Fun at Carson Beach!

Warm sunny day, tons of kids, over a dozen activities and hundreds of hot dogs, its the Beach Bash and Splash! Every year the Beach Bash and Splash is one of the most fun events throughout the summer, and this year wasn't any different.

Splash!

 For most of the day I was fishing with kids from many different camps, some of the camps were from Braintree, while others were from South Boston and other nearby areas. Fishing was one of the most popular activities of the day and we always had a large group of kids eager to fish with us. We set up shop about ankle deep in the water, and began fishing. We didn't catch any fish but we did catch crab after crab, and ended up catching over a dozen by the end of the day.

 After fishing came the main event, where we all lined up and ran into the cold water.  First we sang "Haulaway Joe" and took some photos, and after this we were ready for the splash. The Save The Harbor Staff and the campers  sprinted towards the water. Some people like Max dove into the water, while others like me just went knee deep, and some people even got thrown into the water. No matter how far into the water people went, everyone had fun. After drying off, everyone went to go get some hot dogs, which were delicious. After eating and relaxing for a little, we all went back to our activities, and for us at fishing, we caught some more crabs!

Until Next Time, Abel Yohannes

Finally a Skate!!!!!

The campers very first skate

A Skate!! We finally caught a skate. Last year we used to catch skates by the dozens however this year it seemed as if all of the skates disappeared from Camp Harbor View. Personally I was shocked when Ty the LIT caught the skate, I saw his rod bending and him yelling "I got a fish" but I just assumed the line was stuck on a rock (since that his been happening a lot recently). After about minute you could see the skate being pulled through the water, all the campers started gathering Around Ty yelling "We got a fish", Ty made sure to correct them and announced "No , I got a fish." Still the Campers were all excited and Ty of course was just as excited.

Ty finally works up the courage to hold up his skate.

Once we reeled the skate up to the pier, it was Prestons turn. The hook was stuck in the skates mouth, and we had to release the hook from the skates mouth and throw it back into the water as fast as possible. This time everyone was gathered around Preston and it was his turn to get to work. After a few minutes of the fish squirming and the campers saying "that's disgusting", the fish was finally freed of the hooked and thrown back in the water.
Wednesday was a huge success, considering we caught a fish on the very first day of fishing club. And we all hope everyday could be like Wednesday.


Until Next Time, Abel

A Change of Pace

We caught a fork and some sea creatures on our line.

My first day working at Children's Museum was amazing! Everyone has tons of fun and we were all able to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. I arrived at Children's at 1:45 which is when we typically get the most visitors. For about an hour straight all our fishing rods were in use and there was at least one kid looking at the crab in the fish tank. During this time two visitors were able to catch a crab using their fishing rods! Sadly the crabs let go of the line both of these instances, and we weren't able to reel them in. The kids didn't seem to mind, they were just excited they got something on their lines.

The View from Children's Museum.

Later in the afternoon Rusenny, Vince and I started playing a very competitive  game of four square. Soon enough we were able to get some of the kids that were just fishing to join our game. They spoke limited English so it was somewhat difficult to explain the rules, but they caught on quickly and then all four of us were able to enjoy a nice game of four square. Everyone was laughing and competing, which was great to see.

Until Next Time, Abel Yohannes

Hustling For "The Hustle"

Gearing up for the start of one of the stations.

The last day of session 1 was on Thursday, marking the end of a great first half of the summer. It was an eventful day with "The Hustle" and the Talent Show both taking place. The last day of the sessino was also an emotional day for both campers and staff, these people weren't going to see each other for another year and they were very sad.

   "The Hustle" is a massive relay race where Campers are put into teams based on their lighthouse (a lighthouse is a large group of about 100 campers). The Campers were pumped up for "The Hustle" and were drenched in their lighthouse colors. With Yellow hair, green bandanas, and purple necklaces, all the campers were showing their team spirit. Once "The Hustle" started everyone camper went 110% to make sure their team won. Knowing this was the last day of camp these campers wanted to make a lasting impression, and literally put their blood, sweat, and tears into the relay. From the rock climbing station, the pie eating station, and the paddle boarding station, the relay was a lot of fun for everyone watching and involved.

Pie eating contest!

 The Talent Show was just as fun and entertaining, and I was really surprised by the amount of talent the young campers had. One of the campers sang the Song "All of Me", another danced to the song "Mangolia", and one of the LIT's shared his poem. All of the campers were cheering on their friends and enjoying these amazing performances, which was a lot fun for us to watch.
   I am gonna miss the Campers from Session 1, but I am excited for the second half of the summer.

