The summer months fly by as camp seasons end

village campers
(Photo by Jason Kaplan) - Village campers Ethan Greenblatt, Landon Lavallee, and Noah Chyla palaver while eating lunch.

Nearly 240 children attended summer camp in the town and village this year. Unfortunately, their season of fun came to an end this week.

Both camps featured a number of trips including visits to Splashdown, Tarsio Lanes, and the firemen’s fair.  It remained cloudy, but warm, when the town campers went to Splashdown, but the village campers had a little bit of help getting wet from Mother Nature – it rained half the day.

The village’s Summer Playground spent a day at Storm King Art Center. For the second year in a row, the campers were treated to a guided tour. In the town, campers enjoyed two new trips – skating at Ice Time and jumping on the trampolines at Bounce.

Bounce, located in Poughkeepsie, also has “ball” pits to dive into, as well as an “American Ninja Warrior” type of obstacle course.

When not venturing around the Hudson Valley, the campers enjoyed activities at their home base.

At Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary school, the village campers had a number of theme days where they could dress in their favorite Halloween costume, wear a wig or style their hair in a crazy way, or paint their face. A carnival day allowed the kids to play various games and eat carnival-type food. The week ended with a talent show.

A popular weekly activity at Cornwall Elementary School was Winner Wednesday, created by campers Amanda Jacobs and Allison Ward. Each week the counselors were pitted against each other in competition  whether it be a basketball game or pie eating contest. The kids cheered on their favorite counselor. The pie eating contest was among the most popular events. The winner was able to pie another counselor in the face.

Looking ahead to next year, town camp director Kathleen Hand said she’d like to organize a couple of field day events with camps from New Windsor, Newburgh, or even just the village.

Jennifer Borland said she’s considering adding a new trip to The Castle, as well as new themes such as Disney or Character Day.