SMYRNA – A group of kids from all across the county said farewell to staff members and friends at Camp Thompson on Thursday, the last day of the 16th Annual Chenango County Sheriff’s Camp.
The five-week summer camp is free for area kids ages 9-12 and draws students from nine school districts.
Eating lunch around a picnic table shared by chatting teen volunteers, several energized younger campers and a few staff members, 16-year-old volunteer Michaela Reynolds reflected on how she first joined the program seven years ago.
“I started coming when I was 9, and I’ve been coming back every year since,” said Reynolds, whose duties now include keeping the youths on task. “When I first came here I didn’t really know anybody because none of the kids were really from my school, but by the time I left a week later, I had so many friends.”
Reynolds said she kept in touch with those friends after her first year, motioning to others across the picnic table.
Eager to share his experience, 10-year-old Brandon Shimer can barely keep from blurting out his excitement.
“I like playing four-square, I liked the helicopter – it was so cool. It flew right down over there. I like the police dog. They had this guy in a suit get attacked by the dog and we watched. It was cool. Later we’re going to go on the slip-n-slide,” he said in the fewest amount of breaths possible. Brandon has been coming to Sheriff’s Camp since he was three – his father Jim “the Cook” Shimer helped to organize the first program and heads the Chenango County Correctional Facility’s kitchen when he’s not at the camp.
“It was a great program then, and after all these years, it only gets better. Every year the staff and the sheriff come out here and for five weeks we give it all that we have. I only wish we could offer more,” Shimer said.
As one might imagine, the Sheriff’s Camp has countless structured activities including sports, swimming, boating, education, group functions and social awareness.
One of the camp’s main goals is to promote a message of respect, caring and honesty along with several other community-oriented qualities. To help educate the campers, the Sheriff’s Office employs several of its officers to perform demonstrations on their wide range of specialties.
There are number of demonstrations from local law enforcement, corrections and dispatch officials at the camp as they explain the different aspects of their jobs. The presentations include SCUBA diving, the Oxford Fire Department’s training trailer, the K-9 unit, Plymouth Fire Department, a visit from the Life Net of New York EMS helicopter and the day-to-day life of emergency service personnel.
The Ross Park Zoomobile, a Bounce House from Afton Tent Rental, conservation demonstrations by Cornell Cooperative Extension, evening dances with DJ Rhett Genung, Ed Sidote’s life experiences on the Finger Lakes Trail and magician Ron Cain, are only of few of the many other events in the camp.
Many of the presentations from law enforcement focus on safety and making the right choices from a friendly, yet experienced perspective.
“We see it as a character building opportunity. We try to teach the kids how to make proper decisions. There is a lot of peer pressure out there. We want them know they can make their own choices,” said Sheriff Ernest Cutting Jr. “Many people can’t afford to send their kids to camp – for many kids this is the only summer camping experience or vacation they’re going to have.”
Attending for their first time seven-year-old Madalynn and her older sister, 9-year-old Jessie, plan on coming back next year.
“I liked the bounce house, the slip-n-slide, I like meeting new people because it’s fun to have more friends,” said Jessie.
Friends from Norwich, 11-year-olds Bradley and Brandon, said they like coming to the camp because it gives them something to do.
“At home I get really bored, but there’s a ton of cool stuff to do here,” said Bradley. Bradley said that Thursday’s excitement happened earlier in the morning when a group of volunteers and counselors snuck into the cabin of another. They removed the sleeping volunteer’s bed and carried him to the lake’s edge with a crowd of kids struggling to remain silent. Waking up on the dock just above the water, volunteer Nate Ingraham laughed at the prank. “Not really much to do at that point except go in the water,” he said.
As he suspected, Nate was tossed in the pond a moment later and the campers burst into uncontrollable laughter. Wet, but in good spirits, Nate laughed, too.
“We’re going to come back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that,” exclaimed Brandon.
Every year around 500 kids attend the Sheriff’s Camp in Smyrna.
Cutting said this non-profit program is made possible by a number of private contributions and support from the Chenango County Board of Supervisors.