ACCIDENT — Camp is a lot quieter than usual this year at Hickory Environmental Education Center — especially at night.
For the last several years, the giggles, screeches and snores of at least 50 youth have filled the overnight air at the center, which is the Garrett County Board of Education’s outdoor school.
This year, just about all you can hear is crickets chirping.
Residential camping, which usually takes place over five weeks during the summer, was canceled this year because of budget cuts, said Bruce Taliaferro, the center’s director.
Instead, organizers offered a one-week day camp, which ended on Friday. Forty-two students attended.
Last year, about 250 students camped overnight at the center, located on 77 acres near Northern Middle School, Taliaferro said.
“The budget was gone,” he said, adding that a second week of day camp for another group of students was planned, but was canceled because of short notice and a lack of participation.
“This isn’t our normal summer camp. We’re just trying to figure out what we’re doing with it.”
The center, which opened in 1965, offers programs year-round to Garrett County students, who are bused in daily for programs in the nature center and planetarium. The summer residential program, which is free to campers, has been built up over the years to include students in grades four through seven, Taliaferro said.
State funding shortfalls hit school systems hard across Maryland this year, but especially in Garrett and Allegany counties, where student enrollment is declining. The Garrett County BOE, facing an estimated $3.1 million funding shortfall in April, voted to close Bloomington Elementary School to save around $426,000 a year. Kitzmiller Elementary, which was also on the chopping block, was spared for the time being, thanks to a $700,000 appropriation from county government.
Taliaferro hopes the school board can find funds to continue the residential camping program next year. Hickory Center programs offered during the school year aren’t being affected by budget cuts, he said.
“It’s the summer we lost out on,” Taliaferro said. “I’m concerned about next year. I’d still like to get the full camp next year.”
Students who attended last week’s day camp arrived at Hickory around 8:30 a.m. and went home around 5 p.m., their days filled with swimming, hiking, nature crafts, archery and drama performances.
“We made kites out of Wal-Mart bags,” said Josh Smith, a Northern Middle School seventh-grader, who was attending Hickory’s summer program for the third year.
The day camp was fun, said Josh and his friend, Justin Hershberger, but not as fun as camping overnight.
“You get to stay up late, have pillow fights, just — everything,” Justin said. “When you stay overnight you don’t have to go home. We have a lot less time because we have to go home and then come back ... and then we don’t have as many activities.”
Camp counselor Amy Lander coordinated an archery contest Friday morning, keeping score as Josh and Justin and a dozen other children competed. She’s worked with the Hickory residential program the last five years.
“It’s just a completely different feel,” Lander said of this year’s day camp. “It’s harder because we don’t get to interact with the kids as much, so we don’t get to know them as well. There’s not as much team bonding.”
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com.
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