Leaders Group at UMaine "Learn to Skate" Event

Our Leaders group took to the ice on this hot and humid day! While we sweated in the humidity at OTRec, the leaders were on ice at the Alfond Arena. What a cool treat! Many thanks to the University of Maine for the invitation to their "Learn to Skate" event today!

Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program

We have some very exciting news!

The Hannaford Supermarket located in Old Town
has chosen Old Town Recreation Center as the latest beneficiary of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program!
This means for the entire month of September, every time anyone
purchases the blue reusable bag with the good karma message at the Old Town Hannaford
we receive $1!

This is truly a great opportunity for us and an easy way for you to show your support for the Old Town Rec!
Please go to the store, find the reusable bag rack and buy a few bags!
And remember to spread the word – the more bags purchased, the bigger donation to the Old Town Recreation Center.
For more information about the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program, visit hannaford.bags4mycause.com.

Candy Experiment

What happens to the structure of candy when you put it in hot water? The Explorers wanted to find out!  They tested out their theories with buckets of hot water and gummy worms. 

Prepping the materials

Our young scientists are watching gummy worms in hot water to see what happens.

Experiments are so much fun!   

That cup looks a little murky! 

Some of the campers thought this looked yummy! Ew!

 

Outdoor Property Improvements

We have an eye to the future and are developing our outdoor facility. Have you noticed the new and improved baseball field that is soon to be completed? It's getting a scoreboard today! Also, our play areas have seen some renovations. Come check it out!

Wow! Look at the progress on the baseball field!

The scoreboard will be here soon!

The playground has new mulch and is ready for campers!

The old sandbox is ready to go with new sand!

We added a new sandbox for the campers to use!

   

Beach Day

Nature cooperated with our beach day. We couldn't have ordered better weather! It was warm and sunny with a cool breeze. The water was refreshing and our campers loved the beach. They even found a stream filled with frogs to entertain them.

Here's our Morgan's Beach Top 10:

10. Getting Food from the Snack Bar

9. Eating Lunch

8. The Playground

7. Um...?

6. Lake Football

5. Sandcastles

4. Making a Beach Hot Tub

3. The Bus Ride!

2. Swimming!

1. More Swimming!

What do you do when it's hot? Go swimming!

We love going to the Orono Nickerson Community Pool, especially when it's hot outside!

The boys created a chain in the kiddie pool. Looks like fun!

After lots of swimming, these ladies bought some cold treats at the snack bar. 

The water feels great on a hot day!

Survival Skills Training

This week our Leaders' Group visited Sewell Park to learn how to build shelters out of natural materials. 

 The survival skills class is every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon through the end of July.

A Message from Jason Baker, our survival skills instructor:  

Humans today are insulated from the natural world.  Our interactions are as a tourist.  Even when we camp, we insulate ourselves behind tent walls, sleeping pads, and bags.  When we hike, we speed from destination to destination, often missing the rich environment we pass through.  What most of us have failed to discover is the rich belonging and connection to all things that can be gained through the immersion in our natural world.  Our Survival Skills Class with Jason Baker teaches:

• The Sacred Order of Survival - Shelter, Fire, Water, Food
• How to build an effective shelter quickly that will keep a person dry and warm even in extreme winter weather
• How to make fire from friction
• How to find clean water and purify it for human consumption.
• How to forage and find food in Nature

In the process of learning these basic wilderness survival techniques many other areas will be learned and taught such as:

• Track location and identification
• Plant and animal identification
• Habitat exploration and understanding the web of life
• How heat moves and natural things with insulating properties
• Awareness of what is around us in the woods as well as awareness of how we affect the wilderness and each other
• How to safely make a fire
• How to safely use a knife
• Movement through a wilderness environment
• Individual and team work