PORT JERVIS, N.Y.--For most school districts in Orange County, school’s out. For kids, it means a few months of doing some other activity than going to class.
Kids just want to have fun, and municipalities in Orange County are providing lots of opportunities for just that. Port Jervis has scheduled a full array of programs for every age group. Several parks have supervised playground hours for the younger set, cooking, bowling, and basketball activities scheduled.
The Youth Center provides opportunities to play video games, ping pong, foosball, or pool. There is Arts and Crafts day on Mondays, Bowling Day on Wednesdays and an Activity Day on Fridays all summer.
Many towns have summer camps for supervised activities such as swimming and hiking or more focused sports camps for soccer, volleyball, basketball, or tennis. Summer teams for youth play street hockey or softball. There are also track events in the 100-meter dash, high jump, and shot put. Some towns sponsor field trips to major league baseball games or water parks.
Towns take summer recreation activities seriously. Mt. Hope’s summer recreation committee recently noted the certification of seven staffers in CPR and almost 140 happy campers on the first day of camp.
Middletown’s “Summer Happenings” covers activities from cheerleading to using the traveling bookmobile. The city has three outdoor pools which are usually full to capacity. There is a twilight track and field program, cross country races, and tennis clinics.
Goshen has camps for every interest. Next Stop Hollywood! teaches songs from movie musicals like Grease, Oliver, and Hairspray and caps it off with a final performance. There is chess, Zumba, tennis, knitting, and youth basketball. Sports clubs are organized for Little League, soccer, cheerleading, and lacrosse.
