ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Jerenzo Heredia of Lynn plays tetherball at Creighton Pond Day Camp in Middleton.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — Each summer, about 100 children are transported from the hustle and bustle of the city to 150 acres on a quiet hill surrounded by fields, trees, and water to learn to fish, canoe, and swim.
This year, they’ll do it more comfortably with a new changing room constructed as a charitable donation from the Local 26 Carpenters Union.
“When the kids first get here, sometimes they’re a little nervous about the bugs and the frogs,” said Leland Boutilier, Creighton Pond Day Camp director. “By the end, they’re out there catching them. It’s so good for the kids to come from Lynn, get out of the city and into this environment.”
The Boys and Girls Club of Lynn, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help young people build strong character, provides about $60,000 worth of scholarships for Lynn children to attend summer camp at Creighton Pond Day Camp on Essex Street in Middleton, said executive director Robert “Obie” Barker, Jr.
Each week at Creighton Pond costs $250, but the majority of the camp-goers from Lynn receive partial or full scholarships, he said.
“Everyone is a camper here, whether they’re from Middleton or Lynn,” said Barker. “A lot of these kids live in apartments where they’re a bit constrained. Here, they’re not restricted in regards to activity.”
The camp is run by The Boys and Girls Club from June 26 to Aug. 25 and is offered to children ages 6 to 14.
The property it sits on was donated by the Creighton family in the 1950s with the contingency that it be used as a day camp, said Boutilier. Albert Creighton, Jr., 97, still sits on the organization’s Board of Directors.
It has everything from woodlands, athletic fields, a volleyball court, basketball court, hiking trails, an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, picnic and playground areas, an arts and crafts gazebo, bath houses, a large recreational lodge, and the newest addition — a $75,000 changing facility constructed by Local 26 Carpenters Union.
Crews ranging from four people to about 30 spent two nights each week for three months constructing the building for free after finishing their paying jobs. A new place for the children to change into bathing suits to go swimming was something the camp needed for more than eight years, Boutilier said.
“It could be a 95-degree day and we’d have kids who weren’t in the water because they didn’t want to go in (the old changing station),” he said.
National Lumber, Granite City, Northeast Air, Longchamps Electric, electricians, engineers, and other laborers donated time and supplies to help replace the building.
Christopher Galatis, a business agent for the Local 26 Carpenters Union, said the group tries to give back to Creighton Pond with a major project each year. In the past, benches, picnic tables, and other structures have been made as charitable donations.
Nayyali Novo, 9, a Sisson Elementary School student, was impressed with the changing station because it allowed her to easily participate in a few of her newly discovered hobbies.
“When we got here, I was kind of scared but I have a friend and we were both new,” Novo said. “I had my first ever time fishing and it was fun. I want to go canoeing bad but I haven’t done it yet.”
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at bturcotte@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte
