Do you know where the outdoor amphitheater at the Boothbay Region YMCA is located? If not, you aren’t alone. Most BHRC members and students in the Y’s Fit Kids after-school program hadn’t either before partnering on the “Eat Well, Play Well” garden grant awarded by Rotary District 7780 and matched by our local Rotary Club. The unique amphitheater actually sits between the Y’s field house and child enrichment center, featuring beautiful stone seating, landscaped garden beds, and kid-friendly picnic tables.

The funded gardening project is the result of efforts made by the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club to combat food insecurity on our peninsula. The $15,000 in funds will be used to support gardening initiatives at the BRYMCA amphitheater and Camp Knickerbocker, including the planting of raised beds and low-bush blueberries. In addition, these funds support the school garden, blueberry patch, and purchase of playground equipment at the Edgecomb Eddy School.

Local Rotarians have been spending their Tuesday afternoons working with the Y’s Fit Kids who come from Boothbay, Edgecomb, and Southport schools. The group has been hard at work constructing raised beds for planting, keeping the current garden groomed, and digging holes to accommodate the blueberry bushes that will be planted next spring. Outdoor work on the project will wrap up at the end of this month and will resume next April with the help of our Rotarian volunteers.

The Fit Kids after school program plans to continue working on gardening related curriculum over the winter and hopes to incorporate the newly renovated amphitheater into program activities moving forward. Finally, now that this best kept secret is out, please contact program coordinator Logahn Walker at lwalker@brymca.org if you or someone you know is interested in volunteering their time with Fit Kids on other experiential learning opportunities!