Dance Party, Limbo Contest Punctuate Final Days of Camp Splash

As soon as the counselor hollered, "It's dance party time!" Carrick Hazlett took the hand of a friend nearby and began to twirl her around in time to the music.

He was one of myriad Camp Splash participants to boogie their way through one of their final days at the seven-week program—wearing Hawaiian-style shirts, hats and other accessories while they were at it.

A few minutes later a limbo line formed, with camp participants—ages 5 to 13—trying to make their way underneath the bar set by two counselors (without touching it, of course).

The camp, held at Town Park, ends its seventh season today—but by all indications, the fun stuff happened Thursday and before.

Before the dance party (and the talent show organizers dub "Camp Splash Idol" that followed), campers were treated to a visit from the

It was the second trip fireman Jay Rodenski made to the camp this year—all in the name of fire safety.

Not only did he gather the children to tell them about the importance of checking the batteries in smoke detectors, establishing two emergency routes out of their homes, and picking a meeting place for their families in case of a fire, he also let them check out a piece of thermo imaging equipment the department uses when entering a home or business up in smoke.

The children then got a chance to see what Rodenski looked like all decked out in his turn-out gear, something he said is important for children to see.

“I want them to see I’m still the same guy,” he said, adding that children sometimes hide from firemen in emergency situations such as a structure fire. “We don’t want them to be scared of us.”

And of course: All the kids got to climb into on the departments trucks, too.

Camp Director Sue Hazlett thanked the Canonsburg Volunteer Fire Department and the numerous other individuals, businesses and organizations (including the Pittsburgh Passion, the Washington Wild Things) for helping the attending children learn new skills and have fun, too (did we mention they got to build bottle rockets this year?).

More than 350 kids attended the camp this summer—up from those first years of its existence, when attendance topped out at about 140 kids.

“That’s a tremendous amount of growth over that time period,” borough Manager Terry Hazlett said.

The camp, which runs from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday during those seven weeks is a hit for both the kids who attend and their parents, he said.

Not only can parents drop their kids off before work and pick them up after, but the youngsters get a light breakfast, lunch, snacks, activities and at least three hours of swimming at Town Park Pool each day.

The cost?

"It averages out to be about $3 an hour," Terry Hazlett said.

“They get a lot of meals, but they expend a lot of calories,” he added with a smile.

But both Sue and Terry Hazlett reiterated: That’s one of the selling points of Camp Splash.

“It’s an active camp,” Sue Hazlett said.

Terry Hazlett agreed: “We tell parents, you drop them off in the morning and when you pick them up in the afternoon, they will be worn out.”

Editor's Note: Check out videos and photos from Thursday's festivities. And if you're a Camp Splash parent, feel free to upload your photos!