Kids keep camp counselors busy
It's 9:25 a.m. on a Friday, and camp counselors at Alameda Park have already dealt with a bruised shin and peed pants.
Although activities at Camp Alameda begin at 9:30 a.m., children began arriving at 7, spending supervised time on the playground.
While counselor David Crissman consoles the injured camper — ice for the shin, a snack for morale — head counselor Lauren Wagner staffs the Masonic Shelter, the drop-off point for campers.
"I'll look for it," she calls out to a departing parent, promising to keep an eye out for a missing bottle of Water BABIES sunblock.
In between welcome hugs for the younger kids, she keeps a tally of schedule changes.
That day, Stephen had a lunch date with dad and Caitlin and Colton would be picked up early. Aden's mother would also arrive during pool time, taking responsibility for Aden after a successful S test, deeming him competent to swim in the deep end.
With 37 youths between ages 4 and 12, the counselors say every day is sink or swim. At 9:30 a.m., they take the plunge.
As campers assembled at the shelter, Lauren used a marker to write campers' names on paper cups, then placed them beside jumbo thermoses of iced tea and water."Do not fill it up the whole way. You'll spill it," Lauren reminded the thirsty group as she pointed out their cups.Normally Kool-Aid occupies the second thermos, but today the tea would make its debut.When the sweet drink is gone, the kids must drink water."We try not to let them get too sugared up," she said.The other counselors, who total six — not counting additional help for special-needs children — were cutting more cups to make shallow basins for craft paint. The paint would be used to color clear plastic sun catchers.With the camp week's theme of "SuperStar Sports," the sun catchers featured various soccer balls, cheerleading megaphones and all-star logos dangling from key rings."Remember to clean your brushes in between," Lauren said, then noticing a camper with lots of paint on her hands."Lydia, don't touch your face! Don't touch your face!" she hailed, trying to prevent the inevitable.Once painted, the sun catchers would be set out to dry on construction paper, each sheet labeled with the artist's name.Personalizing the construction paper was but one of the tasks performed in advance.For the counselors who arrived at 6:45 a.m., prep work included creating a nine-hole miniature golf course — the next activity on the agenda."Help clean up please," Lauren called out at 10:15.In the background, counselors Jenny, Ali, Nikki, Kelsey and David were wiping tables and stacking the paintbrushes in a box.Preparing to golf, the campers divided by age into groups — ready to navigate a course of jump ropes, push brooms, tin cans and Rubbermaid bins and their lids."You've got to use your resources," said counselor Ali Schnur, who had worked on assembling the course that morning.Score cards made from construction paper and markers were handed to each golfer."Why do we have to use the (club) that's taped?" one golfer asked."Why can't we use the yellow one?""Am I being good?" queried another."Don't step in the water," Kelsey warned at Hole 8, pointing to a pond drawn from sidewalk chalk."What will happen if I step in the water?" one child asked."Am I allowed to look at the ball? He said I can't look at the ball," another interrupted.
By 11:30 a.m., half of the counselors were quickly disassembling the course while others monitored the kitchen, where a once orderly assortment of backpacks was now being ransacked for every variety of sandwich and snack.While some campers were finding spots at the tables, others were led to a microwave at the pool area, where kids with "heat-up" meals are taken."Who had the dinosaur meatballs?" asked Ali, leading one of the microwave groups.Back at the shelter, the 30- minute lunch begins. The counselors note they are ravenously hungry in between the usual talk."Michael Jackson flushes himself down the toilet," one child said."Who is Michael Jackson?""I don't know.""That's the kind of conversation we have everyday," Lauren noted."Oh! The chaos!" Nikki agreed.Shortly after noon, the tables clear: Cups, cartons and lunch pails disappear almost as quickly as they emerged.In their place appear swimsuits, sunscreen and towels for the pool."My hand's up. Your mouth's shut," Lauren calls out, waiting for the group to notice her raised arm, the signal for silence.
As the youths wiggle on picnic benches, Lauren offers a series of reminders about pool procedures, like sunscreen."We usually put it on them," Ali said."It's a mess if they put it on themselves," Nikki added.With each counselor assigned to track four or five youths, the children form a line and begin their trek to the pool. Canvas swim bags drag along pavement even though the bags don't have wheels.The children suit up in the locker rooms, then meet under a pavilion.Lauren and David get in the water. The others keep a poolside watch."I have to go pee," one child says as Ali helps a camper count change for the snack bar.Another child says he was poked in the eye."He said he's sorry. He didn't mean to," Ali said, confirming no injury occurred."Every day is different," said Jenny Kienzle. "You always have to be on your toes.""The biggest thing in our day is people getting cuts and bruises and people having to pee. 'I have to go to the bathroom' is the thing you hear most."By 1:30 p.m., David is a jungle gym. Although he is sunning himself in the grass, the children gravitate toward him just as they did in the water."They like to crawl all over me in the pool and get thrown," he noted. "I like the attention, though."Nearby, Lauren is brushing someone's hair."Will you carry my bag?" asks Dylan, anticipating the 2 p.m. return to the shelter."Why?" Jenny asks."It fell in the toilet."
Today is the last day of the weeklong camp, and counselors announce they will spring for smoothies at the concession.It's 2:10 p.m., and the kids are seated in a circle. The counselors initiate a game of duck-duck-goose to occupy time while smoothies are made."You don't want to be goose?" one camper asks when another shirks away from being tagged."I want to be goose, but don't touch my head."By 3 p.m., the group has returned to the shelter. Despite the smoothies, the kids seem hungry for the Rice Krispies treats scheduled as that afternoon's snack.After a post-snack vomit scare, the counselors present six plywood boxes, custom made for beanbag toss.The three sets of boxes were loaned by Lauren, Ali and Jenny, who say the game is popular at college.After golf clubs and other items are used to mark the throwing line, the children learn they will receive three points for every bag that lands in the hole, one point if it lands on the box."I just saw a squirrel crawl on the side of my water bottle," one boy says.By 3:30, scoring is under way. Anna has earned 13 points, by far the highest score so far. Two children appear from the surrounding park and receive permission to join in the game."Guys, don't throw at each other, please," Jenny reminds a few of the campers.It's the last scheduled event of the day, and some children grow restless as parents begin to trickle in. By 3:45, the group has been reduced by half.The counselors who arrived earliest also say goodbye, leaving the later arrivals in charge of preparing for next week's camp.
While some campers at the pavilion settle in to coloring books and trading cards, Lauren and Jenny take scissors and other unapproved items from first aid kits, to be used for next week's "Sherlock Safety"theme.As parents arrive, children on the playground are summoned via walkie-talkie.Some of the children give goodbye hugs. Others announce they'll return next week."They're pretty tired by the end of the day," Lauren said, explaining how entertaining the wide span of ages presents a challenge for counselors, who plan the crafts and activities with care."We try to do something that will suit somebody one day and somebody else the next day," Jenny said.Earlier that week, for instance, craft projects included making picture frames and autograph books. The frames were then filled with group photos taken at a Slippery Rock Sliders baseball game, with the autograph books also filled on the field trip."If everybody's happy when they go home, that's all that matters," Lauren said.
