by Raye Tibbitts
Coastal Journal contributor
BATH - What do you get when you cross a quiver of arrows and a gymnasium full of hula hoops? It may sound like the circus has come to town, but really it's just the latest Saturday Adventure at Huse, the former Kindergarten center located at 39 Andrews Road. Since October the Sagadahoc County Community Justice Project (CJP) has hosted juggling, yoga, tumbling, basketball, and photography workshops for kids of all ages on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Bows and arrows? Giant hula hoops? These are just the beginning of a winter full of activities to be held in an effort to bring community resources, law enforcement, and families together in a safe haven for area youth.
Teaming up for the most recent program, former Sagadahoc Sheriff Peter Lamarre and Jerome Richard, president of the Maine Bowhunter's Association demonstrated the sport and art of archery as developed by the National Archery in the Schools Program. Groups of kids and parents lined up on the safety rope to learn how to select a bow, follow the whistle commands for nocking an arrow, and finally taking aim at the bulls-eyes at the other end of the classroom, still decorated with water-color flowers and stick figure drawings. With the help of Brian Champagne and Tina Richard, 30 or more kids and parents practiced drawing back the bow cord and releasing their arrows.
Down the hall and into the gym, parents and kids leaped through the professional, dance-quality hula hoops provided by Rain Desjardins of All-Star Hula Hoops in Camden. While many managed to keep their hoops spinning on their hips, others rolled them back and forth across the stage, twirled them on their arms, or simply stacked them up to form a tube.
According to Joanne Marco of the Bath Housing Authority, and official “meeter and greeter” for Saturday Adventures, the goal for these workshops is to “encourage family participation with no cost or commitment.” Professionals volunteer their time free of charge, but in exchange they may promote their businesses or programs. As a group of elementary school boys raced down the hall to try their hips at hula hoping, Marco remarked, “We want kids to feel like they can just pop in and try things they might not otherwise try.” Many parents choose to stay with their kids, but others opt to drop them off. Either way, a healthy snack is included and all Huse adventures are fully supervised by members of the Sagadahoc County CJP, a coalition of law enforcement, community leaders, volunteers, and social services working together to reduce crime and promote positive experiences in their communities.
Saturday Adventures at Huse is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Community Capacity Development Office, Weed and Seed Program. Administered by Volunteers of America, Sagadahoc CJP receives Weed and Seed funding annually, out of which several grants are made to area non-profits within the guidelines of CJP. This year, they decided to create what Marco referred to as “its own safe haven” with its Saturday Adventures, a program it hopes to continue for the next two years. “We want people to see community members and law enforcement working together.”
For more information on Saturday Adventures at Huse, call 373-9068, or visit www.mainecjp.org.
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