The weather at Marion Elliott Park (formerly Lincoln Park) Tuesday morning was nearing the 80s.

It was warm enough for local firefighters to spray mist of water from their nearby truck to the eagerly awaiting youngsters looking to cool off.

This was all part of the summer fun at the Manteca Unified School District’s Nutrition Education special BBQ event held in partnership with the Manteca Fire Department.

This was the second such event this summer with MUSD Nutrition Education and the Manteca Fire Department. The third and final one is scheduled July 8 at Woodward Park.

According to Nutrition Services Supervisor Josie Contreras, the BBQ was part of the free Seamless Lunch Summer Program for youngsters between the ages of 2 through 18.

“We’ve planned (on serving) 325 today,” she said of the estimated attendance of those at Lincoln Park, which also featured a flurry of activities at the pool and along the open spaces.

Contreras noted that MUSD summer interns and the City of Manteca Parks & Recreation Department provided plenty of games, activities, and giveaways for the children.

Working the grill once again was Thomas Laruta, who was breaking in his replacement Matthew Drices. Laruta was recently promoted fulltime to his warehouse job after working the past few summers as the BBQ grill master.

Paula Reynoso in Nutrition Services has been in charge of the BBQ events.

As for the free Seamless Lunch Summer Program, MUSD continues to ensure that every youngster will have access to healthy food choices.

The program is available at 28 locations throughout the district – of that 21 are in Manteca, with four in Lathrop and three in Stockton’s Weston Ranch community.

For more information, log on to https://bit.ly/MUSD_summer.