SP Day Camp Program Reviews Last Season, Prepares for Next

Although it got off to a slow start, summer camp season in Scotch Plains had a strong finish.

Councilman Jeffrey Strauss, liaison to the recreation department, reported at the council meeting this week that a recent survey sent out to the parents of this year’s participants yielded positive feedback about the program.

“It was overwhelmingly positive,” Strauss said. “Ninety-eight percent said they would recommend the camps to a friend.”

Sign-ups for the camp program were sluggish at first, after the recreation department changed the format. The program was originally supposed to cost $140 for a two-week session, up from a $70 fee last year that covered the whole summer. But after only about 25 children registered for 2009, the recreation department reached out to parents and discovered that the rise in costs was what was holding them back.

Recreation Department Director Ray Poerio told Patch earlier this summer that the department initially tried to charge $140 for a two-week session because parents said they’d prefer the option of only signing up for a few weeks instead of paying for the whole summer, as was the case in the past. But when rising costs made that two-week session fee double what the program cost for the entire summer last year, parents hesitated to register.

After deciding to allow the $140 two-week fee cover the entire summer, Poerio said the program saw its registration increase from 25 children to 125 children. Moving the camp program back to Brookside Park also helped.

The camp program is already on a good track for next year. The council passed a resolution this week to submit a matching grant application in the amount of $8,500 for a scholarship program as part of the Kids Recreation Program sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The scholarship program would help open up the opportunity to attend camp to more children from low-income families.

“We know from running this camp, children find it very important to use the program, and there are some that can’t go even though it can be a low cost to others of us,” Strauss said. “This provides scholarships so more children can attend next year, paid for by this scholarship program.”

Those eligible will have to meet certain criteria set by the HUD program.

The council also passed two other resolutions for matching grant applications. One, in the amount of $44,000, would be used to improve the safety of the township’s park/facilities improvements. The Parks and Recreation Department would use funds from its operation budget to match the county’s contribution.

Strauss said the grant would be used for a number of projects that would ultimately help keep maintenance costs down, such as using mulch in areas, bringing the bleachers at Kramer and Brookside parks up to compliance, and working on the fencing area at Scotch Hills.

The other matching grant would come in the amount of $20,250 and would be used for the joint purchase of a deep-time aerator and a synthetic field groomer.  The matching contribution would be generated using donations from the township, the borough of Fanwood, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education, Scotch Plains-Fanwood PAL, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Youth Baseball Association, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Soccer Association, and the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Lacrosse Club.

“I do think it’s appropriate that these organizations contribute, but I want to thank them, because I know they don’t have to,” Mayor Nancy Malool said.

The deep-time aerator would be used to train the township’s natural turfs.

“This is how you are able to maintain it so it doesn’t flood,” Strauss said.

The synthetic field groomer, he added, is necessary to maintain the synthetic turf field at Southside Ballfield.