Bethlehem YMCA summer camp continues to grow
When you’re a kid, you (hopefully) spend a lot of time doing what you’re told.
That’s why when counselors for the Bethlehem YMCA’s summer camp program sat down to plot out the nine-week schedule, they decided that this year, afternoons would be reserved for giving their campers a choice of a number of activities.
We want the kids to do what they want to do, instead of being forced to sit out, said Camp Director Rusty Decker. `We just stick with what works and what the kids like.`
The Y’s summer camp kicked off last week, and about 125 kids showed out for a week of fun in the sun, shade and YMCA pool. This is just the second year the Y has held camp activities primarily outdoors, and already participation is on track to outpace last year’s by several hundred campers. In earlier years, most of the day was spent in the building’s gyms and other facilities.
Now, the woods behind the YMCA are crisscrossed with walking paths leading to different activity areas. Campers can spend much of their days under the forest canopy, shielded from the sun and free to get a goodly taste of nature.
Besides archery, arts and crafts and the field sports everyone instantly relates to summer camp, the Bethlehem Y has a few unique stations. Kids can go on nature walks, with informational signage about the forest posted along the trail. There’s a theater group, and campers who participate end up putting on a play at the end of the week. Then there’s the full complement of what the YMCA facility has to offer, including the indoor swimming pool.
There’s even an outdoor cooking station, where campers get to try their hand at cooking quesadillas, pizzas and (of course) S’mores over an open fire.
And no camp would be complete without a fire pit, where all the campers gather every morning to sing, dance and talk over the day’s activities.
`These are traditions we’ve started, and the returning kids are asking for it,` said Assistant Director Lana Bunning.
The camp counselors set the activities and the schedule themselves, using what they’ve learned in past seasons to concoct a program the campers are most likely to enjoy. Every week has a theme, as well. Last week’s activities were luau-based, culminating in contests involving hula skirts and `poison coconuts` (water balloons). Next week, the campers will break into Wild West towns and play a game of gold rush on Friday, racing about camp to find gold-painted rocks.
`I call it ‘Fun Fridays,’ when we have a theme and do activities based on the theme,` said Activities Director Joanna DePace. `We try every Friday to add water, because kids love water and it’s hot out.`
Campers also get to take a field trip every Wednesday.
There are 17 counselors on staff this year, and they’ll generally oversee groups of a dozen campers. The Y fielded well over 200 applications for the summer positions.
`A lot of the counselors have grown up in the Y…they’re really, really tied into the mission of the Y, and I think they’re great with the kids,` Bethlehem YMCA Executive Director Derek Martin said.
The camp is open to kids ages five to 14 (there is a half-day component for preschoolers) and runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Families can sign children up for a single week or for multiple weeks. The theme weeks, field trips and variety of activities means even nine-week campers are not likely to get bored.
While the summer camp program is growing every year, it’s poised to make a big leap in 2012. By then, it’s hoped a new pavilion and soccer field will be installed behind the Y.
Approval has already been granted by the town, and the YMCA hopes to break ground in September. When finished, the pavilion will provide running water, bathrooms and shelter to the camp area and to other programs, and the field will give kids a better place to play. The branch’s other activities, such as youth sports, will also benefit.
`I think it’s just going to add to the overall impact this facility have on our community,` Martin said. `It’s really going to take our facility to a whole new level.`
To learn more about the YMCA’s summer camp, visit cdymca.org or contact the Bethlehem branch at 439-4394.
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