Summer camps offer activities to jog the body and mind

With school out, parents and kids alike will want to find something -- anything -- to get the kids out of the house and active. Fortunately there's no shortage of summer camps to keep the young minds active, bodies healthy and creativity percolating.

            -- MACA's popular art camp promises lots of fun. From Monday, July 12 until Friday, July 16, there will be a wide range of creative art activities for kids ages 5 to 10.

The program runs each day from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the cost is $75 which includes all supplies and materials.

            Past classes included how to make sock puppets, basket weaving, clay art, batik, watercolors, music, yoga and more. Snacks are provided. Scholarships are available.

            -- Marion Christian Academy will offer several summer programs and activities, including Truth Seekers. The school describes Truth Seekers as a Bible-based program that incorporates Christ into every activity.

            Activities include hiking in the Pisgah National Forest and swimming in Lake James.       Truth Seekers is for kids who will be entering kindergarten to sixth grade. The program kicked off this week and continues through Friday, Aug.13. Activities begin each day at 7 a.m. and continue through 6 p.m. The cost is $95 a week with each additional child from the same family admitted for $72.

            For more information about Truth Seekers, call MCA at 652.2033.

            -- McDowell 4-H Summer Discovery also kicks off this week. There will be workshops, field trips and hands-on activities all summer. Some programs are full. Call 652-8104 for more information.

            This week, the 4-H group traveled to Chesnee, S.C. to pick fruit and berries to make jellies. On Tuesday, June 22, they'll try their angling skills with a trout fishing trip to the mountains.

            Upcoming excursions include visiting cheese makers in West Jefferson, rafting on the Nantahala, pottery making and a trip to Carowinds.

            -- There's a lot going on in the public schools this summer. The East McDowell Junior High Band will attend a summer music camp from Sunday, June 27 to Friday, July 2 at Mars Hill College.

            Marion Elementary will open its summer program -- "Where the Wild Things Are" -- beginning Monday and running two weeks. Principal Elaine Fields said there will be field trips aplenty to keep the summertime blues at bay.

             Kids at Marion will get to enjoy a trip to Lake James, the Catawba Science Center and the Splash Pad, she said. They'll also have opportunities to build and program robots and have fun letterboxing -- an activity that involves finding and signing hidden registries. 

            Other schools have their own summer enrichment programs. Call your school for details.   

            -- Many churches are holding their vacation Bible school programs this month, including Providence United Methodist Church and Sugar Hill, Yancey Street, Faith Missionary and Macedonia Baptist churches starting this week or already going on.   

            For more details on VBS programs, call your church or see the Church News in Friday's McDowell News and each Thursday in The Express. 

            There's more summer fun than ever before at the Corpening YMCA. Angela Strickland, who heads the after-school program, said if you haven't been to the Y in a while, there's more than just the pool and the climbing wall to keep the kids occupied.

              This summer's activities include lost of field trips, including nature excursions to Grandfather Mountain and Linville Caverns, skating at Tarwheels, movie matinees and the "Destruction Zone" at Jellystone Park. Call the Y at 659-9622 for more information.    

            -- In what promises to be a big summer event, the Kids Safety Camp will begin later this month. During the three-day event, each child will be taught CPR, first aid, water and boating safety, fire safety, stranger danger, alcohol and drug awareness, gun safety, bicycle safety, hazardous weather, pet safety, wilderness first aid, vehicle safety, and ATV safety.

            A highlight will be when the emergency helicopter from Carolinas Medical Center lands at the school to allow campers to tour the helicopter and pose questions to the flight crew.