Fun in the sun at Camp Barrett

Children and teens are creating a summer of memories at Barrett Park, site of the village’s annual summer camp which runs through Aug. 12.

Camp Director Nicole Winter said there are about 250 children enrolled in this year’s program, and attendance each day averages more than 200 kids. There are 54 counselors, five supervisors and more than a dozen volunteers.

Winter said that most of the counselors, who are typically high school and college students, have worked at the camp in past years. One of them is Melissa Gonzalez, a Queens College student working her fifth summer at Barrett Park. “I love the kids,” Gonzalez said. “Our kids this year are great. It’s just a nice atmosphere.”

Gonzalez said her favorite annual event is Color Wars, which was held on July 27. Children are divided into the red, white and blue teams and compete in a variety of activities including a tug-of-war and various races. She said it is just as much fun for the counselors as it is for the campers.

She also noted that is nice to see the kids grow up. In her first year, she supervised first and second grade boys. Now, those children are among the oldest campers at Barrett Park.

Counselor Daniel Taylor, who also attends Queens College, is working his third summer at the camp and enjoys spending his weekday mornings with the children. “I’m going to be a teacher,” he said, “so this is like practice, except without the classrooms.”

Joe Leib and Sam Knightly are among the small group of first-time counselors this year. They work in the art tent and get to meet just about every child who comes through the summer camp this year.

“It’s a great job,” said Leib, who will be a junior at South High School in September. “I love working with the kids.”

Knightly, a recent graduate of Central High School who will attend SUNY Purchase in the fall, likes the flexibility that comes with the mornings-only camp. “This is good,” she said, “because you can work half-a-day and still do what you want to do later on.”

She added that her responsibilities including planning the daily arts and crafts activities, and helping the children with their projects. Plus, she said, it’s nice to have a job in the shade on those hot days.

Another way to find relief from the heat at Barrett Park is to take a run through the sprinklers. That’s a favorite activity for 10-year-old Valerie Scherzinger. “On a really hot day, we can cool off,” she said. “We can just get soaked without anybody yelling at us.”

Devin Morgan, 12, talked about the variety of activities there are at Barrett Park. But besides that, there’s good company as well. “Most of my summer friends that don’t go to school with me are here,” she said.

Amy Bruno said her 11-year-old son Zachary loves coming to the camp every year. She said he comes home every day and talks about the great time he had. “He has a lot of fun,” she said. “He’s happy to come.”

Bruno added that her son enjoys all the sports activities there are at Barrett Park, but also that it gives him his afternoons free to go to the beach or to the pool.

At the end of every week at camp is Crazy Friday where students can dress up based on various themes including outfits reflecting a certain decade or a sports jersey. Parents are invited down at the end of each Crazy Friday to watch a costume parade.

New this year is a buddy system between the fifth- and sixth-grade girls groups and the pre-K, kindergarten, first- and second-grade girls groups. Winter said this was created at the request of the older campers. “They wanted the opportunity to be able to work with some of the younger kids,” she said, “and teach them the things they learned in camp.”

Every group has a name based on a popular movie, TV show or celebrity including the Transformers, Harry Potters, Taylor Swifts and Green Lanterns.

Winter said that the summer camp has run very smoothly this year. “I think despite the heat, everyone’s having a lot of fun,” she said. “Our attendance is high every day and everybody is smiling.”