Week 1 OAP article for the Penobscot Times

High-Flying Adventures at the Old Town Rec

by the Outdoor Adventure Program Campers

Great things are happening at the Old Town Recreation Center! The Outdoor Adventure Program’s summer fun started with some “Extreme Adventures” in Brewer on Monday. It was a great learning experience for the middle school-aged campers. They tried the zip lines, ropes course, and a giant swing that was 35 feet high that made them feel like they “were falling off a cliff!” The ropes course had some challenging places, like tight ropes, swaying walkways, and rings. Summer was stuck a few times, but she “still had fun.” Elle shared that “Hannah encouraged me to do the rings. She breezed past them, so I tried them.” Wren really enjoyed the slushies. The whole group had a great time and is planning more fun activities like it.

The Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) group is intrigued by letterboxes and hopes to find some this summer. Letterboxes are usually in a sealed container. Inside them is a stamp and a notepad. The OAP group learned that they need their own notebooks and stamps so that they can leave their marks when they find a letterbox.  On Tuesday, the group tried letterboxing for the first time. A hike on the University of Maine trails to find the “Giving Tree” letterbox and “A Horse named Chip” letterbox was unsuccessful, but they do not plan to give up.  Kobe said, “We learned about how to use a compass and a map of the trails. It was rainy, but  we didn’t want to leave before we found one. We’ll do some more research and find them.” Alexis shared that “it was really muddy on the trail, but we got through it.” Later this summer, they plan to make a letterbox to hide at the Rec for the younger groups to go and find.

The Outdoor Adventure Program campers are not just about fun and games, either. They are exploding with ideas to help the community. Since they are the oldest group, they decided to take on responsibilities this summer, such as being role models for the younger campers, writing newspaper articles, creating a blog for the Old Town Rec community,  and community service. This summer the OAP would like to raise money for charity organizations and are planning some fundraisers, like car washes, bake sales, book drives, and bottle drives. There are also some fun activities planned. In addition to community service, they plan to take field trips twice a week.

The younger groups also began the summer with a blast! On Wednesday, the Explorers (grades K-1), Adventurers (grades 2-3), and Trailblazers (grades 4-5) went on a field trip to Playland Adventures. The younger campers have also been doing some fun activities at the Rec. The theme of this first week is superheroes. The campers have been dressing up and participating in superhero-based games, like “Superhero Testing”, “Kryptonite Disposal” and “Joker’s Challenge”.

Stay tuned for more fun at the Old Town Recreation Center!