The Meeting Waters YMCA, the region’s largest provider of summer camp programming, has announced its plans for the summer of 2005. It is anticipated that, once again this year, over 400 youth ages 5-16 from over two dozen VT and NH communities will attend a Meeting Waters YMCA camp this summer. The regional Y’s camps will take place over an eight-week period from June 27th through August 19th.
The Meeting Waters YMCA’s longest-running program, Lewis Day Camp, will for the 41st year host hundreds of children ages 6-13. Core camp activities include YMCA swim lessons, sports, arts & crafts, free swim, cooperative games, hiking, archery, nature education, and canoeing. All of this takes place on the Meeting Waters YMCA’s beautiful 52 acre property in Springfield. Bus transportation is provided at no additional cost from Alstead, Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, Charlestown, Chester, Langdon, Putney, Saxtons River, Springfield, Walpole, and Westminster. Lewis Day Camp offers four two-week and four one-week programs. Camp runs daily from 9-4, excluding bus time. Fees for a two-week session are just $260 and $135 for a one-week session (including transportation). Several forms of financial assistance are available.
The Lewis Day Camp facility also serves as the home of two related programs—KinderCamp and Leaders-in-Training. Offered in mid-August, KinderCamp gives children entering kindergarten in the fall a confidence-building experience as they transition from child care to school. The fee for KinderCamp is $135 for the week (including transportation). As with all programs, several forms of financial assistance are available for those that need it on order to access the program.
The Leaders-in-Training program provides 14 and 15 year-olds with a week-long leadership training program and three weeks of practical experience working alongside Lewis Day Camp’s veteran staff. It is designed for young people that might want to work at a camp when they turn 16 or who aim to be a teacher, youth worker, child care provider or recreation professional in the future. The fee for the LIT program is $250 for the four-week experience, which includes daily transportation from eleven NH and VT communities.
The Meeting Waters YMCA’s three Adventure Camps offer an opportunity for 10-16 year-olds to take on new challenges. Adventure Sampler offers 10-14 year olds an experience with five different adventure activities in five days—low adventure challenge course activities, canoeing, hiking, kayaking, and rock climbing. These activities take place in various sites throughout the CT River Valley. The cost for this program is $250. Two overnight camping experiences are also offered. Green Mountain Adventure is an entry-level overnight, off-site camp for 12-14 year-olds. Campers are based at Branbury State Park. Day hikes take them to waterfalls, mountain lakes and caves. For more experienced campers between the ages of 13 and 16, Backpacking in the White Mountains provides an opportunity to hike from campsite to campsite throughout the week. Fees for both overnight camps are $300 which includes transportation and food.
Don’t worry moms and dads—kids aren’t the only ones that can have fun at Meeting Waters YMCA’s camps. Family Camp allows parents and their children (ages 6-18) to enjoy all of the resources that the Y’s Lewis Day Camp has to offer, including its quality staff. Families participate together in archery, canoeing, arts and crafts, sports and games, swimming, and more. Family Camp takes place from 9-4 on Saturday, August 13th. There is no set fee for the program but donations are appreciated to offset staff and materials expenses. Space is limited to ten families.
Meeting Waters YMCA Program Director Sue Fortier is quick to point out that camp offers something positive to more than just the campers and their parents, who can focus on work knowing their children are safe and being nurtured. “While it is true that camps are still focused on forming new friendships, developing new skills, and creating lasting memories, recent research suggests they do a whole lot more for young lives.” Fortier adds, “By designing our camps using the Developmental Assets approach, we know that we are providing a lot more than fun—we are developing the essential building blocks for positive youth development and, by doing so, we are playing an important role in preventing a variety of problems plaguing our communities. A quality camp is an important prevention tool.”
Just as important as the Y’s diverse and quality programming is their commitment that no one will be denied access for lack of ability to pay full program fees. The Meeting Waters YMCA’s Scholarship Fund is created by generous contributions to the Board’s Reach Out to Youth Campaign (which is currently taking place) and grant support from the Turrell Fund. Additional support comes to parents through the Vermont and New Hampshire child care subsidy programs as well as local camp funds that have been established in some communities in the Meeting Waters YMCA’s service area. Through the combination of these supports, last year’s campers received over $40,000 in financial assistance.
More information about all of the Meeting Waters YMCA’s camps and financial assistance is available at their camp Open House to be held on Saturday, May 14th from 1-4 pm at their Lewis Day Camp facility on Route 5 in Springfield. Staff leaders will also be at the Youth Services’ Camp Fair at Green Street School in Brattleboro in the morning of April 16th and then, that afternoon, at the Celebrate the Young Child event at Springfield’s Riverside Middle School.
More information about Meeting Waters YMCA camps, other programs, volunteer-led expansion efforts, or the Board of Director’s Reach Out to Youth Campaign, is also available at their website at www.meetingwatersymca.org or by calling their office nearest you—Brattleboro: 246-1036; Bellows Falls: 463-4769; or Springfield: 885-8131.
The Meeting Waters YMCA is a charitable, social service organization founded in 1895. Its programs take place at its facility in Bellows Falls, camp property in Springfield, and satellite sites in Brattleboro, Chester and other communities.