The River Run – Sunday, July 21, 2013

The 15th Annual Delaware Youth Center River Run will be held on Sunday, July 21, 2013. This 5K race takes you down River Road in Callicoon, NY along a beautiful, flat course beside the majestic and scenic Delaware River. The race has grown substantially over the past several years with almost 300 racers, both walkers and runners, competing last year. (See 2012 River Run page)

We want to thank all of our sponsors, volunteers, and racers in advance for supporting this great event! All proceeds from the race benefit the Delaware Youth Center, a not-for-profit organization run by volunteer directors, serving almost 300 families each year. The majority of our funding comes from grants, donations, and fundraisers as income to operate the facility, which has an annual operating budget of over $100,000. The race is our biggest fund raiser and vital to the long term stability of the Center. So let’s get training!!

We hope to see you all at the race!

The River Run Committee

Board of Directors

Administrative Director – Melanie Ferber; responsibilities include Scheduling, Rentals, Membership, Donations, General Info; Call 845-887-5634, email info@delawareyouthcenter.org

Community Liaison Director – Kristin Porter; responsible for interfacing with and ensuring compliance with all State and Local government agencies, as well as business and recreational organizations interacting with the DYC; email liaison@delawareyouthcenter.org

Events Director – Kristine Kratz; responsible for coordination of DYC events; Call 845-798-7965

Facilities Director – Craig Stewart; responsible for maintenance and security of buildings and grounds; Call 845-887-4165

Finance Director – Ann Santoro; responsible for all financial matters; email finance@delawareyouthcenter.org

Marketing Director – Cindy Menges; responsible for Marketing related functions, including press releases, email blasts, website, wireless internet advertising, newsletter; email marketing@delawareyouthcenter.org

Outreach Director – Gail Nistico; responsible for coordinating all volunteers and corporate sponsors; Call 845-807-4028

Summer Program and Youth Activities Director – Christina Mace; responsible for running the Summer Program and supervising all summer, youth, and pool activities; email summer@delawareyouthcenter.org

Board Members – Clarence Kratz & Scott Haberli

Caretaker – Brad Molusky; Call 845-887-5155

General Info – Call 845-887-5634, email info@delawareyouthcenter.org

Sports Activites

AYSO Soccer - Contact Meredith Esselman at 570-224-4268

Cal Ripken Softball/Baseball – Contact Michelle Brockner at BrocknerMic@swcsd.org

Men’s Softball – Contact Jeff Molusky at 570-224-5027 or molusky21@hotmail.com

Karate – Contact Susan Hrynko at 845-482-9079

Zumba – Contact Nicole Moscara at 845-807-4101

DYC Voted the BEST! – Thank you to all our loyal members, donors, volunteers, and followers for voting the DYC the Best Youth Center 7 Years in a row and the Best Chicken BBQ (Volunteer) for the 2012 Tractor Parade!!

Reorganization – The Delaware Youth Center has reorganized to share the responsibilities of running the Center. For a full list of responsibilities see our Contact Us page. As always, we are in need of new energy and volunteers to run or assist with our many functions. If you have time and an interest, please contact us at info@delawareyouthcenter.org.

Driver’s Safety Class – The next Driver Safety Class will be held at the DYC on September 21, 2013. For more info or to register go to our Events page.

The River Run – Visit http://delawareyouthcenter.org/the-river-run-2013 for updates.

On the sports side, the children are active in many different sports every day, including baseball, basketball, soccer, kickball, dodge ball, and volleyball. These activities are all provided through the PEP grant. There are two weeks left to the program. Come on down, so you don’t miss out!

DYC News from 7/15/12 - As you may already know, we’ve extended the hours at the pool this year and are now offering Family Nights as well. The schedule is as follows: Monday to Friday – Swim Lessons until 1pm, Open Swim 1-8pm; Saturday & Sunday – Open Swim 10am to 8pm; Monday and Wednesday – Adult Swim 6-7pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays are Family Nights – Open Swim, Exercise Trail, Playground and Discounted Zumba with Nicole.

In addition, we have a lot of other great programs happening. Coach Bauer is running Track and Field activities every Friday from 9am – Noon during the Sports Program. Zumba was held for the first time and ALL the kids, boys, girls, little, bigger, LOVED it! Zumba will be back on July 25th.

