A lot of happy campers at Camp Hippach 2021. Submitted photo

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Recreation Department recently wrapped up its 2021 Summer Programs. This year the Director Matthew Foster, and Assistant Director Jennifer Savage worked to come up with a plan to allow them to reach more children. They knew that the past year was challenging for all, and left children needing some normalcy in their summer.

With that in mind The Farmington Recreation Department created two Camp Hippach programs. There was a Camp Hippach for second through fourth grade, and another one for children entering fifth through seventh grade. We were able to reach over seventy-five children in this program alone. To keep cohorts, separate, and work within the CDC guidelines we had children rotate from being at Hippach Field to being at the Community Center every other day.

This allowed the Camp Directors, Brooke Bolduc and Ben Ladd, along with camp counselors, Olivia Schanck, and Khole Dean to be creative with inside and outside games. Both camps were able to use the pool twice a week. The Farmington Recreation Department was supported by McDonalds, Gifford’s Famous Ice-cream, and The Narrow-Gauge Cinema with fun donations and discounts that allowed the children to create memories. Camp Hippach was combined outside for an eventful last day with games, slip and slide, and of course the community pool.

The Farmington Recreation Department held swim lesson both at the FRC and at the Hippach pool with classes ranging from Mommy and Me to Level 6. There were over seventy children in the swim 2 sessions, and it is wonderful to know that children are learning to be safe in the water. All of our lessons are affiliated with the American Red Cross.

The Community Pool saw a lot of action as well, with often as many as twenty-five or more taking advantage of free swim. We would like to thank Kellie Sandborne for helping lead such a great swim program this year. Kellie is a certified WSI, Lifeguard, and CPR Instructor.

Eleven other programs were offered in our Summer of 2021 Youth Program Directory. These programs were available for children ranging from ages three through eighth grade. One of our newest programs this year and geared for some of our children was “Kinder Prep.” This program was led by Jennifer Savage, and it was designed to help children be more prepared for kindergarten as well as preschool.

The children enjoyed games, stories, sensory play, and of course several crafts. Another new program this year that was a success was “Backyard Sports.” Backyard Sports was created to help reach out to fifth through eighth grade children. This program was geared towards pre-teens to help get them outside, away from electronics, create friendships, and learn to work as a team. This program was directed by Brooke Bolduc and assisted by Olivia Schanck.

It was wonderful to see sports being played, messes being made in “Mad Science”, creativity through “Nature Camp”, tactics and technical skills being taught in “Dynamic Knights” and “Tennis” by Mark Stoffan, and other programs up and running. It was an exciting summer and a blessing to be back in person. We are looking forward to this year’s Soccer and Field Hockey season and signups are now open at 127 Middle Street at the Farmington Recreation Department/Community Center.