Mullica children have plenty of options for summer fun

From the Press of Atlantic City, 6/09/2010, Michelle Lee, Staff Writer

Summer is nearly under way, and a wide variety of activities and programs are available for children in Egg Harbor City, Hammonton and Mullica Township, such as school enrichment programs and art and sports camps.

Egg Harbor City Lake Park will be open to campers, swimmers, and, in a new development, swan boat paddlers. City Councilwoman Lisa Jiampetti said the city is renting a large swan boat similar to the one in Smithville. It will be available for rent to visitors at $5 per half-hour. "If it works out, maybe we'll have a little fleet of swans next year," she said.

Another lakeside upgrade is a new hard-plastic dock that is wheelchair-accessible, said Jiampetti, who is chairwoman of the city's Parks and Playgrounds Committee. Egg Harbor City officials hired David and Jeanne Benn, the owners of the Pomona RV Park and Campground, to run the city's campgrounds for the season. The Benns have created a new convenience store and game room.

The Atlantic County Library Hammonton branch will run events throughout the season, including a summer reading program; a young adult group that meets Wednesdays for games, talk and reading; storytelling and movie night once per month.

All three school districts are running summer enrichment programs for some students. The Hammonton science programs for middle and high school students are full. But enrollment is open for the 21st Century Community Learning Center in Egg Harbor City and the Mullica Township's Academic and Community Enrichment program, or ACE program.

Students enrolled at the 21st Century Community Learning Center will have three weeks of math, vocabulary and reading comprehension lessons mixed in with beach trips, said Marc Roesch, the center's project director. "It's not all work," he said. "There's a little bit of fun involved."

The program is federally funded, serves about 60 children and is open only to city residents, Roesch said.

The Mullica ACE program theme this year is "planet protectors," and the students will learn all about environmental awareness, said Jacki Lugg, the project director. The students will go on related field trips to the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's wind farm and environmental park, the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, the state museum in Trenton and a canoe trip along the Great Egg Harbor River, Lugg said.

The ACE program is federally funded and limited to Mullica residents.

Children throughout the region can sign up for soccer and softball camps organized by the Mullica Township Recreation Association. The soccer camp, which lasts for six days, is geared to children 5 to 16 and the three-day softball camp is geared to children 8 to 14, said Frank Seney, the association's president.

Art and drama lovers can sign up for camps organized by the Hammonton Arts Center and the Eagle Theatre.

The Eagle Theatre is holding a small five-week theater camp that will culminate with a performance of the Disney musical "The Aristocats," said Jim Donio, the theatre's vice president. Other child-oriented shows, such as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "A Year with Frog and Toad" and other events are planned throughout the summer, and the theater can accommodate a crowd of as many as 200 people, he added.

Fabric art, clay sculpting and mosaics are just some of the camp programs the Hammonton Arts Center is holding throughout the summer. The child art camps range from four days to five weeks and one new unusual offering is airbrush painting, said Carmelia DeFiccio-Ziegler, the center's president.