Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues at 8.15, under clear skies, it's 51. Time for our usual visit with our friends from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County and today I have Jim Hooper in the studio with me from Camp 4H Bristol Hills. Jim, good to have you back sir. How are you?
Jim Hooper: Paul, thanks for having us back.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. You're just coming off the Fall Festival that was held this past weekend. It was an amazing event. We had a good turnout, we had a lot of great activities going on, it was great to connect with people.
Jim Hooper: Yeah, I'm looking at the list of activities and just some of them to highlight them. There was dog obedience, there was fishing, there was smoke making in the campfire, popcorn trivia and tasting.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, so the event is really designed to be a showcase of all the different things that Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County offers. So we had booths set up from our camp staff but also from our 4H club program was there, our master gardeners were there, our ag educators were there, our ag development specialist was there and just ran a lot of different programs to kind of showcase what we do at Extension.
Jim Hooper: And you have special visitors show up as well.
Paul Szmal: We did, we did and it was really unexpected. John Woodard showed up and John Woodard is the son of Art Woodard. Art Woodard was the 4H agent, that's what we were called back then, the 4H agent who actually moved camp to the current location which is where we were meeting on Saturday. So he was just on a travel trip and was headed between his homes and just stopped in at camp to just walk the ground and had no idea that we were doing an event. So it was a great chance to chat with him.
Jim Hooper: That was a little bit of a happy accident I guess.
Paul Szmal: A little serendipity for sure.
Jim Hooper: Absolutely, absolutely. So by all means this would be considered a successful event all the way around.
Paul Szmal: It really was. Yeah, it was a great chance to connect with our constituents and the people that enjoy our programs but also learn a little bit more about the history of camp as well.
Jim Hooper: Now this is the 100th year of Camp 4H Bristol Hills. The centennial year. How is the summer? How are the activities? How is the turnout?
Paul Szmal: It was awesome. We had a really great summer. We had a lot of great kids come out and enjoy the program. We did what we do best, which is summer camp. So we were outside, we were doing hikes, we were doing crafts, we were doing ropes courses and archery and swim lessons and all the different things that make camp what it is. And so yeah, it was a great summer all around.
Jim Hooper: Do you find now that there are more kids that want the opportunity to get away from the technology and get outside?
Paul Szmal: You know, it's a great question. Our enrollment has not been where we'd like it to be over the last couple of years. And I do think that the technology plays a role in that. I think kids are having a hard time separating from their devices. But we are really focusing on trying to do what we do best, which is providing that outdoor positive experience with some really great staff and some really great program.
Jim Hooper: Jim Hooper from Cornell Cooperative Extension and Camp 4H Bristol Hills joining us here on FLX Morning. Now you guys are gearing up for what is going to be a grand scale event. The Centennial Gala is coming up on September, I'm sorry, on October the 4th, if I can get the words out, right?
Paul Szmal: Yes, yes. We are deep in the preparations for the gala. It'll be our second gala that we've done. We did one in 2019. And this one really is going to be focusing on the history of 100 years of 4-H camping in Ontario County. So it should be a really fancy event and I'm excited to look forward to it.
Jim Hooper: The event is cocktails at 6, dinner at 7, program at 8, and I understand there's going to be a silent auction as well?
Paul Szmal: There will be a silent auction. We have a lot of great baskets that we've put together. We're still collecting a few more, but right now I think we're around 12 or 15 baskets that we'll be silent auctioning off. And we do have a great program lined up as well. We'll be doing a historical presentation, so there'll be a slideshow that we'll play in the background and some literature and information about the different historical elements of the program, but then also talking about the impact that 4-H Camp Bristol Hills has had specifically on the New York State 4-H camping system, and then also a little bit on the pool fundraiser. We're going to be raising money through this event to be able to replace our swimming pool and our pool house.
Jim Hooper: Oh, okay. So that's the big emphasis for this year.
Paul Szmal: Oh, okay. So improvements on the pool complex.
Jim Hooper: Yeah, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: All right. The event again is October the 4th, and there are sponsorship opportunities available for people that want to jump in and be a sponsor. What kind of sponsorships are you looking for specifically?
Jim Hooper: So we've got a couple of different sponsorship levels available. We've got our Kiwanis Clubs that have just sponsored for $1,000 level to be able to help support the program. We have Rebel Sailor on board as our bar sponsor to be able to run our cash bar for us. We've got sponsorship opportunities available at that $1,000, $2,500, and $5,000 levels still available. So if anybody's interested, they can certainly check us out on the website. And this is a great way to help support not only the pool project, but to just support 4-H and Camp Bristol Hills in general.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. In general. So what's the outlook now? Are things wrapped up for the year as far as camping goes?
Jim Hooper: Yeah, so right now we're in the middle of our rental season. So our summer camp program ended this year on August 8th, and then we had a couple of weeks of rental groups that were back-to-back that have been with us for a number of years. But then we've been hosting various different corporate groups, school groups, et cetera, to do team-building programs, to do outdoor experiences. And we'll be continuing to do those until, I believe, our last one this year ends October 12th. And then we'll start to shut down the facility, winterize it, get ready.
Paul Szmal: And these rentals are key because they help with the operating costs for the kids. We rely on those off-season rental programs to be able to bring in the revenue that helps offset the expenses of running a summer camp program. We really try hard to make our summer camp program as affordable as possible for as many people as possible.
Jim Hooper: Yeah. And the easiest way to do that is to get those corporate groups and things of that nature to come in and participate and have activities and do events there.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, yeah. And this has been a really busy summer, or excuse me, a busy fall for us. We've got two brand-new rental groups that are each here for like a week or more. So that's been really exciting for us. We've been doing a lot of team-building programs with our leadership, Ontario and Canada National Bank, that are bringing out their leadership folks to do a little bit more team-building and just team development.
Jim Hooper: Wow. It sounds like a busy, busy time. And just when you think everything's going to slow down, it's going to stay busy right through, you said, the beginning of October?
Paul Szmal: Yeah. We're already starting right now to plan for next year and the different programs and things that we're going to be offering for next year.
Jim Hooper: Any ideas on any changes that you might make for next year?
Paul Szmal: We haven't really gotten so far as to be making changes. Right now, we're just getting through our rental programs and starting to look at budget sequences for next year and starting to get a feel for that.
Jim Hooper: All right. Let's recap the Centennial Gala, which is coming up on Saturday, October the 4th, and this will be right at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills. It will be right in the main dining hall at 4-H Camp.
Paul Szmal: Right. Cocktails are at 6, dinner at 7, the program and silent auction is at 8. Tickets are $100 a person, $175 a couple, or a table of eight is $850.
Jim Hooper: Absolutely. Yep. And sponsorship opportunities are still available as well.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. I want to go ahead and sponsor the program. By the way, I see there's an RSVP for pre-registration where you can, I assume, buy your tickets online.
Jim Hooper: Correct. Yep. And is that at the Ontario County website or the 4-H website?
Paul Szmal: It's at the 4-H Camp Bristol Hills website. If you go to 4-HCampBristolHills.org, you'll be able to get to our website, you'll find the information there for the gala, you can reserve your tickets there.
Jim Hooper: Okay. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for coming in this morning and filling this in, man. Much appreciated.
Paul Szmal: Thank you very much, Jim. I appreciate it.
Jim Hooper: All right.
