As summer camps struggle with staffing, one in Piscataquis has found ways to grow
By Valerie Royzman, Staff Writer
Piscataquis County’s only theater will expand its drama camp offerings this summer to reach more children in an area with limited resources.
Around the time that the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft became a nonprofit in 1998, volunteers Jayne Lello and Heather Elowe started the drama camp. There was nothing like it in the area, and the theater, which shuttered in the 1970s, didn’t reopen until 2006, Executive Director Patrick Myers said.
The program is the theater’s longest-running, he said, and this summer marks 25 years of immersing kids in a creative space where they learn about what it takes to bring a production to life and make new friends.
“This is our biggest year ever,” he said, with plans to serve about 150 children. “We’ll have six sessions of camp going on in five different areas of this region.”
CAMP VOLUNTEERS — The Center Theatre relies on the AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate program to run its summer drama camps. This summer’s volunteers pictured, from left, are Corinne Rebman, Jackie Rebman, Grace Teague, Annah Poland, and Connor Plante. Not pictured, Ben Johnston and Evan Teague.
While some of Maine’s summer camps are struggling to hire enough staff to run activities and take on large numbers of children to help working parents, the Center Theatre has gradually added camp locations. That includes this summer, when it will host one in Greenville, where Moosehead Lake Kiwanis Club has offered to sponsor participants. There will also be two sessions in Dover-Foxcroft and single sessions in Dexter, Milo and Monson.
The small community theater isn’t immune to staffing troubles, Myers said, but it has relied on a steady program through Goodwill of Northern New England to keep the popular camps around for more than two decades. A team of AmeriCorps VISTAs, or volunteers in service to America, give their time to energetic kids itching to do something fun during the summertime, which is also when the theater hosts Maine’s Whoopie Pie Festival.
“We’re adding Greenville primarily because our camps always fill up,” Myers said. “That’s been a given for years. We also know, especially during summer, there is no public transportation here. It’s difficult for parents to bring a kid two towns away to drama camp.”
The theater couldn’t run its popular drama camp or expand without the VISTA Summer Associate program, Myers said. A $4,700 Maine Community Foundation grant is also helping cover expenses.
This summer, seven volunteers, who are mostly young adults and college students, will pitch in, which is a big help to the four camp directors and another staff member.
DRAMA CAMP — Last year’s participants in the Center Theatre’s drama camp pose at the East Sangerville Grange, where the Dover-Foxcroft area camp is held.
The volunteers receive a stipend for their work. They also get an award voucher once their term ends, which is used for future educational training and related expenses at Title IV schools or to repay federal student loans, according to the AmeriCorps website.
If the theater hired more staff to run the camps, it wouldn’t be able to offer them at a reasonable price. For two weeks of camp, the minimum price to register a child is $50, but really it’s a “pay what you can program,” Myers said, to ensure children get creative opportunities regardless of their family’s economic status.
Registration is usually capped at 25 kids per location, and they meet from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays. Participants are usually between the ages of 6 and 13, though younger and older children have also participated, Myers said.
Children experiment with acting and learn about costumes, props and set construction, all in preparation for a production that they perform at the end of the session. Camp leaders also teach skills relevant outside of theater, such as improvisation, teamwork and active listening, Myers said.
Sometimes it isn’t about being in the spotlight but about supporting those on stage, he said, so they’re exposed to the many roles involved in a performance. If a child is interested in something like script writing, camp leaders will work with them on that, Myers said.
In Greenville, the camp will take place at the local high school, where participants can access a stage and auditorium and spend time outside. The theater is working with area schools to coordinate healthy lunches, which are available thanks to the free meal program for Maine’s public school students.
Unless the theater can grow its staff, it likely won’t expand its program further, which is a shame considering the need countywide, he said.
“This is our longest-running program at the theater,” he said, noting its positive lasting effect in the community. “We’ve been running the camps longer than we’ve had a building. It’s kind of neat to draw that link from those volunteers who had a vision 25 years ago.”
To register for one of the drama camps, which run from late June to mid-August, visit the Center Theatre’s website at centertheatre.org/drama-camps or call 207-564-8943.