MIDDLEBORO – Summer camp has kicked off for the season at the Middleboro YMCA’s Camp Yomechas.

The day camp, which includes a lakeside beach, a ropes course and outdoor pool, sees over 350 campers rotate through each day. Just like its variety of activities, Camp Yomechas offers an assortment of specialty programs.

“This year is one of the best years that we have with our specialties,” said Sophia Gaucher, a camp unit head at Camp Yomechas.

According to Julie Kennedy, Middleboro YMCA executive director, specialty programs that teach equine care, performing arts and aquatics, let kids explore different interests. 

Camp Yomechas also has an “East Village” program, which is catered to campers who may need a smaller group and program adaptations “due to a physical, cognitive or emotional challenge,” according to the Old Colony YMCA, which oversees the Middleboro YMCA.

One specialty program called “Circle Y” teaches campers how to feed, groom and care for horses. 

Kids were given the opportunity to name the horses at the beginning of the summer, too. Some of the chosen names included Beans, Branch, Timmy and Hookman.

“All the horses are very nice,” said camper Allison Stearns.

Although, the niceness of the horses was up for debate among some of the campers.

“Beans is a bully, he bites,” one of the kids said.

The camp’s aquatics program gives campers the opportunity to spend more time in the pool, which is one of the campers’ favorite activities, according to Gaucher. 

Campers swim in both the pool and in the lake at Camp Yomechas.

Gaucher said that water safety is taken extremely seriously at the camp with all of the water activities. 

“Counselors and lifeguards, we’re one big team,” Gaucher said.

Campers dug in the sand, swam in the lake, and played games in the pool at the camp.

Just like Camp Yomechas includes campers of all interest areas, it also has programs to help with financial assistance for families of different income levels, according to Kennedy.

Breakfast and lunch provided to Camp Yomechas is free for all campers and staff who are under 18, Kennedy said. In addition, scholarships and financial aid are provided to roughly half of all campers to help cover costs of attendance, she said. 

Camp Yomechas is now in its third week of its summer season and will run until the last week of August.