
DERBY — The Recreation Camp held its 106th annual fundraising dinner last night (June 7) at the Camp in Derby. The featured guests were a current and former camper, both going on to become valuable staff members at Camp. The first, Brennan Fitch, started coming to the Rec Camp when he was just five years old. After many years as a camper, he was trained as a counselor and certified as a lifeguard, and over the past few years has served as a valuable member of the Camp staff.
Brennan will be graduating from Derby High School next week as one of the top five in his class. He applied to and was accepted by 22 universities, and will be attending Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania this fall, majoring in Accounting, — but not before spending this summer once again working at the Rec Camp! Brennan is a Presidential Scholar candidate, a member of the National Honor Society, a four-year member of the Derby High School soccer team, this last season as captain, and a volunteer firefighter at Hotchkiss Hose here in Derby.
We’d like to think that the Rec Camp influenced Brennan’s success, and we know that Brennan has contributed to the camp’s success. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Brennan received a $1000.00 scholarship to further his education.
A special presentation was made to honor long-time Rec Camp Board member, George Gamble. George was a member of the Recreation Camp’s Board of Directors for more than 30 years and his legacy lives on through the generous contributions from the Gamble Trust. A plaque was presented to (pictured L‑R) Attorney Shaun Splan, Mr. Louis D. Agostino and Ms. Christine Gamble, by Rec Camp staffers Brennan Fitch and Lia Fadiman. These three trustees are working to ensure that George’s gift continues to support the Rec Camp long into the future.
The keynote speaker, Lauren Fadiman, also a former camper and staffer was invited back to share her story of “How attending The Rec Camp got her into Harvard”. Lauren was an all-time favorite camper. She first came to Camp at age 11, continued on to become a CIT (counselor in training) then paid staff as Arts and Crafts director for a few years.
A chance encounter with a Harvard University alum who was also very fond of the Rec Camp led to shared reminiscences and started a chain of events that eventually led Lauren to attend, and later graduate from Harvard herself — giving rise to the now epic myth that attending The Rec Camp is what “got her into Harvard.”
The Recreation Camp is a non profit member of the Valley United Way and has continuously operated a summer camp on the Housatonic River in Derby since 1917. With a staff of 7 State of Connecticut certified teachers and the region’s only Red Cross-certified kayaking, canoeing, and sailing instructor, our mission is to provide early childhood education and water-related activities to children from the communities of Derby, Shelton, Ansonia, Seymour, and Oxford during the summer recess.
For the very affordable cost of $175.00 per week, your child can spend the summer enjoying a truly wonderful day camp experience – just like when we were kids! The Camp offers multi-child discounts and financial assistance for those who qualify.
Registration is currently open and ongoing.
Please visit http://www.TheRecreationCamp.com for additional registration information, downloadable forms and mailing instructions.