Easter Seals Camp Fairlee offers year-round adventures and respite

Tina was reluctant to leave her youngest son Kyle for the first time at Easter Seals Camp Fairlee. Thanks to some gentle nudging from her daughter-in-law, she was finally persuaded to give it a chance. All that worry went away as soon as she opened the car door and saw 27-year-old Kyle’s smiling face.

Easter Seal Camp Fairlee, outside of Chestertown, Md., is the only camp in the region that provides a typical residential camp experience for children and adults with disabilities year-round. Fairlee offers week-long camp sessions throughout the summer, travel trips throughout the year and weekend respite/retreat programs from August through May.

“My son and his wife worked at the camp for a couple of summers. They always talked about how nice it was and how Kyle would have a great time. I was very nervous leaving Kyle, not just about leaving him at camp overnight for the first time, but also out of state,” Tina says. “Kyle, on the other hand, was not nervous at all. He was excited as we got out of the car and he saw all of the other campers and the swimming pool. He was all smiles.”

In fact, the entire family benefited so much from Kyle’s last two years at Camp Fairlee that Kyle, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, will be enjoying his first week-long respite in December. Since Camp Fairlee offers weekend respites from October to May and Kyle has so much fun, Tina decided this year, there was no need to wait for summer to come, and Kyle can enjoy the adventure of Camp Fairlee in the winter.

“Kyle enjoys his Camp Fairlee experience so much that I thought the week-long winter respite was just perfect for him. Kyle will get his own little winter vacation, which gets him out of the house doing all kinds of fun things,” Tina says. “This December respite weekend will be just what Kyle needs to help him make it through the long cold winter.”

While Kyle is having a blast at the fully accessible camp, Tina will be enjoying a respite period after the busy Christmas season.

“I am so happy that my daughter-in-law convinced me to let Kyle go to camp. I may have dragged my feet because of my fear of leaving Kyle with people I do not know. What a mistake that would have been. Look at all the fun and great times Kyle would have missed out on because of my fear,” Tina says. “Camp Fairlee is a great place; I cannot say enough wonderful things about it.”

For more information about Camp Fairlee’s weekend respites, contact Desi Rochester at 410-778-0566 or go to www.de.easterseals.com/fairlee.