The team at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, N.H., is busily preparing for the summer 2015 season. Camp director Alessia Doss says that the center is looking forward to hosting a “more regional” group of campers this year, drawing children and youth from the dioceses of Western Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
There will be a bus to camp from the diocesan offices in Springfield in Western Massachusetts, and Doss said that the camp is anticipating that the number of campers from dioceses other than Massachusetts will double from last year.
As in the past, there will be five weeks of summer camp, from June 25-Aug. 7. Campers can choose between a week-long session and a two-week session, which will run July 12-25.
A new program this summer is Lifeguards in Training, a four-week program where campers become certified in CPR, first aid, lifeguarding and small watercraft safety. Doss said that this training will equip campers to work at the camp next summer (though it is not a promise of employment). “It also ties into our mission of empowering urban youth, because these kids are then able to go home and get well-paying jobs at the YMCA [for example],” Doss said.
Summer camp will be staffed by both new and returning personnel, including 11 international staffers. The head chaplain will be Drew Courtright, a youth minister from the Diocese of New Hampshire and a member of an Episcopal band that plays youth conferences around the country.
The camp has also added a head of camp communications, who will be creating a camp blog and maintaining the Barbara C. Harris Center's Facebook and Instagram accounts. “We’re really going to increase that [online] presence and reach out to parents more during the summer,” Doss said.
A new Web site and online registration database allow parents to do every part of camp registration online, from applying for camperships to filling out medical forms. Doss said she will also create accounts for those who register by mail, so all families registering for camp will have easy online access to their information.
The 2015 camp sessions are filling up, particularly the two-week session, Doss said, and she encouraged parents to register soon. She emphasized that camperships are available and that there is a commitment to making camp accessible to all kids, regardless of financial situation.
Registration is now open for all sessions. Parents may register their campers online or by mail. For more information and to register, visit www.bchcenter.org/camp.
-- Ellen Stuart Kittle