Cumberland Recreation is getting ready for a full summer of programming for young people throughout Cumberland County.
This summer’s program calendar hopes to feature seven weeks of four-day camps for children ages five to 12 in three locations, including the Lions Arena in Parrsboro, the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill and the Northumberland Community Curling Club in Pugwash.
The camps will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily with each week featuring a different theme, such as water week, art week, science week and more.
Cumberland Recreation is also partnering with Schools Plus to facilitate two-day mini-day camps at five locations around the Municipality of Cumberland, including Advocate Harbour, River Hebert, Wentworth, Wallace and Northport. These camps will be a condensed version of the four-day camps and will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“One of the goals of the programming is to get children outside and get them active,” Carolyn Bollwerk, Active Living Coordinator, said.
The regular camps will also include some sort of off-site outdoor adventure. For example, the children participating in the Parrsboro day camp could walk to the Fundy Geological Museum for a day of programming. The municipality also works hard to bring in quality facilitators to provide unique experiences for the child-like… shelter building, hiking, biking, and much more.
“Each of the camps will include outdoor, off-site adventures. We feel it is very important to get the children out into the community and explore all that our area has to offer,” Bollwerk said.
The popular summer Timbits soccer program, for children ages three to 12, is also returning.
“This program helps to develop the physical literacy and skill development of children in Springhill, Pugwash and Parrsboro," Bollwerk said.
There will also be several pop-up programs throughout the summer for people who don’t participate in the day camps, be they, preschoolers or teens. It’s possible, there could be programming for seniors depending on demand. These programs will occur in numerous areas of the county.
Cost for the day camps is $35 and registration will be available on the Municipality of Cumberland website: cumberlandcounty.ns.ca. There is no cost for the countywide mini-camp, the pop-up programs, Timbits soccer program.
There will also be frequent updates on Cumberland Recreation and the Dr. Carson & Marion Murray Community Centre’s Facebook pages.
The summer programs also lead to employment for up to 23 youths.
“Each summer the municipality hires numerous youth to provide all of this valuable programming. We provide the summer staff with extensive training and leadership skills which they are then able to use to build their resumes, and increase their work skills,” Bollwerk said.
The Summer Programs 2023 advertisement is set to go out by the end of this week/early next week. The registration link will be in that brochure but will not go live until Monday, June 12 at 9 am.