‘Shake And Bake’—

Parent Complaint Ends Ritual Hazing Practice At Parks & Rec Camp

By John Voket

A local mother had every reason to believe her children’s day camp experience at Treadwell Park would be fun as well as educational. But she did not plan on them learning about ritual hazing.

Maryann Barrett of Poverty Hollow Road was shocked when she went to the park last week, just in time to witness the apparent hazing activity called “shake and bake.” And she was further dismayed to hear the activity was regarded as a camp tradition — a fact that was not denied by town Parks and Recreation Department officials.

Camp Supervisor MaryAnn Reggiano reportedly responded to Ms Barrett’s complaint “within the hour” of receiving it and acted to ensure the practice would not occur again, according to Barbara Kasbarian, Parks and Recreation director.

The incident played out last Friday, when Ms Barrett arrived at the day camp program to pick up her three sons, ages 6, 8, and 10.

“What I saw was eight or ten big guys grab this young girl counselor,” Ms Barrett said. “They carried her some distance to a mud pit they had prepared on the baseball field — they began shaking her, dropped her into the mud, rolled her around and then they poured a 20-gallon jug of cold water onto her.”

The incident was apparently “very traumatic” for some of the children, she said. “Even some of the older kids looked like they were holding back tears, and some of the children were screaming and crying,” as the incident played out, Ms Barrett said. “The girl was kicking and flailing as they dragged her. She was yelling ‘no’ and pleading for them to stop.”

Then the group of male counselors reportedly turned and came looking for another female counselor to shake and bake. That is when Ms Barrett said she intervened.

“I went up to them and told them what they were doing wasn’t right, and to stop,” Ms Barrett recalled. “I’m certain it’s not in the counselor’s job description that you have to have to [undergo] this shake and bake.”

Once the group dispersed, Ms Barrett said she was approached by a camp director who identified himself as “Matt.” He reportedly told her the activity was, “a regular practice at the camp and not to worry.”

“He said he went through it when he was a camper,” Ms Barrett said. “He said [the activity] had been going on for some time.”

She said she was primarily concerned about the image it presented to her sons and the other younger children at the camp, and pointed out that she saw other adults in proximity to the activity who took no action to stop it. Ms Barrett said she later became concerned about the liability the practice presented in the event someone was injured.

“Then the town would be liable, and it would be the taxpayers who are left to pay the bill,” Ms Barrett said.

In an interview Tuesday morning, Ms Barrett told The Bee she was satisfied that Parks and Rec administrators took swift and immediate action to try and ensure the shake and bake activity would not happen again.

Ms Kasbarian told The Bee that Ms Reggiano went to the park to investigate and address the counselors about the incident as soon as she finished taking a report from Ms Barrett.

“She was back at the park within the hour to speak to the supervisory counselors,” Ms Kasbarian said. “And we followed up with a staff meeting first thing Monday morning.”

 Ms Kasbarian acknowledged that those involved displayed poor judgment, and told The Bee in no uncertain terms that incidents like this would not be tolerated in the future.

“If it happens again, [those involved] will be fired — and if necessary, the camp will be cancelled,” Ms Kasbarian said.

She also indicated the shake and bake practice had likely been occurring for some time. “They used to do it on the beach, then they would throw the person in the water, but that was years ago,” Ms Kasbarian said.

Ms Kasbarian believes the children were unnecessarily upset when the unidentified female counselor began shouting for the boys to stop.

“I followed up with the girl the next day, and told me she was shouting ‘no’ because the young children were getting upset when they saw what was going on,” Ms Kasbarian said. “It made me feel good to know she was putting the campers first. What they thought at first was fun and games really frightened some of the children.”

Ms Kasbarian said she reminded all camp counselors at the staff meeting that they were in the public eye while they were at work. And that she appreciated Ms Barrett coming forward to lodge a complaint.

“I kind of rely on the parents to be an extra set of eyes,” Ms Kasbarian said. “We appreciate when people come and tell us. When you have programming for over 1,000 children, we can’t be everywhere at the same time.”

Ms Kasbarian also pointed out that before the summer season, all counselors and counselors-in-training receive about eight hours of training, which includes information from the town police department, health department, and ambulance crew. She said the counselors conduct a daily “parent hour” at the Treadwell camp in the event any parents want to discuss their children’s programming, or other concerns.

“This year we even utilized former parent complaints in a role playing exercise during our counselor training session,” Ms Kasbarian said. She said the Treadwell camp counselor-to-child ratio is about one to five, and that they do not attempt to downplay that many of the counselors are college-age or younger.

According to the Parks and Recreation Department’s Day Camp Staff Manual, “disciplinary action is generally taken for…offensive conduct or breaking any rules or laws.” The department’s written criteria for disciplinary action is: first offense — verbal warning; second offense — written warning; third offense — suspension or termination.

In a later chapter, the manual states: “Proper attitude involves the…honest concern for the welfare of the participants.”

Looking back on the situation, Ms Barrett admitted that up to the time of the incident, her sons thought the camp was great. She said she spoke with other parents who were initially concerned about the age range of the counselors, and that for the most part it seemed to be, “kids watching younger kids.”

Ms Kasbarian said her office attempts to recruit older adults for the program, but this year she was only successful in recruiting a first-year teacher from the local school system. She stated that the counselor who addressed Ms Barrett was 21 years old, and had been both a camp participant and a counselor-in-training before being promoted to a supervisory position.

She said she was proud of the many young people from Newtown who came back to work in the Parks and Rec camps, and pointed out one particular counselor who worked her way through college on the income she earned from summer camp work.

“It’s regrettable that this happened, but it was really just a case of bad judgment on the part of a few counselors,” Ms Kasbarian said. She said there were more than 30 counselors at Treadwell that day, and apparently just a few participated in the shake and bake incident.