Camp Thrives On A Spirit Of Adventure

By Steve Bonanno

“Watch out, he has a grenade,” exclaimed Adventure Camp counselor Laura Thomas, surrounded by her campers. She was referring to a paint grenade that one of the campers had brought back from their trip to Liberty Paintball, at 1 Thunder Ridge Road in Patterson, N.Y., on July 13.

From June 25 to July 27, Monday to Friday, Newtown Parks & Recreation’s The Teen Adventure Camp goes on all kinds of trips like this. Their trips include visits to Mystic Aquarium, Laser Quest, Mountain Creek Waterpark, and many others. The campers are brought on these trips by a group of counselors, including Mrs Thomas and her husband Jim Thomas.

This is Mr Thomas’s fourth summer working at the camp and his first year as sight director. The Thomas’s are both teachers at Wallace Middle School in Waterbury, and both say they love spending their summers at the camp.

“The campers we get are really exceptional kids who are always seeking adventure and looking to have a great time,” said Mrs Thomas. “I couldn’t ask for better people to spend my summer with, plus it’s my job to do all the fun activities that they do, which is awesome.”

When asked what her favorite trip is, Mrs Thomas had a hard time choosing, but decided on The Pine Lakes Challenge Course in Bristol.

“The trips are a lot of fun,” said camper Wesley Scriven.

Wesley is attending the camp for his second summer. He normally attends it for all five weeks, but this year is disappointed that he must miss the last week to go on vacation.

While the campers expressed enjoyment from all of the adventures, the unanimous favorite was the trip to Liberty Paintball, which the camp does three times throughout the summer.

Some campers have been attending the camp for many years, like Stephen Pansa who is a three-summer camp veteran.

“It’s really fun, and the counselors are really nice,” said Stephen.

Denise Kuban, who attended the camp for her first time this summer, was sad that she only attended for one week and will be too old to attend again next summer.

“I’ve been outside a lot more than usual,” said Denise, “and I’ve gotten a lot more color.”

Mr Thomas, who the campers all call Jim T, seemed very enthusiastic about the camp and his position as sight director.

“It’s just great that these kids have the ability to experience these kinds of things that kids are normally not exposed to,” said Mr Thomas, “I didn’t get to do stuff like this when I was a kid.”

As the final week of the Teen Adventure Camp draws near, the campers look forward to trips to Woodbury Ski Area, Connecticut Sportsplex, Small World-Raft Building at Eichler’s Cove in Sandy Hook, Mountain Creek Waterpark, and the final trip to Liberty Paintball.