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Nighttime campers shine at party
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| Dan and Caren Mahar pose for a group photo with all their campers in the main building at Camp Sundown Thursday. (Paul Crossman/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers) |
By Paul Crossman
CRARYVILLE — The campers at Camp Sundown in Craryville do everything kids at a regular camp do — horseback riding, sports, swimming — with one major difference: They do it all at night.
Though this might seem odd to most people, the reason behind it is that the children attending the camp all have xeroderma pigmentosum, or a similar skin disease, which makes them incredibly sensitive to light. Most of these kids can’t go out in the sun even for short periods of time, and because of this they miss many of the childhood experiences most of us take for granted, such as playing outside during recess or swimming at the local pool.
“Our kids can’t participate in everyday life,” mother Kim Wotkoske told the Register-Star. “They have to stay in by themselves during recess, and they can’t even go in indoor pools because of the lighting.”
Camp Sundown takes all these activities and moves them to the evening and night, allowing the children to enjoy a regular camp experience, just with different hours.
Thursday, all the campers and their families celebrated the end of Camp Sundown’s first camp session with a huge end-of-the-week party. Everything a child could ever hope for in a camp was there, including pizza, cookies and cake, clowns, a fashion show, a campfire, a midnight swim and even horseback rides.
Kids and their families mingled among the tables eating pizza and laughing, sharing stories about the week and tips on how to deal with a disease which makes the lives of both the children who have it and that of their parents very difficult.
After everyone was sufficiently fed, they crowded around a makeshift stage to watch the night’s first activity: a camper-centered talent show, put on with the help of four professional clowns. The light mood was contagious, and soon the entire room was laughing as a clown very nearly dumped a cup of water on one campers head.
This set the mood for the rest of the night, and while the kids enjoyed the festivities it gave the parents time to exchange numbers, as well as helpful tips to allow their children to enjoy the activities they otherwise couldn’t.
“It’s more than I expected,” said newcomer to the program Jena Shipton. “We found more things to help [our daughter], and got a lot of good tips.”
Campers and their families come from all over the world to enjoy Camp Sundown’s unique atmosphere and events, which include two nighttime field trips and several outdoor games and excursions. This year the field trips were to the movies and go-karts/mini-golf. This session campers showed up from Cuba, El Salvador, Canada, and all parts of the United States.
Camp Sundown was started by Dan and Caren Mahar when their daughter Katie was diagnosed with XP, and over the years it steadily blossomed into the world-renowned camp it is today.
“We started it for Katie,” said Dan Mahar. “We never envisioned we could come as far as we did.”
And they did come far. The camp can now hold 12 campers and their families, and has a wide variety of recreational activities, including an indoor swimming pool (lit by non-UV lights, of course), a playground, campfire pit and games. Everyone at the dinner couldn’t wait to express their happiness that a place like this existed, and even first-time families were already planning their next trip.
Dan Mahar was quick to point out, though, that they couldn’t have achieved everything they did without the help of the people of Columbia County.
“The main thing I’d like to express is how grateful we are to the local community for making us feel like part of the Columbia County family,” he said.
The camp is run with the help of volunteers and donations, and anyone who would like to do either, or simply wants more information, can call 518-851-2612, or go to the Camp Sundown Web site at www.campsundown.com.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
Though this might seem odd to most people, the reason behind it is that the children attending the camp all have xeroderma pigmentosum, or a similar skin disease, which makes them incredibly sensitive to light. Most of these kids can’t go out in the sun even for short periods of time, and because of this they miss many of the childhood experiences most of us take for granted, such as playing outside during recess or swimming at the local pool.
“Our kids can’t participate in everyday life,” mother Kim Wotkoske told the Register-Star. “They have to stay in by themselves during recess, and they can’t even go in indoor pools because of the lighting.”
Camp Sundown takes all these activities and moves them to the evening and night, allowing the children to enjoy a regular camp experience, just with different hours.
Thursday, all the campers and their families celebrated the end of Camp Sundown’s first camp session with a huge end-of-the-week party. Everything a child could ever hope for in a camp was there, including pizza, cookies and cake, clowns, a fashion show, a campfire, a midnight swim and even horseback rides.
Kids and their families mingled among the tables eating pizza and laughing, sharing stories about the week and tips on how to deal with a disease which makes the lives of both the children who have it and that of their parents very difficult.
After everyone was sufficiently fed, they crowded around a makeshift stage to watch the night’s first activity: a camper-centered talent show, put on with the help of four professional clowns. The light mood was contagious, and soon the entire room was laughing as a clown very nearly dumped a cup of water on one campers head.
This set the mood for the rest of the night, and while the kids enjoyed the festivities it gave the parents time to exchange numbers, as well as helpful tips to allow their children to enjoy the activities they otherwise couldn’t.
“It’s more than I expected,” said newcomer to the program Jena Shipton. “We found more things to help [our daughter], and got a lot of good tips.”
Campers and their families come from all over the world to enjoy Camp Sundown’s unique atmosphere and events, which include two nighttime field trips and several outdoor games and excursions. This year the field trips were to the movies and go-karts/mini-golf. This session campers showed up from Cuba, El Salvador, Canada, and all parts of the United States.
Camp Sundown was started by Dan and Caren Mahar when their daughter Katie was diagnosed with XP, and over the years it steadily blossomed into the world-renowned camp it is today.
“We started it for Katie,” said Dan Mahar. “We never envisioned we could come as far as we did.”
And they did come far. The camp can now hold 12 campers and their families, and has a wide variety of recreational activities, including an indoor swimming pool (lit by non-UV lights, of course), a playground, campfire pit and games. Everyone at the dinner couldn’t wait to express their happiness that a place like this existed, and even first-time families were already planning their next trip.
Dan Mahar was quick to point out, though, that they couldn’t have achieved everything they did without the help of the people of Columbia County.
“The main thing I’d like to express is how grateful we are to the local community for making us feel like part of the Columbia County family,” he said.
The camp is run with the help of volunteers and donations, and anyone who would like to do either, or simply wants more information, can call 518-851-2612, or go to the Camp Sundown Web site at www.campsundown.com.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
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