The 14th Annual 5K River Run takes place on Sunday, July 22nd. Registration is at Bank of America. The race starts at the post office in Callicoon and takes you down River Road along a beautiful, flat course beside the majestic and scenic Delaware River. The race has grown substantially over the past several years with almost 200 racers competing in 2011. Novice to experienced runners, as well as walkers are all welcome. Walkers kick off the race at 8:20am with the runners getting started soon after at 8:40am. Registration opens at 7:00am. For more info, got to http://delawareyouthcenter.org/the-river-run-2012. This year the Callicoon businesses will be offering race day specials, so be sure to spend some time on main street and check out all the great deals. The Farmers Market may have some booths opening early, as well. All in all its sure to be a great day in Callicoon!

DYC News from 7/7/12 – As you may already know, we’ve extended the hours at the pool this year and are now offering Family Nights as well. The schedule is as follows: Monday to Friday – Swim Lessons until 1pm, Open Swim 1-8pm; Saturday & Sunday – Open Swim 10am to 8pm; Monday and Wednesday – Adult Swim 6-7pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays are Family Nights – Open Swim, Exercise Trail, Playground and Discounted Zumba with Nicole.

In addition, we have a lot of other great programs happening. Coach Bauer is running Track and Field activities every Friday from 9am – Noon during the Sports Program. Zumba was held for the first time and ALL the kids, boys, girls, little, bigger, LOVED it! Zumba will be back on July 25th. Hope to see you there!

DYC News from 7/1/12 – The Summer Program is off to a great start! There are still plenty of activities, so feel free to join in any time. The kids have enjoyed the PEP sports program, making masks, flower pressing and even carrot painting. They got to pet some “unhuggable” animals, a hairless cat, a legless lizard and a pigeon! Week two starts off with fly fishing, musical theater, paper sculpture, cookie decorating and our first pottery class of the summer. Snakes have been added to our calendar and they will be visiting with Snakeman, Jerry Hilliard on Thursday, July 26.

The pool is just beautiful this year and quite refreshing on these hot days. It’s open until 8pm every night, so come on down and enjoy a swim after a long day of work. Evening swim programs are planned. Keep an eye out for the upcoming schedule.

Once you’re there, be ready for a long list of summer activities, including arts and crafts, sports, nature and adventure projects, pottery, fly fishing, pre-school play group, dance, yoga, swimming (including swim lessons) and more. Activities are open to all ages. Children under 12 must have responsible supervision present. Some activities require pre-registration. For more information, stop by the DYC at 8 Creamery Road in Callicoon, visit our website at www.delawareyouthcenter.org or call 845.887.5155.

The Delaware Youth Center will be publishing DYC News each week through the summer and regularly throughout the year. So, keep checking for updates here on our website and in the Sullivan County Democrat. We look forward to seeing you at the DYC soon. Have a wonderfully fun, relaxing, and safe summer!

WiFi Advertising Available – The DYC has added WiFi this year for our visitors. If you have a business or organization interested in advertising through the service, we are selling ad spots. Your ad will appear on a rotating basis each time a visitor launches their interent browser. For info, download our WiFi Ad Form.

Our Wish List – There are many new and wonderful projects underway at the Youth Center this year. If you would like to make a donation to one of these worthwhile causes, donations are now taken on our website at www.delawareyouthcenter.org/donations.php. If you would like your donation to go toward one of these specific causes, please include this in the “Additional Comments” section. You may also mail your donation to: PO Box 354, Callicoon, NY 12723.

• Pool & pool house replacement ???
• Tree planting & removal $2,500
• Grounds maintenance $2,000
• Picnic tables, umbrellas, chairs $2,000
• LCD panel for projection $1,500
• Annual flood insurance $6,500
• Wireless Internet $1,000

For this article and many others, see our May 2012 Newsletter.

On Sunday, July 22, 2012 the 14th Annual Delaware Youth Center River Run was held. This 5K race takes you down River Road along a beautiful, flat course beside the majestic and scenic Delaware River. The race has grown substantially over the past several years with almost 300 racers competing this year. Walkers kicked off the race at 8:20am with the runners getting started soon after at about 8:40am.