Until Next Time, Abel Yohannes

LobsterMan!

Admiring the lobster.

         Tuesday was a rainy and somewhat frigid day at Camp Habor View, but once again the weather did not stop us. For the first time this summer we caught a lobster! This was very exciting for me, the other Save The Harbor Staff, and the campers, considering most of us had never caught a lobster. Once we caught the lobster we got bands and placed them over the claws to prevent them from pinching. Then we added the lobster into the bucket, along with a couple of red rock crabs.

Another shot of our catch

          The campers were filled with questions and curiosity when they saw the lobster, and at first most of them were scared to hold the lobster or even look at it, soon enough though everyone was playing with the lobster, and picking it up. It was great to see the campers get out of their comfort zone, especially because Tuesday was "courage day" at Camp Harbor View.

The last couple of weeks at Camp Harbor View has been filled with poor weather and lack of fishes, however when we do something like catching a lobster, it brings back the energy and excitement Camp HarborView needs.

Until Next Time, Abel Yohannes

Fish For Everyone!

Admiring the catch.

The first fishing trip of the summer was a huge success! We caught 4 fish that were legal size, a few skates, a couple of crabs, and some tiny fish. We left the dock near the World Trade Center at 9:15, and preceded to head out towards the Boston islands. After about 15 minutes we docked the boat, hooked up some sea worms as bait and then started our fishing. Within the first couple of minutes Captain Charlie got a massive Black Sea bass, and then announced to the campers, "you see guys, there are fish here."
       This first catch pumped up all the kids and gave them the motivation to go and catch fish. And soon after one of the campers caught a fish, his first fish of the summer! The camper held his prize up high and everyone gathered around to see the colorful choggie.

One of his many catches of the day.

       The campers braved the cold and the rain and started to catch fish one after another. They added their layers, put on their hats and hoods and dropped their lines into the water. Even though the weather was less than ideal the campers were full of energy and were eager to be the next person to catch a fish. Our next fishing trip is in a couple of weeks with the next session, and hopefully we can have another fun day filled with laughter, fish, and hopefully better weather.
See you next time, Abel.

        On Monday we finally got the crab traps from the office and placed it in the water where the dock is, at Camp HarborView. This provided for more excitement and activities for the campers, along with the precense of a sea animal to make up for our lack of fish catching. When we first arrived at Camp HarborView the first thing we did was place the Traps in the water and when we went to go check it out with our first group of campers we happy to find that there were about six or seven crabs in the trap. The crabs ranged from big ones to small one, and from rock crabs to spider crabs. These crabs were also massive and made me wonder if they were these big last summer.

First Day at my new site

After working at Camp Harbor View for the first three weeks of the summer, I got assigned to All Access. Even though I was sad to leave Camp Harbor View, I was excited to start working at a new site with new people. Working at All Access is very similar to being at Camp Harbor View, for a couple of reasons. One reason is the large amount of campers we work with at both sites, and we do similar activities at the two sites, also both sites are very close to each other. When I first learned I was working All Access I wasn't too disappointed since Camp Harbor View had prepared me for what All Access had to offer. There's only a couple of things we do during All Access that we don't do at Camp Harbor View, one is swimming and the other thing is playing sports. Unfortunately I wasn't aware that we all swim during All Access(while at Spectacle Island). When I told Dave and Andrea, that I couldn't go into the water since I didn't have a change of clothes, they weren't too happy. So when I started walking along the water Andrea filled her water bottle with water and then dumped it all over me, next Dave came and tackled me from behind and while I was pinned to the ground Andrea once again filled her water bottle and poured water all over me.
Other than this one unfortunate incident, All Access was filled with fun and exploring. Carlos and I played a very competitive game of soccer, which was very fun. I also got to enjoy my first time on Spectacle Island with a quick walk around the island.



















Abel Yohannes

The Sand Makers

One of the many things we are doing at Camp Harbor view is an experiment that we are conducting in order to help sand come back to the rocky Camp Harbor View beach. For this experiment we are removing two invasive species, the Asian short crab, and the Periwinkle from a certain area. Since these two species eat algae which helps sand grow, we are hoping that the removal of these species will eventually lead sand growing back in that area. This experiment is usually both very fun,engaging, and educational. The kids enjoy being able to get hands on with these little sea creatures, and they also really like the idea of getting sand back onto the beach. A few of the kids are scared of getting pinched by a crab or scared of holding a periwinkle, but for the most part the kids are really excited about seeing these species up close and being able to interact with them. Hopefully this experiment is successful, it would be extraordinary to sea sand starting come back to Camp Harbor view.


Abel Yohannes