Cause for celebration
Channel 3 Kids Camp 
marks its 100th year 
of making a difference 
in children’s lives.
by Carol Latter

In 1932, eight-year-old 
Ed Havens Jr. got his first glimpse of a bucolic children’s summer camp on 
the Andover/Coventry line. 
It would become his own 
personal haven, if only for two weeks, over the next five or six years.

Havens, the son of a young Irish widow who worked as a domestic during the day to support her two children, was enchanted. The forest, fields and river seemed a world away from the hot, grimy streets of north Hartford, where he lived with his mother and sister, just a year younger.

“I remember sitting around the campfire, having dinner in the old meeting hall, going out and camping out in the woodlands overnight. We swam in the Skungamung River – there was no swimming pool. I enjoyed it so much,” he said.

When the director of the camp eventually told him he was too old to keep coming, “I literally begged him to let me go another year.”

Today, more than 70 years later, Havens, 86, is still active in the camp, now known as Channel 3 Kids Camp. The four-time mayor and current deputy mayor of South Windsor, and co-founder of Imperial Oil & Plumbing Company, has been a camp director for more than 35 years, has served as its president, and continues to support it through his company’s financial and in-kind donations.

He still credits his mother for having “the good sense to send me. It got me off the streets of the North End and into a new environment. It gives the present day kids a chance to get out of the city of Hartford. They have a great time, and there are more things to do than you can imagine.”

Each year, more than 4,000 children from throughout Connecticut and other parts of New England attend the camp, which this year marks its 100th birthday.

The facility, which has grown from its original nine acres and is now nestled on 350 acres of pristine countryside, offers children ages six to 13 the chance to escape their day-to-day lives to spend time in the country – playing outdoors, making new friends and taking part in a variety of summer programs that boost their confidence and independence.

The Kids Camp also operates as a year-round facility, offering after-school and weekend programming, winter vacation day camps and adult retreats.

“The year-round program is so important,” said Executive Director Denise K. Hornbecker. “Some of the kids’ home situations are not very good. This is a lifeline for some of them.” Staff work with teens throughout the year “to help them make good decisions, and realize there are a lot of positive things in life. We encourage them to stay on a good path and look to higher education.”

The summer camp is mostly residential, with children ages 8 through 12 staying for one or two weeks at a stretch. Buses pick the campers up and take them home. Children 13 and older are welcomed back each year to attend month-long teen programs, or to work as counselors in training (CITs). Two summers ago, the organization launched a day camp component, which has been “wildly popular” among parents of children ages 6 and 7, according to Hornbecker.

David Meizels, who has filled the post of camp director for 15 years, said as was the case when Havens attended the camp in 1932, “about 90 percent of our summer campers” come from families who couldn’t afford to send them, were it not for the fact that the costs are heavily subsidized by sponsors, individual donations and fundraising.

“Close to 20 percent of our campers come from foster care situations. We have a lot of campers who are raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles. We find a lot of single-family homes. And then we have a great number of campers who come from two-parent families but, times being what they are, find camp to be financially out of reach. It’s not necessarily the most impoverished section of society. We have a lot of kids from middle class, solid families but it’s simply too much money to go to camp elsewhere,” he said.

“We work with a lot of family resource outreach agencies, schools, community-based groups and foster organizations, so we have a presence throughout the state to identify kids who might benefit from the camp.”

Hornbecker said while other summer camps may charge $1,000 per week or more, “most of the children come here pay just $50 a week.” The balance is made up through numerous fundraisers, and support from donors and community partners. “We’ve been really blessed,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of community partners.”

For decades, the camp’s media sponsor was The Hartford Times, located on Prospect Street, behind the Wadsworth Atheneum. When the newspaper folded in 1976, WFSB Channel 3 stepped up, and has been an ardent supporter ever since.

A long list of other businesses also help make it possible for the camp to continue its long legacy.

Summer fun
Hornbecker said the camp offers a wide range of programming, from arts and crafts to archery and ropes programs. Children get to swim in a huge pool “and we develop a swimming program for each child while they’re with us.”

As part of the camp’s music and drama program, the children put on a show at the end of every session. There’s also a video component in which campers write little scripts, dress up in costume and act out their stories for the camera.

In addition to field trips to places like Mystic Aquarium and the Connecticut Science Center, “we bring in special activities and expose them to as many different opportunities as possible. We bring in dog trainers, musicians, magicians – things that many of the children are not exposed to,” said Hornbecker.

Last summer, she noted, “the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association came in and did a huge day with the kids. There were police departments from all over the state. They brought their horses and dogs, they demonstrated some of the equipment they use for extenuating circumstances, and the kids got into the cruisers. Unfortunately, for a lot of our kids from the inner city, it’s generally not a good thing when the police come. But on this day, one little boy came up, beaming, and said, ‘This was the best day of 
my life!’ ”

The day got even better when Tim Devanney, president of Highland Park Markets, showed up with an ice cream cart, soda and ingredients for a cookout. “He’s a quiet soldier in the state of Connecticut,” said Hornbecker. “It was great to watch – the police were flipping the burgers. It was such a warm, wonderful opportunity for the community to come together.”

In fact, the camp has a long history of community involvement. Two years ago, the Hebron Girl Scouts donated 300 books to the camp, and the Peridot Foundation in Hebron helped the girls obtain bookcases to create a reading area. “This is kids helping kids, and we’re encouraging that kind of thing,” said Hornbecker. “If we show the kids they can make a difference here, we’re fostering that idea in them for the future.”

