Every July and August the Lions Club pavilion is overflowing with children, its breezeway ringing with laughter and screams of delight. Kids are there for the Pine Plains Summer Day Camp, a six-week extravaganza of swimming, reading, blueberry picking, arts and crafts—and climbing the Stissing Mountain fire tower.
Pine Plains resident and elementary school teacher Jen Chase conceived of the camp 18 years ago, when she noted “a huge need in Pine Plains for daycare and summer activities for kids.” It dawned on Chase that the Lions Club would be an ideal location: The pavilion would protect campers from rain or sunburn, and there was easy access to playground equipment and to Stissing Lake beach.
The first camp drew 20 to 30 kids (from kindergarten to sixth grade) per week, led by director Chase and four counselors. The numbers of students and staff doubled the second year. “Then it exploded!” Chase said. The last session, which ended on August 11, had 140 weekly campers (grades K through nine) and 11 counselors, plus Chase and assistant director Michaella Lamont, a former counselor promoted to the post four years ago.
Two-thirds of the campers are local residents. The rest come from New York City and from as far away as Ireland and Argentina (the children of Mashomack polo players). Chase noted that this mix gives local kids a learning opportunity and many of them forge friendships that endure beyond summer’s end.
Chase and Lamont start planning six months in advance. “We are hyper-organized,” Chase said with a laugh. Her detailed lists are daunting: arranging field trips; scheduling buses; interviewing, hiring, and training staff (most are former campers); setting up registration; informing parents. Chase is assisted by five hand–picked “specialty counselors,” each tasked with organizing an activity—sports, swimming, the talent show, arts and crafts, or board and card games.
Chase first presented her plans for the camp to the Town Board in the fall of 2005, after obtaining consent from the Lions Club. Town Supervisor A. Gregg Pulver “told me to do whatever I needed to do, and the town would support me,” she recalled. Chase then spread the word by sending flyers home with school kids and by posting blurbs on the town website and in local newspapers.
When the initial crop of kindergarteners aged out of the program in 2018, they pleaded along with their parents to extend the age limit. Chase started a counselors-in-training program for them, but with 20 kids it proved difficult to manage. The following year, students in grades seven through nine were allowed to attend the camp.
The 2020 Covid pandemic was a challenge. “I was determined to jump through any necessary hoops to hold summer camp, no matter what,” Chase said. She worked closely with the Dutchess County health department and agreed to regular inspections, strict masking and social distancing. As a result, it was the only kids’ camp open in the county that summer.
The camp has been partnering with the Pine Plains Free Library since 2017. Once a week the campers make the mile-and-a-half long walk to South Main Street, grouped by grade. “It’s a community effort,” says Chase, noting that homeowners keep their lawns neatly trimmed for easy shortcuts, and kids are invited to take a rest on porches.
The campers rotate through stations at the library and in the community room upstairs: book selection, snack time, game area. Library volunteers help keep things running smoothly, then counselors escort their charges back to the pavilion with their books. “It’s one of the kids’ favorite activities,” Lamont said. “They all love being read to,” She returns the library books the following day, loaded in her car.
The library’s collaboration is unique among camps in the area. Library director Alexis Tackett (a member of the Herald’s board of directors) finds acts that dovetail with the theme of the national Collaborative Summer Library Program, this year titled “All Together Now.” Tackett procured a magician, a reptile show, a carnival and—this year’s favorite—juggling with fire!
“Half of the library’s annual programming budget goes to our summer camp,” Tackett said. “It’s a great example of how our library can support the community. I’m passionate about what this partnership represents.”
The kids’ most anticipated activity happens at camp’s end: the Big Kahuna, a huge water slide in Stissing Lake. Chase never reveals the exact date the Big Kahuna will be at the camp—that’s just another part of the summer fun.