A giant crane. Several strong arms and backs. Great technique. A big heart. These are all of the ingredients in Fuller Marine Services’ generous donation twice a year to the Boothbay Region YMCA. Every spring the company brings their crane truck and trailer to Camp Knickerbocker to help with the seasonal installation of the boating docks, and then every fall they pull out the docks before Lake Knickerbocker ices over for the winter. The docks are essential to camp programming by allowing our community’s youth to get out on the water in the summer months for swimming, boating, and fishing.

The Y’s Director of Facilities, Rose Mooney, is grateful for the service that the Fullers provide. “Chuck and Jeanne have been so generous to the Y over the years. Since we don’t have the equipment ourselves, we have to outsource this work. Fuller Marine not only does a fantastic job taking care of our docks, but they also do it at no expense to the Y. I can’t thank them enough for helping us preserve our resources.”

Fuller Marine is just one example of people in the community giving back to the Y. By donating their services, Fuller Marine enables the Y to extend additional funds to campers in the form of financial aid for Camp K summer programs.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Camp K is being used year-round for the first time. The Y's after-school program, called Fit Kids, has moved all their activities to Camp K, giving children the opportunity to play outside, build forts in the woods, and utilize the 65 acres on the shore of Little Lake Knickerbocker, including the docks jutting out onto the lake.

Relocating Fit Kids to Camp K is one of the unexpected silver linings to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Being at Camp K has enriched our Fit Kids program which will continue to be held at Camp K year-round,” said Mooney. “This is why we are making strategic investments out at the Camp, including plans to renovate the McEvoy Lodge so that it can be used as a four-season home base for our after-school programs and specialty camps. We are very happy to be able to fully utilize such a beautiful natural environment.”

“It all really comes full circle,” says Erin Gray, Senior Program Director at the Y. “The guys take a whole day to install the docks and it’s really hard work! I’m so thankful to them for installing the docks early for us this year in order for our Fit Kids friends to learn to fish off of the docks this spring. They support us, we support the kids; it’s a wonderful connection.”

Additional Camp K note: Through the generosity of the Elizabeth Ann Leach Charitable trust and other donors, the Y completed a new bathhouse pavilion last June. Featured in the December 2020 Maine Home Design magazine, the new Pavilion includes changing rooms, bathrooms, and storage cubbies to support waterfront activities. Like the Y’s partnership with Fuller Marine Services, the Boothbay Region Water District (BRWD) was a helpful partner as the Y designed the bathhouse. By supporting the decision to create a green roof and other special erosion control measures, the BRWD helped the Y achieve its goal of caring for and responsibly managing the watershed region.