Letter From The Directors

Dear Parents,

We All want the best for our children. We all strive to fill our children's lives with the types of experiences that will prepare them for the future. As parents ourselves, we understand the significance of your decision to send your child to camp. Between the two of us, we have over 36 years of experience working with children - Thad as a YMCA director, Mary as a clinical child psychologist. As a result we've learned what it takes to run a safe program that will give your child warm, life-long memories of camp.

We are here because we love kids and believe that by creating a unique environment in which every child is valued, we strengthen your family and your community. Each member of our staff share these values - from the huddle counselors to the administrative staff to the lifeguards. Here at the YMCA it is our goal to build the campers up on a session-to-session, day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis. We want to catch kids doing the right things so that they can do more and more of the right things, fewer of the wrong things and even do some extraordinary things.

We carefully structure our programs to keep kids busy and to meet their changing developmental needs. Whether your child is a preschooler, venturing for the first time into the world of summer camp, an elementary schooler gaining new skills and a sense of self, or a young teenager eager to explore the world beyond their immediate community, our goal is to help make these important transitions fun, memorable, and successful. We hope you’ll consider the Camp Combe YMCA for your child. We look forward to meeting you and your family.

Sincerely,

Thad Gifford-Smith, Camp Director
Mary Gifford-Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Camp Director.