We want to thank all of our sponsors, volunteers, and racers for making this race a huge success!! All proceeds from the race benefit the Delaware Youth Center, a not-for-profit organization run by volunteer directors, and serving almost 300 families each year. The majority of our funding comes from grants, donations, and fundraisers as income to operate the facility, which has an operating budget of over $100,000 annually. We established a pool fund in 2012 to replace the pool which was originally built in 1947, and this year’s race proceeds will go toward this important project.

Enjoy the rest of the year, and we hope to see you at next year’s race!

The River Run Committee

The Delaware Youth Center is available to rent for weddings, graduation parties, sweet sixteens, class reunions, anniversaries and more. The Hall has undergone several updates in recent years and can be decorated quite nicely as you can see here.

The pool is open from approximately July 1st through Labor Day and is also available to rent for private swimming parties such as children’s birthday parties.

Seating capacity at the DYC is 222.

We have lightweight Lifetime tables:
40 rectangular tables, 8′L x 30″w (seats 8-10 )
Six 60″ round tables (seats 8 )
12 card tables, 36″ x 36″
222 chairs

Please call Melanie Ferber at 845-887-5634 for date availability and pricing.

Children are the focus of much of our programming. We have run a summer program for them every year for at least forty years. The six-week Summer Youth Program is free to area residents and meets every weekday morning. It is funded in part by the Sullivan County Youth Bureau. A grant from the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance allows us to hire professional artists to teach workshops in mural painting, drawing, pottery and found art. The National Park Service teaches the kids about the world of nature. Raptors and reptiles, as well as farm animals come. The program director, has recruited volunteers to lead a wide variety of activities, from carpentry to martial arts to archery. Our activity director offers arts and crafts and leads the kids in a different sport every day. The program offers wonderful opportunities to try new things, learn some things and make new friends. This year, 140 children are taking part.

There is a soccer program in the fall with over 200 children participating. Cal Ripken baseball and softball use the field, as does the Men’s Softball Association. Karate and Zumba classes are held all year. For info on any of these programs, see the Contact Us page.

We also hold parties for the children throughout the year – an Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween Parade and Christmas Party. For the latter, directors dress up as elves and do crafts with the kids and even Santa comes. The playground is a favorite place for area children to play.

The skateboard park is a place for teenagers, especially the young ones, to spend time working on their sport. The teens have helped raise money for equipment by holding concerts, dances and selling flags.

We hold dances in the spring when everyone is suffering from cabin fever and on Halloween for adults. Men’s softball teams use our field. In addition, we try to meet the needs of every segment of our community with events throughout the year. The Tractor Parade, under the direction of Kathy Langley, is an unusual event that the DYC took over in 2004. In 2010, we had over 250 tractors and served over 1,000 people chicken barbeque and hotdogs. There is a Canoe Regatta and a 5K River Run.

All kinds of community groups use our facility for meetings, movies and fundraisers. The Visioning Committee, folks working to eradicate the knotweed choking our streams and citizens concerned about a proposed power line have all met there recently. The Delaware Young @ Heart will be organizing new activites for the young at heart. During the winter, there is a group that holds indoor walks three days a week. People rent the facility for weddings, family reunions and other celebrations.

Our Board of Directors are all very capable and energetic. Each Director offers their own talents and areas of expertise to run fundraisers for the Center. Their interests are diverse and their talents are many. Our caretakers treat the place as if it were their own. We are a unique organization and owe our success to teamwork and cooperation.

In 1947 Dr. Mills and Dr. Rumble, two local physicians, started raising funds for a community pool because of all the children who had drowned in the river. Our pool is over 60 years old and is now heated, thanks to a grant from Fleet Bank. Swimming lessons are offered every summer by Red Cross-certified instructors at a modest cost.

In 1952, the corporate name changed to Delaware Youth Center. In 1984 we assumed the name Delaware Community Center because we were serving such a diverse age group within the community. 2004 saw the 40th anniversary of Hermann Hall. Grover Hermann was a philanthropist who wanted to give something back to his community, similar to what Alan Gerry is doing today. He wanted to leave a legacy, and that is our Great Hall.

Over the years we have built tennis and basketball courts, soccer fields and a skateboard park. Our state-of-the-art playground should serve children for generations to come.

We support and improve the facility through grants, donations and fundraisers. No donation is too small, and every dollar counts. We feel very strongly that nothing you do for children is ever wasted. Dedicated volunteers hold fundraising events throughout the year and we are dependent on the support of the community for our continued success.