YMCA's Adventure Guides are a big hit with children

SPREADING HAPPINESS—Parents and children with the Camarillo YMCA Adventure Guides program sing Christmas songs Dec. 14 at Atria Las Posas, a senior living community in Camarillo. It was the fourth year in the row the guides sang at the retirement home. Three years ago, with a toddler demanding much of her attention, Angie Fullmer didn't want her older daughter to feel overlooked. She wanted to find a way to spend undisturbed oneonone time with Emily, then 6.

A neighbor told her about the activities and time parents and children spend together in the YMCA's Adventure Guides.

The biggest selling point for Fullmer: There was no huge time commitment.

"In a nutshell, I was hooked," Fullmer said.

In the Adventure Guides, parents and children meet regularly in small groups known as Circles.

Circles consist of motherdaughter, fatherdaughter or father-son couples and meet once a month for 90 minutes in a member's home.

In the Circle, children share their accomplishments and set goals. Parents and children sing songs and do arts and crafts and other activities together.

The children earn patches for accomplishments, which include participating in special Adventure Guides events.

Fullmer's youngest daughter, Samantha, now 6, also joined the Adventure Guides.

"They absolutely love going," Fullmer said of her daughters. "I think they look forward to meeting new friends."

Earlier this month, the Fullmers and several Adventure Guide Circles sang Christmas carols to residents of Camarillo's Atria Senior Living. The caroling is a four-year tradition.

The Adventure Guides participate in the annual Coastal Cleanup Day; other events include an annual Pancake Breakfast, the Pinewood Derby, which is held in the spring, and an annual fatherdaughter dance, scheduled for Feb. 7.

Fullmer said she, Emily and Samantha are looking forward to going to the Adventure Guides Winter Camp in February, one of three annual camp outs.

YMCA program director Brett Lane oversees the Adventure Guides program and has fond memories of his own as a child in the program, then known as Indian Guides. He, his father and brother often reminisce about their experiences when they get together, he said.

"This gives you . . . something to share for the rest of your life," Lane said. "It really does help build those core values with your child."

The Camarillo Y Adventure Guides has more than 200 parents and children, considered a medium-sized program. The Torrance YMCA, by comparison, has 4,000 to 5,000 members, Lane said.

Adventure Guides is open to children in kindergarten to fourth grade for fatherson and fatherdaughter couples and children pre-kindergarten to fourth grade for mother-daughter pairs.

For more information, call (805) 484-0423.