OXFORD — Despite weeks of wash-out weather, Oxford’s inaugural summer rec program is off to an exciting and exhausting start.
Recreation Director Kayla Laird pitched the idea of day camp to town officials late last winter, with goals for it to serve as a revenue-generating project.
Once greenlighted by the board of selectmen, Laird developed activities for both Pismo Beach and the Station House Community Center on King Street, a balancing act between daily weather and times that the rec center is booked by other groups.
“We have 97 kids, and most of them are Oxford residents,” Laird told the Advertiser Democrat last Wednesday. “There are a handful from Poland, Mechanic Falls, Harrison, Paris and Norway. We will have to cap it off at 125 if registrations continue to come in.”
Oxford Recreation Director serves after-lunch treats to day-campers from the snack shack at Pismo Beach. Oxford’s first summer rec program started June 26. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Camp opened Monday at Pismo. Tuesday was a washout, so programming moved to the community center.
“They loved it,” Laird said. “Usually indoor days are not as fun. Having the pavilion helps, they were able to play basketball, four-square and dodgeball, which is the big one. Every kid loves dodgeball. Inside, kids could color and use the pool table. And we had an afternoon movie.
“They’re looking forward to going back, and typically kids don’t want to be inside.”
Laird hired 12 counselors for the season, and each of them is completing a water safety course through the Red Cross. Currently Oxford does not have lifeguards, which are hard to come by in every community. A few beach attendant positions remain vacant, but Laird said she is still accepting applications.
Swimming is restricted to a shallow part off the beach. The younger kids follow the buddy system when in the water – whenever they hear the whistle they pair up with their buddy and wait while counselors do a head count.
It being so new, Oxford’s select board took a conservative view during planning about how the rec program would roll out.
“There were concerns about if we could get enough help, or if the numbers didn’t come in,” Laird said. “It was hard to explain, but I told everyone my gut feeling was that it would all work.
“I think they will be very pleased. Like I said, we didn’t even know how it would go hiring staff.”
Laird is extremely impressed with her crew, which ranges from junior counselors up to college age. She even has volunteers to come spend the day and work with the younger kids as extra sets of eyes and hands.
“They’ve been on it,” she laughed. “First day? You never know how it’s going to go.”
Many of the kids had never been to summer camp, and a few of the counselors were new to it themselves. One of the older staff has worked at the YMCA, where she leads her own classroom. Laird said there are enough with experience that the newest counselors have support as they learn the ropes.
Oxford’s summer rec program is open to kids between ages five to 12. Activities are segmented into three age groups.
“Each group decides what they want to do” during the day, Laird said. “They’re learning new games. We play whiffle ball. Sometimes it’s played with ‘anything but a bat.’ To bat they can use a lunchbox, or a badminton racket, or a broom. They have to find something other than a bat to hit the ball with.”
“There is so much space here at Pismo for summer rec,” said Oxford Recreation Direct Kayla Laird. Here, counselors Bailey Whitney (left), Karley O’Leary, Khloe O’Leary and Kennedy Mason lead a group of kids ready to split into whiffle ball teams. Another group of campers was at water’s edge for a swimming session. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
Another game called Catch the Rubber Chicken drew mixed reviews, she said, and reiterated that dodge ball is king.
Field trips and special guests are a big part of Laird-led recreation programs. This week everyone is heading to Storyland. In the near future they will go to Funtown Splashtown, and a trip to the ocean, site to be determined.
Showtime Steve will stop in as well. Laird has scheduled a laser tag tournament, a tie-dye class and a ceramics day. There will be carnival day, with bounce houses and a big slide supplied by games vendor O.H. Bounce.
“For the carnival, we’ll have popcorn and snow cones,” she said. “We’ll have a dunk tank and lots of carnival games.”
To introduce the kids and their parents to the summer camp experience, on June 25 Laird held a “meet the counselors” session at the community center.
“The families came in to meet the counselors before starting. And some of the kids seemed so nervous,” she said. “A few had told their parents that they weren’t sure they really wanted to go to camp. But within minutes, they were so excited and didn’t want to leave.
“It was also nice for the parents to see what it would be like, some of them were nervous too. A couple worried their kids might be too hyper. I told them, ‘I promise, your child is going to come home really tired!’”
She was not kidding either, with multiple parents texted her pictures of their children last Monday, zonked out as soon as they got home.
“One little kid came up to me the second day and said, ‘Kayla, I fell asleep as soon as I got home, and I woke up I was so mad that it wasn’t morning yet. I just wanted to come to rec.’”
Even with so much rain over the last week, Laird said everyone’s spirits have been great. “No complaints about the weather, at all. They’re making new best friends, even if they don’t remember their names at first. But they’re figuring it out. It’s been very uplifting.”
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