By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Hale Education held their annual Summer Solstice Swim and S’mores event on Wednesday, June 21st. This kickoff-to-summer event was located at South Beach for families and friends to enjoy Noannet Pond.
Despite the rather chilly weather, those who were brave enough were welcome to enjoy an open swim with lifeguards on duty. Following a dip in the pond, attendees gathered on the beach for a campfire and s’mores. Little ones had the opportunity to find their own sticks to roast their marshmallows with.
Program Coordinator, Lindsay Pierce, described the event as, “A really nice family and community event in order to celebrate the summer solstice.” While Hale Education has multiple events throughout the summer, this specific event is open for all to enjoy in order to finally celebrate the official start of summer.
Hale Education is a private, non profit organization whose property spans over 1,100 acres throughout Westwood and Dover. According to their website, they are “widely recognized for their flagship camps, youth programs, family and community activities, school partnerships, and professional development opportunities.” They continually serve thousands of children and families from over 70 Greater Boston communities.
One of the most popular programs at Hale Education is their Family & Community program in which parents are always on site with their children. Director of this program, Shannon Obey, went on to state, “What is really cool about this program is that it creates a really great community of the parents and the kids. A lot of the parents have been coming back here year after year. Many of these families are here all the time and they like to sit in the same spot on the sand. It’s really cool to see.”
In terms of this specific Summer Solstice event, Marketing Coordinator, Greg Freed, explained, “It is one of our public events at this point so it is something we advertise broadly. A lot of people come in from not even Westwood but surrounding communities and towns all over the place. We have folks coming in from places in the city that might not have natural space but they get to come out here and spend the day together. So this is like a nice, very straightforward event to come out and see the space, go swimming, have some s’mores and see what Hale is all about.”
For all families, there is so much to do and see when you are at Hale Education. For information about their programs and upcoming events, please visit www.hale1918.org.
