Molly Molasses looks ahead> YWCA camp rebounding with help from its friends

After last September’s fire that burned its main lodge to the ground, Camp Molly Molasses in Bradley is not only rebuilt, but looking to the future.

The summer day camp, operated by the Bangor-Brewer YWCA on Chemo Pond, will reopen June 20 for girls and boys ages 6-13. Four two-week sessions will run through Aug. 12.

“People were so upset when it burned,” said Susan Hall, YWCA associate director. Parents, community members, and camp alumni have been very responsive to the rebuilding process, she said.

The facility first opened in 1935 as Camp Baldy, serving as an overnight camp for children from well-to-do families. The YWCA purchased the land and buildings in 1975, and initially called it Camp Yawaca.

When the original building burned after nearly 60 years of use, plans were made to build a new lodge that would accommodate expanded programming.

The new 115-foot-by-45-foot lodge contains a “great room,” kitchen, two offices, first-aid room, three classrooms, and two baths. Two bunkhouses will be added next year.

The building was insured, Hall explained, but the YWCA is incurring some new costs in starting over.

“Area businesses and individuals have been very generous in their support,” she emphasized.

Equipping the kitchen could have been a major expense, but Miller’s Restaurant in Bangor saved the YWCA thousands of dollars by donating items large and small from a downstairs kitchen at the restaurant.

Among those were a stove, convection oven, deep fryers, steel tables, dining tables, stove hood, food warmer, ice chests, a variety of kitchen equipment — and oh, yes, something no camp should be without — an upright piano.

The enthusiasm of people throughout the community was essential in the decision to rebuild. Among others, “parents were just so supportive” in providing funds, items, and moral support, Hall said.

The new lodge is going to get a good workout in the next few years. Future plans for the camp include its serving as a site for workshops and staff development. It also will be reestablished as a residential camp in 1995.

Educational camps in the spring and fall will offer programs on drug and alcohol awareness, communication skills, decision making and problem solving.

With its lakeside view, the camp is available for rental by private groups or companies when camp is not in session.

Last year, nearly 280 children attended the day camp, and this year’s enrollment may be even larger, Hall said.

The first two-week session is full, but there are limited openings in the later sessions. A YWCA bus is available to pick up children in Bangor, and it also will make stops along the way to camp.

Activities at Camp Molly Molasses include swimming and certified swimming instruction, boating, canoeing, fishing and water games. Children may also participate in arts and crafts, nature and outdoor education, archery, camp fires, skits and dramatics, hiking, cookouts and theme days. Overnight sleepovers are available to campers four times during the summer.

Parents may spend the day on Thursdays and participate in activities.

All campers must be YWCA members. The camper fee is deductible as day care on income taxes.

The director of Camp Molly Molasses is Peter Phair. For information, call the YWCA at 941-2808.