YMCA Camp Massasoit in Mattapoisett is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer. For half a century, the camp has welcomed local children and families to enjoy a variety of fun activities and sports, and to forge new friendships that help strengthen the community.
“The summer is a time to have fun and relax. We hope to provide a safe, fun place for kids to come to enjoy their summer,” said Tricia Weaver, Assistant Camp Director.
Camp Massasoit has had a full dance card this summer between its shifting weekly themes and special anniversary events. At the end of July, they hosted a large reunion celebration, which was open to anybody with any connection to the camp and attracted about 150 patrons.
This week, however, was different. This was superhero week.
“We talked about superheroes fictional and real. We had a superhero training where the kids learned how to be superheroes for a day,” said Weaver.
In keeping with the theme of real superheroes, the camp welcomed two members of the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department to demonstrate the skills of their police dogs.
“We’re having a K9 unit come in so that the kids can see if this may be the kind of superhero they want to become,” she said.
Over 100 kids gathered on the front lawn of the camp’s main office building, facing the beach. As they waited, the kids chatted about their own dogs and pondered what they were about to see.
“I have a golden retriever at home!” said one excited girl to a staff member nearby. “I wonder if this will be a girl dog or a boy dog.”
Then Deputies Kevin Ardini and Jim Creed displayed the obedience, searching, and apprehension skills of their male German shepherd service dogs, Bodo and Rony.
“These dogs are trained in tracking and they’re trained to find drugs,” said Creed as Aldini walked Bodo on a leash around the crowd of children, who giggled and pointed in excitement.
“This dog alerts by scratching, barking, and biting,” Creed said of Bodo. He also explained how the dogs are trained and how the dogs perceive the smell of illicit drugs as a reward trigger. When a police dog finds a stash of drugs, its accompanying officer always congratulates the dog and gives him a treat.
The entire training process takes months, he said, with ten weeks devoted to drug tracking alone.
The highlight of the demonstration was, of course, the apprehension. Deputy Aldini donned a special protective sleeve that went up to his shoulder as Deputy Creed shouted at him as if he were running from the police. Creed then released Rony, who had his jaws around Aldini’s sleeve within a few short seconds.
As the presentation drew to a close, the staff members smiled as the kids barraged the deputies with questions about the dogs and their jobs. It seemed like the kids were sold on the idea of becoming real-life superheroes.
“I love how every day is something new and exciting. They’re always happy to learn something to and to experience something new,” said Weaver.
By Eric Tripoli
