The Firefly #2

 

Camp WA WA Segowea Fall Happenings!

To our Segowea family members:

The Northwest Connecticut YMCA has decided not to renew our contract with us, Smith Park. 

Smith Park and the Northwest Connecticut YMCA had been in a three year contract, which resulted in children enjoying a camping program for the summers of 2013 through 2015.  The NWCTY   informed us of their desire to continue this relationship, and thus an amended contract was proposed and agreed upon earlier in 2016.  Unfortunately the Y released this statement earlier this month- "After four years of conducting camp at beautiful Wa Wa Segowea, we are formally withdrawing our interest in continuing to operate this camp beyond this season.  We have loved operating YMCA Camp Wa Wa Segowea with all our new friends and new experiences it has brought us. We thank the board of Smith Park of New York for their support and energy during the past four years. You really have been a wonderful partner- Camp Wa Wa Segowea - is a magical place. We're sorry we weren't able to be a better partner and make it work."

The mission of Smith Park of New York is to ensure the continued existence of Camp Wa Wa Segowea.   The board is fully behind this statement and are dedicated to ensure camp runs in 2017.

There are challenges ahead, but we are committed to continuing the legacy of Wa Wa Segowea in a way that makes sense.  We are here for the kids.

As we progress through this, we will keep you informed. 
If you have questions or comments, please send them to campwawasegowea@gmail.com.

Thanks always for your interest in WA WA!

Sincerely,

Chairman Tom Harvey &
Smith Park Board of Directors:
                                              Mike Bruns
                                              Wyeth Drummond
                                              John Dunn
                                              Lou Falk
                                              John Fisher   
                                              Beth Hodos
                                              Mark McCandlish
                                              Amy McPheeters
                                              Georgia LoPresti-Meckes
                                              Sarah Perks
                                              John Witter


If you find yourself in the area of camp on October 15th-16th, I would encourage you to come up to camp for our work/play weekend!  Fall foliage should be in peak season and we'd love to see you out at camp!  We'll be putting up shutters, bringing in docks and things and doing the general closing of camp.  Please let us know if you can attend. campwawasegowea@gmail.com  Lunch and dinner will be served on Saturday and Breakfast on Sunday the 16th. 

See you at camp!

Segowea Scoop April 11, 2016

Spring is here and we are getting ready for Camp Wa Wa Segowea's 103rd camp season.  We are excited to be bringing you a regular newsletter in our blog.  This is the Segowea Scoop that gets e-mailed to campers and we hope it helps get you ready for summer camp too!

The Autumn season at YMCA Camp WA WA Segowea!

It's autumn season here at camp and with that, the camp is just full of colors! The oak trees, the sugar maples and the birch trees are all shades of orange, red yellow and green making the 500 acres just amazing!  It was a great season here at camp and now we are counting the days till next summer when children can explore nature, make friends and just be kids for our 103rd year.  Way back in the early years of camp, the staff put together a little newsletter for camp.  Included in it were happenings at camp including where the camper cabins hiked that week, the latest swimming regatta results and sometimes some drawings as well.  Fast forward to today and the Smith Park board decided to resurrect the newsletter to keep its friends and members aware of what's happening in the offseason at camp.

We are very happy to present the return of The Firefly!

We can't have a new blog post without pictures, so here's some recent shots taken.

Some beautiful colors at camp!

                        The main lodge all closed up

See you at Camp!

YMCA Camp Wa Wa Segowea Wally Waddle and Work Weekend wrap-up!

On this past Mother's Day, the 6th Annual Wa Wa Wally Waddle was held at Vassar Farms in Poughkeepsie.  It was a great day weather wise and runners and walkers alike agreed, it was a fun day!

There was the 100 yard dash, the Kids Mile Run and of course, the 5K.  Congratulations to all the participants!  Wally made an appearance as did some balloon animals and face paintings.  

Josh and Lisa Perks continually put together a top notch event and have made the race a Mother's Day tradition which is getting bigger and better every year.  This year's race raised more than $3000 which will go towards scholarships for Hudson Valley children to attend Camp Wa Wa Segowea!   Thank you Josh and Lisa!

Here's some pictures of the event.

At the registration table-

Wally and some fans.

The kids mile run-

The Main Event!

Pies are always a big attraction!

Thanks to all that came out for camp!

____________________________________________________________________________

On the next weekend, Smith Park held a very successful Work Weekend.  Seniors, kids and volunteers of all ages and experience, came ready for work on Saturday.  A great amount of items were crossed off the To-Do List and it was called the best work weekend we've had in a long time!  Chili and Grilled Cheese were on the menu for lunch and Baked Ziti, sausage and peppers and onions, garlic bread and a tossed salad were enjoyed for dinner.  A good portion of volunteers stayed over in the cabins including members of the Leo Club from Spackenkill High School in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Thanks again Leo Club members!  All in all, it was a really good weekend!  

Here's some pictures of that-

Keller Cabin is now completely stained!

The Leo Club volunteers from Spackenkill High School

Raymond Cabin got a new roof.

Volunteer Don,  doing some sealing of the lodge.

A lot of manual labor was done!

Enjoying some fishing in the down time.

It was a full house!

 Lots and lots of raking!

Some new lodge lighting!

The next work weekend will be held on June 6th with an Open House on the 7th.  There's still work to do, so if you'd like to lend a hand, let us know!  Contact us at campwawasegowea@gmail.com

Hope to see you soon at camp!