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Negotiations Save Summer Day Camp as Putnam Valley Parks and Recreation Readies for April Opening Day Parade and Sunset Series
by Edward Paul Greiff
Putnam Valley Parks & Recreation Supervisor Frank DiMarco said on February 29, 2008 that he and Town Supervisor Bob Tendy have successfully negotiated a two-year contract with The Archdiocese of New York to once again lease the CYO property off Peekskill Hollow Road for the Town's "Summer Day Camp" program. The Archdiocese had asked for an increase of $12,000 over last year's rate, but in a last minute effort, DiMarco called upon his salesmanship skills, Supervisor Tendy called upon his lawyerly skills, and they negotiated a two-year lease at the same rate as last year.
It's a late start but there will be a Putnam Valley "Summer Day Camp" program. Registration is now open. Their goal is to still have 125 to 140 campers per camp session and to maintain the ratio of one counselor for every ten campers. DiMarco said he was glad he could keep the camp fees down.
Lisa Kroohs, Day Care program Director, said she spoke to all of last year's campers in an exit interview and they all selected "Theme Week" as their most enjoyable and most memorable summer experience. Nobody knew the secret "theme" until campers showed up on Monday morning. Every week they had a new theme and it was something both the campers and counselors would look forward to. Everyone's favorite was "Halloween" in the summer and they had a great time dressing up in wild costumes says P&R Supervisor DiMarco.
Besides the various athletic programs such as basketball, baseball, lacrosse, swimming, mountain climbing, rappelling, and other physical activities, and the always-fun arts and crafts, there was another surprise program that the kids reportedly really enjoyed last year. That program was cooking, said Kroohs. Kids would prepare food in the camp's well-equipped kitchen and serve it to the other campers. It just goes to prove kids have the most fun when they can just be kids.
What makes the Putnam Valley Camp program so much fun is that most of the kids are friends before they come to camp so they get to spend the summer with kids they already know. In fact, says DiMarco, they enjoy it so much that when they get older they come back as counselors.
Besides launching the Summer Camp program the Parks & Recreation staff will be hosting the Putnam Valley Baseball Association's fourth annual "Opening Day Parade." The parade will be held on Saturday, April 5 at noon at the Putnam Valley Town Park says Director Ray Gallagher. Over 500 kids dressed in their colorful baseball uniforms will march from the Putnam Valley Elementary School to the Town Park. At the Park over 1,000 Little League participants, their family and friends will be treated to a huge barbeque and a day of food, fun, and frolic. There will be jumpy toys, music, and baseball style contests. At 2pm the Minor League season will open. This will be followed by the first Major League game (ages 10-12) to be played in Putnam Valley in more than thirty years.
Registration is still being accepted for the P&R "Coach Pitch" (ages 5-6) and "T-Ball" (ages 4-5) leagues which are slated to begin on April 12.
The girls of Putnam Valley are not going to let the boys have all the fun. Two girls' softball leagues are being formed: Minor League, ages 7-9 and Major League, ages 10-12. All those interested in participating need to register by March 14th at Parks & Recreation. Call 526-3292 for more information.
If all this talk about ball playing leaves the adults feeling left out, the Parks & Recreation Department is also accepting registrations for its mens and womens softball leagues until March 7. The men's league fee is $500 per team and the women's league fee is $300 per team.
Sports are a healthy positive activity and the number of participants in Putnam Valley leagues is growing each year says Supervisor DiMarco. However, because the Town does not have a regulation size baseball field, as the kids get older they need to go to other towns to play ball. There is a solution DiMarco is working on and that's the acquisition of the property known as the "Marinelli" property adjacent to the Putnam Valley Ambulance Corps building. Negotiations are currently underway to secure this property for the Town.
Each year the Parks & Recreation staff learns a little more about what Putnam Valley residents want out of their recreation facilities. Sunset Series Director Thea Moeller thanked residents for participating in their recent survey and said as a result of their survey the summer concerts will be held on Friday nights instead of Tuesday nights, and the Youth/Family events will be held on Tuesday nights.
Supervisor DiMarco and Ms. Moeller are going to try to combine multiple events into one day and evening. The idea being to give residents a wider choice of events they can attend in one day and, once there, they can spend the day in the park.
Following are some scheduled events, with more to be announced as the summer approaches: April 13 - Family Frog Walk; May 17 - Creative Art Day; June 7 - Multi Vendor Tag Sale; August 8 - Mega Evening of Fun with Family Campout. A T-Shirt fundraiser is being planned. If you would like to be a sponsor or get involved check their web site www.pvsunset.com.
P&R Supervisor Frank DiMarco doesn't stand still for very long and believes in using some of the P&R revenue to provide more and better facilities for Putnam Valley's residents. On the drawing board is the idea for an indoor facility, either a building or a sports dome and a "Band Shell." Such facilities would greatly broaden the spectrum of recreation opportunities available to Putnam Valley residents. And the good news is Mr. DiMarco intends to accomplish this without any increase in tax dollars. He's been accumulating revenue from the various program activities that, when the time comes to float a bond to build these facilities, he will be able to use to considerably offset the bond amount.
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