Los Alamos invites summer interns to weekly volleyball gathering

A sand volleyball pit at Central Avenue and Canyon Road is serving as one of Los Alamos’ simplest welcome mats for summer interns, graduate students and other young adults arriving for the season. The United Church of Los Alamos is again using its picnic grounds for Summer Mondays, a free weekly gathering built around food, conversation and volleyball.

The setup is practical as well as social. The church’s grounds sit across from the Aquatic and Nature Center and near trailheads, giving newcomers an easy landmark in the center of town and a starting point for learning the county’s trail network. The Los Alamos Nature Center is also described by county visitor information as a starting point for exploring the Pajarito Plateau, making the area around the church a natural place for people who are still finding their way around.

The recurring Monday evening gathering has a particular purpose in a town where temporary arrivals are a constant part of the summer rhythm. Los Alamos National Laboratory says it hosts more than 1,800 student and post-graduate interns each summer, and its 27th Los Alamos Dynamics/Engineering Summer School runs June 1 through August 7, 2026. That program is limited to U.S. citizens, with dual citizenship accepted, and is aimed at current junior or senior undergraduates and first-year graduate students.

Los Alamos itself remains a small community even as it absorbs waves of short-term residents. The U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate put the county’s population at 19,407, close to the 19,419 counted in the 2020 census. In a place that size, an easy, repeatable gathering can matter as much for connection as it does for recreation.

The United Church of Los Alamos has become a familiar host for that role. The church says it was chartered in 1947, its chapel was designated a Los Alamos Historic Landmark in 2022, and it is affiliated with six Protestant denominations. It also describes its campus as fully accessible and says all are welcome. Those details help explain why the church has been able to provide a low-pressure place for newcomers to meet people outside the lab, campus or office.

The event is not new. Los Alamos Reporter documented similar Monday Night at the Pit gatherings in 2021, 2022 and 2023, each presented as a free weekly welcome with a meal and optional volleyball. The 2023 notice said the gathering began at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays and listed the church’s address as 2525 Canyon Road. That continuity suggests Los Alamos has found one reliable answer to a recurring challenge: helping seasonal arrivals become part of the town before summer slips away.