Merrimack Family Opens Door to Two Young Visitors From NYC

As several families welcomed inner-city children into their homes on Wednesday afternoon, one Merrimack family was bubbling with excitement while they awaited the arrival of Kai and Rachel, two 10-year-olds who would be staying with them for a week.

The Horton family is a first-time host family for the Fresh Air Fund, though Rachel Horton has been involved with the organization in the past. Growing up in Vermont, Horton's parents also hosted children from the Fresh Air Fund, but it was something that she hadn't thought of doing herself until she saw a sign for it last year.

Horton said it was a great experience the few summers her family hosted children from New York City, and she wanted to introduce that fun and excitement to her own family. 

"It's such a great opportunity to introduce them to living outside the city," Horton said.

So Horton and her husband Chad, along with their three children, Jacob, Eva and Sylvia, signed up to host two children for a week for their first time experience.

Rachel and Kai, who are also first-time visitors via the Fresh Air Fund got a very wet welcome to the Granite State, as the bus pulled up to Nashua High School South in the first of several torrential downpours on Wednesday. After getting off the bus and a quick introduction, they rushed to the Hortons' car before heading off to Merrimack for what will hopefully be a week with some better weather.

More than 40 children were on the bus to Nashua, Peterborough, Keene and Vermont with Rachel and Kai. Each heading to stay with families in part of a more than 130-year-old tradition.

The  Fresh Air Fund, founded in 1877, is a nonprofit program that has welcomed more than 1.7 million children to 13 states and Canada over the years, giving them a chance to experience summer the way children who live in more rural communities.

Children stay with host families for either one week or two and do any number of activities from going to the ocean or a lake to visiting attractions like Storyland or Santa's Village.

Karen Elwood, the chairwoman of local volunteer coordinators for the Fresh Air Fund, said they have relationships with various parks and attractions that invite Fresh Air kids to visit for free to help defray the cost for their host families.

Rachel Horton said the family is really looking forward to taking Kai and Rachel to places they enjoy, like the ocean, Newfound Lake, one of the local petting zoos, like Charmingfare Farm, and of course, a trip to Merrimack wouldn't be complete without a visit to King Kone.

"We've talked on the phone with Kai and he seems really, really sweet," Horton said. 

Rachel was just placed with them on Monday, so they didn't have an opportunity to chat with her beforehand. But as she stepped of the bus with bright yellow sneakers and a bright yellow suitcase, everyone was all smiles and laughing while the Hortons held reusable shopping bags over their heads to block the rain.

Chad Horton said he was looking forward to getting outside and being able to run around and get in some extra play time.

"I'm a really playful dad," he said. "My expectation is that we'll have a lot of fun."

Chad said he was only disappointed that he would have to head back to work after his upcoming weekend. Rachel, he said, will have the busy job of having a house with five kids.

But he wasn't apprehensive about blending new people into their family, even if only for a week. 

"We know what it's like to bring someone into the house, having adopted," he said of their 6-year-old daughter Sylvie.

One of the wonderful things about the Fresh Air Fund, Ellwood said, is that families who make a connection with their child are able to invite that same child back to stay with them again for many years to come. 

Though the program is open to first-timers between the ages of 6 and 12 to repeat visitors to the same family may remain in the program until they are 18 years old.

Most of the children on Wednesday's bus were first-time visitors, and many of the families were first-time hosts, Ellwood said.

Throughout the course of the summer, hundreds of kids will come visit New Hampshire, while hundreds more will visit the other dozen states involved.

Elwood said the program started a couple weeks ago, and the last bus heads out of Concord on Aug. 9.

In addition to family-planned activities, the Fresh Air Fund also plans group outings throughout the summer that families are welcome to attend, though they aren't required to.

To learn more about the Fresh Air Fund and how you can become a host family, visit www.freshair.org or www.facebook.com/freshairfund.