As fun and uplifting as the camp activities are for the children, the change in their worldview is perhaps even more important. Meizels said Channel 3 Kids Camp “really gets children into a situation where they can grow, where they can become confident and independent while they’re learning and having a good time. They’ll meet people from all kinds of backgrounds, and staff from all over the world. And they’ll make connections with people that can be very long-lasting.”

He said the camp definitely offers kids from difficult family situations or inner city environments a fresh perspective. “It’s exposure to nature and to different activities, and I think for a lot of kids, it can spark a new kind of interest in life outdoors, in terms of nature and athletics – and a community building sense through activity. It establishes trust relationships and a more optimistic outlook on family and adult-child relationships. It can literally change their lives.”

Looking ahead
While the camp has long enjoyed community support in the form of volunteers as well as financial support, the economic hardships of the past several years have been tough on nonprofits, and Channel 3 Kids Camp is no exception. The staff and their supporters work hard to cover the costs of running the programs and buying supplies, but Hornbecker said due to the age of the camp, one maintenance problem or another is always cropping up.

Because the camp is located on a river, the state Department of Environmental Protection recently required it to make some significant and costly upgrades.

Since Hornbecker took over as executive director in June 2007, “we’ve undergone some major work replacing septic and water systems – about $1.4 million worth of work.”

A grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving assisted in that effort, and in the purchase of some badly-needed computer equipment and a replacement for the camp’s outdated and barely functional telephone system.

“We’re now working on the foundation of the facility. Looking ahead, we have a great many needs out here. Some of our buildings are quite old. Many buildings are in need of upgrading, and heating some of our older buildings is a challenge,” she said. “You’re always on a shoestring here. Even when you get a nice donation, you’re always trying to stretch those dollars. We’re currently looking at what measures we can take to be more energy efficient.”

The camp has posted on its web site a “wish list” that includes everything from office supplies, a new PA system and soccer balls to new pillows and twin-size blankets. “We ask the kids to bring a sleeping bag or bedding with them, but when you’re looking at families that can barely put food on the table, it’s a hard thing for them, so we do supply that here,” said Hornbecker.

Not on the list are some of the big-ticket items it could really use – like new, energy-efficient cabins for the kids.

The camp’s board of directors is also looking to do some major renovations to a couple of its main buildings.

“We would welcome donations of building materials, and could use help developing a master plan for each building. We need committee help from people with expertise in fundraisers and building projects, and if someone can volunteer to participate in an event, it would be a huge help to us,” Hornbecker said.

A major bright spot is its recently rekindled relationship with the Home Builders Association of Hartford County (HBA), which has volunteered, along with Vernon-based Santini Builders, to construct a pavilion at the camp this spring. The pavilion will provide dining space for up to 200 campers, as well as room for activities on rainy days.

The HBA has also given the camp a 50-foot by 70-foot booth at its annual home show, set for March 5 to 7 at the Connecticut Convention Center in downtown Hartford. People visiting the show will be able to watch some typical activities going on, register their children for summer camp, meet the staff and ask questions. “There will be lots of activities for the kids, like pickle-making, storytelling, arts and crafts, and low ropes elements, so the kids can try it,” Hornbecker said.

She noted that the original partnership with the HBA goes back to the 1940s, when it helped to build many of the cabins and the camp director’s home. Over the years, the relationship faded, but when the association made a check presentation to the Kids Camp last year, mention was made of the 
previous alliance, and out came old photos and clippings from that era. “They were impressed, so we started talking,” she said, and the tie has been renewed.

It’s relationships like these that have allowed the camp to survive for the past hundred years, she added, “and we know we’ll be here for another 100 years.”

Meizels said the coming year will see a continued focus on fundraising. “Obviously, most of our participants don’t pay very much to be a part of the camp program, so we look for whatever support we can find. We’re always accepting donations and we have wide range of donors. Many will give $10 to $20, and many are very generous with their donations, so we always are asking people to help in any way they can,” he said. “We also manage to harness a pretty powerful volunteer force. We have some events that go on throughout the year.”

He said plans for the centennial year include a variety of fundraisers, including a spring auction, a telethon, bike races, rallies, and “other wonderful events that are coordinated with WFSB Channel 3. So it’s going to be a very busy year.”

All of the Kids Camp staff members have nothing but praise for Channel 3 and its ongoing support. Hornbecker said station vice president and general manager Klarn DePalma, news director Dana Neves and celebrity meteorologist Scot Haney are “three of our biggest cheerleaders. They’re always helping to steer people in our direction. They have been our media partners for 35 years now. That’s a huge commitment, and we’re so indebted for their promotion of us, and their financial support. They enable us to reach out to others for help.”

She hopes that 2010 will be an easier year on the financial end, allowing the camp not only to keep pace with ongoing maintenance and upgrades, but to expand its year-round programming. “Kids don’t need support just in the summertime,” she said. “It’s critical that we partner with schools to provide afterschool programming. Kids get lost in the 3-5 p.m. time slot. That’s the time when they can get into trouble.”

And what does the future hold? “My big, hairy, audacious goal would be at some point to have a childcare center here. We’re in the perfect location, on the Route 6 corridor connecting various towns to cities, and I feel that the need for quality childcare is something that’s never going to go away. It fits in with our mission of providing excellence in programming for children.”

In the end, it’s all about the kids. Hornbecker, who came to her current position from an environment where she was working with physically disabled children, is very attuned to the needs of her young clients. “Some of these kids have more profound disabilities than children who are physically disabled. They’ve been challenged by generational difficulties or just hard times in their lives. Then they come here, and they’re a kid again.”

She said the camp’s donors, volunteers and staff “really have the opportunity to change the life of a child. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe it.” HM

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