ESSEX — Camp Dory, this town's newly named summer program for youngsters, seems to be cruising through smooth waters after being taken over by the YMCA of the North Shore early this summer.
Based at the town-owned Centennial Grove on Chebacco Lake, the camp enrolls about 100 campers per week in a program that offers a variety of activities.
"We expected perhaps 50 campers per session and we have twice that number," said Gerry Beauchamp, executive director of the YMCA of the North Shore, based in Ipswich.
"The setting is idyllic, and we feel it's a good fit for us and for the town."
The Essex Youth Commission had run the summer program in the past, but the town's selectmen assumed the leadership role when the commission's membership fell below a quorum in 2008.
The town sought an organization that could run a summer program on a professional basis, and the Ipswich branch of the YMCA of the North Shore submitted the successful bid.
"The YMCA will do an exceptional job in terms of management, personnel, programming, children's safety and making good use of Chebacco Lake and the facility the town owns," Ray Randall, then chairman of selectmen, said at the time.
By most counts, that prediction is proving true.
The YMCA has introduced kayaks and paddle boats, and is putting emphasis on teaching skills in sports such as tennis, basketball, baseball and volleyball. A skilled specialist in each sport visits the camp to teach rather than just watch youngsters play.
Camp Dory also offers arts, crafts and dancing.
The transition from town-run program to certified summer camp operated by the standards of the YMCA appears to have benefited from attention to training and staffing.
"We have been able to recruit and train a good staff," said Merri-Lynn Lathrop, who is associate executive director of the YMCA of the North in Ipswich and who, with Nick Fitzgerald, has organized Camp Dory.
"Most of the youngsters are from Essex," she said, "and I think we've been able to offer a range of activities with the eye of creating learning experiences."
The YMCA has brought an educational element to the camp as well as a recreational one.
YMCA organizers dubbed the new program Camp Dory to reflect the fact that the town has a long history in building ships— and smaller vessels such as dories.
"We use brain teasers to stimulate the children, and teach them something about the town's history," said Lathrop, a Gordon College graduate who studied recreational programming.
"When the schooner (Ardelle) was recently launched here, we talked to the campers about things like constructing a wooden boat, the nature of a side launch, and the town's history of building boats years ago," she said.
Campers range in age from about 4 to 12. Most youngsters attend from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. but there is also an "extended option" plan that runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Camp leaders say that one of their key goals is to encourage personal attributes such as respect, honest and responsibility.
"Gold coins" are given out periodically to youngsters who demonstrate such traits.
Annie Cameron, an Essex parent who has two children in the program, said that her children are very pleased.
"They are spending more time on the water, with the kayaks and the paddle boats," said Cameron, who was a member of the town Youth Commission before it disbanded.
"The YMCA is a good partner, because they can train counselors and offer certified programs," Cameron said. "For the town of Essex, I think this is a very good deal because we (the town) were not in a position to provide recreational training in past years."
Dyke Hendrickson can be reached at 978-283-7000 x3451, or a dhendrickson@gloucestertimes.com.
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