Five days a week every summer, at 9 a.m. — or 8 a.m. for some — campers from around the world spend 15 to 20 minutes traveling from Salem or Marblehead to the YMCA’s Children’s Island Day Camp.
Brian Flynn, executive director of the Lynch/Van Otterloo YMCA in Marblehead, said the camp serviced nearly 1,500 campers this year, ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old.
Campers come from nearby towns and cities, or travel from across the world to spend their summers in Marblehead, and more importantly, Children’s Island, he said.
For the younger campers who might have trouble leaving their parents, their worries go away once they get on the boat, Flynn said.
“Once they’re out there, they’re making friends and they’re making memories,” he said. “It sounds so simple, but Children’s Island truly is magical because kids are laughing, smiling, playing, and making genuine connections with other kids of their own ages.”
Even for the 30 to 40 counselors who work on the island, most being around 16 to 20 years old, it is still a children’s island.
“It is the ‘Neverland’ for kids — and for our staff too,” Flynn said.
He estimates nearly 90% of the staff this season were once Children’s Island campers themselves.
“Everyone in Marblehead has a Children’s Island story. It’s so beloved and everyone just has this attachment to it,” Flynn said. “People that have spent 15 to 16 years of their life… this is basically their home away from home.”
Bridger Trap, 31, said he grew up in rural Colorado until he moved to Marblehead when he was 12 years old.
“It’s one of the first places I found a community and a space to engage in and feel really excited to be a part of,” he said. “Something special I found about Children’s Island is, on one hand, you have this really rich tradition of lifers, who their parents went to Children’s Island, now they’re going to Children’s Island. But it was also super welcoming for people like me who are brand new.”
Counselor Hannah Scott, left, and Bridger Trap on the Hannah Glover boat on the way to Children’s Island Day Camp. (Bridger Trap)
Children await the arrival of the Hannah Glover at the end of the camp day.
Trap attended Children’s Island his first summer in Marblehead and eventually worked as a counselor from his sophomore year of high school until his sophomore year of college, he said.
After college, he joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Panama for four years, where he worked in youth development and focused on setting up summer camps.
Trap said his time at Children’s Island, both experiencing the camp and creating experiences for others as a counselor, helped him with his role in the Peace Corps.
He said “the ability to create this beneficial, exciting, enjoyable space where you’re actually learning how to be yourself and who you are, and how to interact with everybody” is at the core of Children’s Island.
These themes were present during his time at Children’s Island and in the Peace Corps, Trap said.
“Personally, I take away the reminder to slow down and focus on community in a sense of place,” Trap said, reflecting on his experiences. “It taught me to just stop… and appreciate where I was in the moment. And I think that’s something that only a place like Children’s Island can bring.”
Flynn said the YMCA purchased the property in 1955, and it has been the home of the day camp ever since.
Coming up on the camp’s 70th anniversary, the island is going through a two-phase capital project to update its facilities.
The first phase is fully funded at $1.5 million from two donors, and will be completed before next summer, Flynn said. It includes a new buildinging for Seal Pups, the youngest campers ages 5-6, and two new bathroom facilities.
The YMCA is hoping to raise $2 million for the second phase, which would include a new Rangers building for campers ages 9-13, renovation to the main lodge, a new camp operations building, updates to the pool house, and pier stabilization, he said.
“This combined project aims to ensure the camp’s sustainability, increase the number of kids who can access the island, and address any areas that need fixing. Any updates to the buildings will ensure we preserve the legacy and the rustic charm of the Island,” Flynn said.
“It truly is a place for kids to be kids,” he said. “I would love to see the 100-year mark be able to come to fruition, to make sure that kids and campers have the space to continue to grow and develop.”
