An early highlight for our busy summer will be the Annual Kump Center Pie Auction Saturday, June 27. Summer Tutoring will be available between June 15 and July 15 when tutors will work with individual students to improve basic reading skills. On July 6, YMCA Day Campers will explore the Kump Wetland to learn about riparian plants and animals there. Spanish Camp will be July 20-24 (8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) with a Christmas-in-July theme.

The Pie Auction is a Kump Center tradition that started with our first “Fair at the Crossroads” 14 years ago. Pie auctions were an Appalachian fundraising activity. When the highest bidder would win a pie or a picnic lunch, he could enjoy eating it with the lady who prepared it. Now at Kump Center we have many wonderful bakers, and auction winners take their prizes home for family dinners and special events.

Fair goers may also enjoy seeing the orange and yellow day lilies blooming and listening to music on the south lawn while they eat a light lunch and browse through crafters’ booths to see the art, glass, pottery, and wood products.

Summer Tutoring will be available between June 15 and July 15 when tutors will work one-to-one with students in grades 1-5 to improve basic reading skills. Our tutors do buddy reading with students and focus activities to improve phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. If your child would like to have individual summer tutoring to prepare for school before the fall term, call 304-637-7820 for more information. There is a fee per hour each week.

On July 6th YMCA Day Campers will explore the Kump Wetland and learn about riparian plants and animals there. Our healthy wetland has 36 native plants that can be seen on the I-Naturalist app. Butterflies love to visit the colorful flowers, and all the riparian plants help to purify the water before it flows into the river. As we say, “the wetland is the liver for the river.”

Spanish Camp is an important opportunity for young children to expand their vocabulary and learn Latinate words in English. It is a way of helping kids learn vocabulary they do not see on screens. Also, if they learn a foreign language early, they will be more likely to sound like native speakers as adults. Spanish Camp will be July 20-24 (8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) with a tuition cost and scholarship help is available. See www.kumpeducationcenter.org. for more information.

We hope to see you often this summer.