New, improved day camp on the way

The Jewish Community Center’s Rainbow Day Camp in the Town of Fredonia is launching an aggressive building program that officials say will allow them to expand programs and serve more children.

“Our programming has really expanded over the last 10 years where we have more kids with special needs and we are doing more with Children’s and Aurora hospitals,” camp director Lenny Kass said. “We need to upgrade the infrastructure.”

New, expanded offerings include Camp Kesem for children of adults who have cancer and a bereavement camp for those who have lost loved ones.

The upgrade plans include renovating cabins and a restroom building in early 2020 and beginning work on a new recreation center and maintenance building.

In addition, a new road will skirt the perimeter of the property, replacing the current road that extends into the center of the site.

In 2021, work will begin on improving the camp’s amphitheater and welcome center, Kass recently told the Fredonia Town Board.

“Looks very ambitious,” Town Supr. Jim Stemper said.

“We have been proud members of the town for a long time,” JCC President Mark Shapiro said. “We were thrilled that the board shared with us their excitement and their support.”

Approvals from the state Department of Natural Resources will be necessary because the new road will go through some wetlands, but approvals from the Town of Fredonia will be minimal because no zoning changes are necessary, officials said.

The 110-acre Albert and Ann Deshur JCC Rainbow Day Camp on Trails End Road has served thousands of children, many of them with disabilities, during the last 50 years.

While many of the children come from Milwaukee County, others come from Ozaukee, Sheboygan and Washington counties, officials said.

Most town residents have little interaction with the camp, but JCC officials say they work to connect with the local community.

Those connections include inviting the Waubeka Fire Department every summer for a fun time spraying campgoers with water. In addition, the camp garden produces about 1,000 pounds every year for local food pantries.

“Society has spent way too much time on what’s different about everybody; what we do is find similar values,” Kass said.  

“The solution to helping someone when something’s not going well in their life is sometimes simply to have a great day at camp and make a kid happy.”