Representative JoAnn Emerson Visits Trout Lodge

YMCA Trout Lodge & Camp Lakewood was pleased to welcome Representative Jo Ann Emerson on Thursday, January 28, 2010. Heather Garner, Director of her Farmington District Office, accompanied Representative Emerson.

Renée Godinez, Director of Development for the YMCA, and Heather Garner had been in communication over the past year to coordinate a date that was mutually available for both Representative Emerson and the YMCA.

Jeff Clay, Executive Director for the YMCA, as well as Mariah Hughes, Director of Sales, and Jon Evans, Director of Camp Lakewood provided an overview of all the YMCA family programs as well as a profile for Camp Lakewood and the YMCA’s Outdoor Education programs. Rep. Emerson was impressed with the extensive programs that the YMCA is able to provide and the number of children and adults who come each year. Jeff Clay also explained the YMCA Strong Community Campaign, through which the YMCA is able to offer financial assistance to our community residents.

The group toured one of the new handicap accessible Camp Lakewood cabins that was completed by Dave DeGonia Construction in time for the first day of summer camp last year. Dave DeGonia Construction, in conjunction with other local subcontractors, is in the process of completing two additional handicap accessible cabins slated to open in time for resident camp this summer. In Rep. Emerson’s words, “I’m so pleased that the YMCA has selected local contractors and suppliers for these improvements. It is very important that we all help our local economy.”

Representative Emerson and the YMCA staff also toured the new Nature Center, which was completed the summer of 2008. The Nature Center houses a variety of animals, some exotic, for both Trout Lodge families and Camp Lakewood campers to hold and learn about their habitats. Representative Emerson said, “I’m so excited that I got to see a Chinchilla.” The Nature Center also houses interactive learning centers and an animal puppet theater.

While at the YMCA, Rep. Emerson recounted her own camping experiences and her daughter’s long-lasting friendships made at camp. Rep. Emerson remarked that her most enduring memory of camp is the people and the friendships forged through that experience. As she said, “I remember crying as I got on the bus to go to camp, but then everyone was crying when it was time to leave camp since no one wanted to go back home and leave their friends behind.”

Rep. Emerson will be back at the YMCA on Sunday, February 21st for the annual Lincoln Day Banquet.