Share This Article
Camp Sewataro management has submitted its end-of-season report to Town Manager Sheehan and the Sudbury Select Board. The update characterizes the eight-week summer session as a success, noting it provided “screen-free life long memories and friendships” for attendees.
This summer’s demographics included 503 campers from Sudbury, alongside 93 Sudbury staff members and 49 Sudbury Resident Scholarship Campers.
The report also tracks the usage of the Resident swim program, which was reduced this year due to lack of attendance by residents in prior years. The Fourth of July weekend proved to be the peak time for pond access, drawing between 35 and 47 swimmers daily across three days. That’s a substantial increase over the same weekend last year, which garnered just 58 swimmers total. (Page 115)The weekend of August 1-2 saw slightly lower attendance, with 29 swimmers utilizing the pond on Saturday and 22 on Sunday according to the report.
As operations shift toward the off-season, the Sewataro Team is collaborating with the Sudbury Parks and Recreation Department to plan and advertise a Fall Festival scheduled for October 25. Parks and Recreation is also utilizing the property for three weekly fall programs.
While the seasonal update reflects increased utilization and increased collaboration between the Town and Camp Sewataro, the future of the Liberty Ledge property remains a central point of local debate.
The Liberty Ledge/Sewataro Advisory Committee (LLSAC) has spent the summer evaluating potential near- and long-term uses for the town-owned land to provide recommendations to the Select Board. The planning process has generated significant controversy, as some residents expressed alarm that the town might pursue housing development on the site. (There is no proposal for housing development on the property.)
Recent LLSAC survey data indicated residents want to keep the summer camp, and expand programming on the property. The draft LLSAC report closely mirrored the public input they received, prioritizing preservation of the camp and expanded programming to maximize resident utilization of the property.
As the LLSAC works to finalize its draft recommendations by the end of October, the public will have an opportunity to weigh in on their draft during a presentation and input session on October 8.
