Hot tips for choosing a camp during sunny summer season

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Summer camp season is here and Heidi Aldous-Fick, director of Kamp-A-Kom-Plish, a camp run by Melwood for kids between 6 and 16 of all abilities, is offering tips to find the perfect fit between junior and camp.

* Ask if the camp is licensed by the state and accredited by the American Camp Association.

* Decide what type of camp is most appropriate.

* Get to know the camp before registering.

* Decide if the camp’s values match your family’s values.

* Ask if the camp activities will challenge children outside their comfort zone.

* Ask about opportunities for children to experience new and different ideas, personalities and abilities.

Melwood’s Kamp-A-Kom-Plish is accepting applications from parents who want to send their child to summer camp. Day camp at the Nanjemoy spread is five days long and runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with sessions beginning June 23 and continuing through Aug. 22.

Overnight camp sessions are six days long and run Sundays through Fridays with sessions beginning June 22 and going through July 25.

Other camps being offered are Terrific Teens, an equestrian program that can be added on to overnight sessions and access adventure explorers for campers 8 to 18 who have disabilities.

To find out more about Kamp-A-Kom-Plish and the programs it offers, call 301-870-3226 or go to www.kampakomplish.org.

Summer Theatre Camp is taking stage at the Indian Head Center for the Arts. Designed to increase student confidence and build helpful life skills by introducing the ins and outs of theater, the camp runs for Grades 6 through 12 from July 14 to 26.

Students will learn about the process of putting on a show from auditions to opening night and put these skills to use by rehearsing and performing a small show to be held in the theater.

Students in ninth through 12th grade will be meeting from 9 a.m. to noon with kids in sixth through eighth grades taking the 1 to 4 p.m. session.

Class space is limited with registration requiring a nonrefundable deposit of $75.

For more information or to register for the camp, call 301-743-3040 or go toindianheadblackbox.org.

Old Durham Parish is creating a joyful noise with music and arts camp July 7 through 11. The camp will be held daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to students between 7 and 12. The church’s music director Benn Morgan, along with Angela Garvey, the director of the Shubert Singers and soprano Angela Cordele are teaming to lead the week-long camp that will focus on classical music and visual arts for children.

Basic music theory and preparation for a choral program that will be presented on the final afternoon of camp will be on the agenda.

The camp’s cost is $75 and is fully accessible for campers with mobility disabilities.

The first-come, first-serve camp is open to 40 to 50 children and students are asked to bring a bagged lunch each day.

For more information, call Cordele at 301-392-5896 or durhammusicandarts@live.com.

Girls who are not a member of a Brownie or Girl Scout troop can still join in on the fun with two camps offered this summer.

Girls on the Go camp is for girls in first through fifth grades and will be held from July 7 to 11 at the Izaak Walton League’s outdoor education center in Waldorf.

Meeting from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, the traveling camp includes field trips to bowling, movies, gymnastics, swimming, arts and crafts, games and more. The cost is $50 per girl with limited bus transportation provided.

Fun in the Sun will run from July 21 to 25 at the outdoor education center and is $35 per girl. Daily activities include themes like medieval merriment, monkey around, western roundup and fabulous ’50s, along with other activities. Limited bus transportation is available.

Because of the high demand for these camps, parents are asked to limit their child to only one program.

For more information or to register a non-Girl Scout girl by the June 15 deadline, call LaDonna Mohler at 301-638-5373, Ext. 4010 or e-mail lmohler@gscnc.org.

Survivors on display

Civista Medical Center is putting together its annual cancer survivor display running Oct. 6 to 13.

‘‘Surviving Cancer: A Photographic Essay” is in its 14th year and features portraits and quotations from local survivors of breast, colon and⁄or prostate cancer.

‘‘The exhibit is always hopeful and inspiring,” said Civista’s president and CEO Chris Stefanides in a press release. ‘‘It should encourage men and women to take advantage of the technologies and life-saving early detection exams that are available today. The three cancers we focus on have high mortality rates when not discovered and treated at early onset.”

Started in 1995, the exhibit is designed to increase awareness of the many cancers that can be treated successfully if detected in time.

After its run at the hospital in La Plata, the display will make its way to the Jazzercise in Hughesville, then to the Richard R. Clark Senior Center in La Plata, the Charles County government building in La Plata and finally to the Charles County Health Department in White Plains. Each stop will last a week.

To be profiled as a survivor in this year’s exhibit, e-mail Darlene.fairfax@civista.org or call 301-743-7681.

Autism rally

Waldorf residents Jeff and Deborah Mason, parents of two sons with a form of autism, recently attended a Green our Vaccines Rally inWashington, D.C.

The rally, led by celebrity couple Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey, was organized by Talk About Curing Autism, which provides support, education and resources to the more than 9,000 families across the U.S. touched by autism.

McCarthy, whose son Evan has autism, penned the best-selling book ‘‘Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism.”

She and Carrey joined forces with national organizations in the battle to eliminate toxins for children’s vaccines that could lead to autism.

‘‘This day will go down in history as a time when parents’ voices and their message to change the vaccine program was finally heard and acted upon,” McCarthy said in a press release.

The Masons were among the nearly 8,000 people from all 50 states who attended the rally.

Not only was the U.S. represented, participants also came from Mexico, Canada and even the Philippines.

‘‘We are not anti-vaccines, but anti-toxins in vaccines ... toxins such as mercury, aluminum, ether, formaldehyde, antifreeze [and others],” wrote the Masons in an e-mail.

‘‘Vaccines can be made without these additives and be much safer for the population to take. Parents need to contact their legislators to educate them on this important health and safety issue.”

For more information, go to www.safevaccines.net.