By Renee Worthing 

Staff Writer

Donning yellow lifejackets, residents of St. Andre Health Care Facility in Biddeford boarded a pontoon boat on Bauneg Beg Pond in Sanford for a tour of the pond. With the cool breeze blowing their hair and Waban’s Waterfront Director Patrick Winne at the helm of the pontoon boat,  residents pointed to water lilies and waved to a kayaker paddling past. They laughed when they noticed the seat of a swing submerged in high water, rendering it impractical.

St. Andre resident Barbara Sheehan, with a wide-brimmed hat on her head, said she enjoyed the boat trip.

“This isn’t my first time on a boat, but this is fun,” Sheehan said.

St. Andre resident Barbara Meserve and her husband Stan sat together in the bow of the boat, pointing to white, pink and yellow water lilies along the shoreline where boats and floatplanes were moored.

Reny Remillard, breaking a mask of seriousness, smiled. When the breeze proved to be too cold for him, a certified nursing assistant draped a blanket around his shoulders. Remillard hunkered under the blanket, as he watched the shore slip by.

The  residents were participating in last week’s third annual camping trip to Camp Waban. 

While some residents chose to spend the night in a communal cabin, those not so adventurous returned to St. Andre for the night and arrived the next day to participate in games and activities regularly enjoyed by campers.

Residents played volleyball, fished, kayaked and rode in the pontoon boat.

St. Andre’s Recreation Director Fran Kelley said it began to rain one day when residents were out on the boat.

Residents who chose to spend the night enjoyed nightly bonfires and making s’mores.

“They took in stride,” she said. “They said, ‘This is great.’”

That day, the boat returned to shore and after warming up with hot cocoa and coffee, the residents watched a movie.

Walker, 81, said she enjoyed her first ever ride in a tandem kayak with Kelley.

“Fran is wonderful,” Walker said. “She paddled me all over the pond.”

Walker said she thought the body of water was so large, it should be classified as a lake and although she had the opportunity to wet a fishing line, she said she was too interested in the kayak to fish.

“The kayak was marvelous,” Walker said. “The water was beautiful.”

She said she wasn’t nervous about her first ride in a kayak.

  “I put my trust in them and they took care of me,” Walker said.

Kelley agreed the camp experience helped build strong relationships between residents and staff.

“We respect them and they trust us,” she said.

While residents were not forced to participate in any activity, they were encouraged to join in the fun, according to their comfort level.

 Walker said she didn’t spend the night at camp and didn’t intend to return the next day because she wanted to give a fellow resident the chance to attend.

“I was looking forward to sleeping in,” Walker said. “But when they gave the opportunity to come again, I thought, ‘Why not?’”

This year marked the third year of the camping trip. When the program began in 2006, 16 campers went to Camp Waban for a week.

The program was such a success, it was expanded to two weeks the following year in order to allow more campers to participate. 

This year, a total of 37, attended camp. 

She said more families visited their loved one at camp to share the experience. 

“The residents remember this camping trip and they talk about it for a long time afterward,” Kelley said.