent set up beside the skate park.

Swarms of children explored the new playground which was full of all sorts of fun new equipment for them to swing, climb, and run on.

Visitors browsed through booths set up along the perimeter of one of the soccer fields, accepting free water bottles from the Encinitas Fire Department for getting a quick lesson in CPR or snatching one of the free food samples being passed out by Rita’s and Yummy Cupcakes.

The Encinitas Parks and Recreation Department handed out Seaside Market reusable bags filled with all sorts of goodies from local businesses like Scripps sunblock and water bottles, and coupons to local restaurants.

The free stuff continued over at the baseball fields where the concessions stand gave out free hot dogs while people waited for the ribbon cutting to begin.

The ball field ceremony was complete with local Girl Scouts carrying in the flag and LCC Pop Warner cheerleaders doing a special routine, before new Mayor Kristen Gaspar made a speech.

A meandering dirt path away from the sports fields, pet owners ventured into the new dog park with their eager pups. The park consists of three sections, one for big dogs, one for little dogs, and one first-time park users who want to get comfortable in a smaller less crowded environment.

The main area of the park even had dog obstacle courses set up where owners attempted, and usually failed, to get their dogs to jump through hoops or wiggle through tunnels.

Though the park was full of additional perks to draw in visitors for opening day, people are sure to return to this long awaited community park.

For more information regarding park hours, features, and construction visit www.Encinitas.CA.gov