Paul Szmal: Stephanie Hessler is here from the Geneva Boys and Girls Club. Good morning, Stephanie, how are you this morning?
Guest: I'm doing great, thanks for having me.
Paul Szmal: Busy, busy time for you. We just had a ribbon-cutting for a food pavilion.
Guest: We did, yes, we dedicated to Belinda and Mark Vannuti, who do so much for the community, and we were glad to finally have that opportunity to dedicate the pavilion to them. It was a project in the works for several years and a nice tribute to them. We had a beautiful, beautiful weather, beautiful turnout and and celebrated with them.
Paul Szmal: So a food pavilion, what is that exactly?
Guest: So we call it, I guess we call it the food pavilion because it really, it's got a special cantilever roof that hangs over, which gives us opportunities for helps in bad weather. That's not the only reason to have it, but when our food, our cars come around for the food distribution a couple times a month, allows our volunteers to be able to distribute without getting drenched. It's a nice, a nice addition. And in the wintertime, too. Those folks that work the line, they do it rain or snow or sleet, maybe not sleet, they might pause for that, but any kind of weather. So we're grateful to them, too.
Paul Szmal: On the website right now, you've got the community survey, and this is a part of the strategic planning that we've discussed off and on over the past couple of months.
Guest: Yep, that's, that's right. Yep, it'll be, it'll be wrapping up soon, so if you're interested in giving us a little feedback about the Boys and Girls Club and the Community Center, we'd love to have your your thoughts added in here. It's a short, probably take you, you know, a minute or less to go through that right online, and yeah, we'd love, we'd love the feedback. It'll all be compiled. The board is meeting Saturday, actually this Saturday, to go through all the data we've collected, and this will be another piece of that.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and that's one of the elements that helps you to plan out programs and maybe make some adjustments, time changes, whatever, based on that data.
Guest: Exactly, yes. We've been, we've been around for 30 years. We're celebrating our 30th anniversary this year, and so this will help, this process will help us plan for the next, for the next 30.
Paul Szmal: And where do you stand now that the state budget is finally in place? Does that kind of change up what you're doing, or are you basically outside of that hemisphere where you don't have to worry about that the way, like, some other school systems do?
Guest: Right, well, and because we're a partner to Geneva City School District for their 21st Century Grant, you know, we work with them. Of course, we're keeping an eye on this, but all, all indications are that it's, we're in, we're in good shape to go forward for the year, so we're grateful, grateful for that.
Paul Szmal: Stephanie Hessler is here from the Geneva Boys and Girls Club here on FLX Morning. One of the summertime activities that happens at the Boys and Girls Club is summer camp, and this year kicks off after the 4th of July weekend.
Guest: They do, July 6th, we kick it off, and we do have space available, especially for our 3rd through 7th graders, and I just want to share a few highlights of some field trips coming up, because they, the kids will come each day, but Fridays are a special day where we're going, we're going places, and that include Roseland Bowl, Strong National Museum of Play, Minnehans Family Fund Center, the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology, Seneca Park Zoo, and Seabreeze Amusement Park.
Paul Szmal: No, I want to go to those. I know, doesn't that sound great?
Guest: Yeah, so, and you know, we, so we need family, if families are interested in having their children join us, they just need to call 315-759-6060 and make an appointment. There's an enrollment process, and we do that with families to make sure we're covering all the bases for that.
Paul Szmal: So, besides the coolest field trips and the things, what else is entailed in summer camp?
Guest: So, it's going to be, it's a fun, I mean, we've got great staff that are already planning activities for the summer, and it's, you know, it's not school, so it's a nice time to just come and relax. You still learn, learn some things and do some fun activities and, and stay engaged, but it's a little more, the, the vibe is a little different because it's summer.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, you know, I find, too, especially with younger kids, that if they're having fun, they wind up learning something in the process, it tends to stick with them a little bit more.
Guest: For sure, and I should mention, we had some volunteers from Cornell Agritech who helped get our gardens whipped into good growing shape this spring. We've had some kids already doing some projects out there, and I'm imagining that's continuing over the summer as well, so that's something fun to look forward to if you're like gardening.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah. Okay, you've got some activity coordinator positions that are open.
Guest: We do, we do. We have the activity coordinator and a bilingual activity coordinator. We have several Spanish-speaking children. They tend to do better with their, with their English, but we, you know, we have staff that we, this allows us to engage a little better with the kids as well, so we're trying to, you know, mix it up a little bit, and, and so we were, you know, looking for candidates who are, who can speak both Spanish and English fluently, but we also are looking for, it's essentially the same position, we just want to, you know, open that option up for someone who's bilingual to consider being part of our team.
Paul Szmal: Is that a part-time position?
Guest: Part-time position. Summertime is at, so the six weeks over the summer, it'll be, it'll be six-hour days, so like 1130 to 530 Monday through Thursday, and then it's a full day on Friday for those field trips, and then after school it goes back to.
Paul Szmal: So, so not only do you get to work with kids, you get to go on the field trips.
Guest: That's right, that's right. Yeah, so, so we'd love to have you apply. That's also posted right on our, the front page of our website. You can go there, there's a QR code, it leads you right to application.
Paul Szmal: And I want to make mention, the food distributions, they continue, you said twice a month?
Guest: Twice a month, and, oh, I'm sorry, I don't have the dates off the top of my head, but watch our Facebook page. Susan Tullison, who manages the program, is great about getting those posted a few days in advance of those, those distributions.
Paul Szmal: So this, even though, you know, school is out here in a couple of weeks, this is really a busy time of year.
Guest: It's really a busy time, yes, we're wrapping up our program, it's hard to believe.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, next Thursday is our last day in program, because we're closed for June 19th, Juneteenth.
Guest: Right. Yeah, so we are, yes, very busy, for sure. And, you know, I'm sure there are people that are volunteering their time to help out at the Boys and Girls Club, too, and if you have maybe a spare few hours you want to work with the kids, you can call or check the website for opportunities in that regard.
Paul Szmal: Yes, please, please reach out. Every situation is a little, a little different. We might have more options with our toddler time folks, our toddler time group, because there's a little more flexibility there, but we would be happy to talk with folks about after-school program and, of course, the food link distribution. There are always those people that work the line. It's a great, great group of people, as well.
Guest: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and if you want to find out more, the website is?
Paul Szmal: Geneva. Oh, is it GenevaBGC.com?
Guest: Nope. Well, you can get there from there. Okay. Geneva, oh my goodness, BG Club Geneva.org. Yeah, BG Club Geneva. Sorry. One more cup of coffee, I would have been there. I was trying to blank there, too, for a second.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I asked the question, I'm like, wait a minute. I think because we worked hard to be sure, all thing, all, any time you start to look for it, it all points toward our new site. You can get right there.
Guest: Yeah, and if you go to the home page, you'll see right there the banner right under the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva logo. It says, take our survey, help us plan for the future. You click on that, and it is, let's see, 13, 14, there's like, you know, 15, 16 questions, so it won't take long at all.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, we'd love the feedback. Yeah, yeah, and that, that information is important because it helps the Boys and Girls Club plan activities, events, things of that nature for the upcoming year. So, as always, Stephanie, it's good to see you. Thank you so much.
Guest: Thank you so much. And we'll talk to you in, probably in June.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Yeah. Well, wait a minute, it is June.
Guest: No, it is June. July.
Paul Szmal: How about July? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I may actually be on vacation that week, and I think Ted's gonna be in that week.
Guest: Okay. Great to see Ted, always.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. All right.
