CANTON, Mich. – For the Golles family, summer camp is a tradition that continues even though the children are all grown up.
Austin, Alyssa and Blaine Golles might be in college now, but they keep returning to summer camp. They, along with their younger brother Jared, took advantage of the Canton Activity Crew (CAC) as children. It's a drop-in, supervised playground program for children 5 to 15 years olds. As young adults, Austin, Alyssa and Blaine returned to the Canton Activity Crew as camp counselors and supervisors.
Local 4 caught up with the three at the camp at Freedom Park in Canton.
"There is such great memories," said Alyssa Golles. "All the fun we used to have at our park all the capture the flag games and kickball games and craft and activities we used to do. And they just carry over, and now we get to do them as adults and we still get to play and have those same fun memories."
Alyssa Golles, 20, is studying psychology and occupational therapy at Eastern Michigan University. Her summer job is at camp.
"Every day, I am out here watching the kids making sure everything is running smoothly for our kids and our staff, planning different activities, different games, getting everything all coordinated," Alyssa Golles said.
Alyssa, along with Blaine, 18, is a camp supervisor.
Blaine is studying business at Schoolcraft College and CAC is his summer job too. Their older brother Austin, 21, now works at a Plymouth Canton Community Schools camp, in the same district where he works during the school year. He was a camp supervisor for the Canton Activity Crew. He is studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University.
"It's been awesome," Austin Golles said. "I think it has been really good to have that camaraderie, to be talk(ing) about it at home. It's fun to talk about different stories we have throughout the day, different kids that we interact with."
Blaine Golles loves that his summer job is at camp. He said it is a great experience to help the children currently in camp have the same experiences he had as a child.
"I mean, what other job do you get to go out every single day play your favorite games and make a lot of different memories with different kids and counselors?" Blaine Golles said.
CAC operates at seven different parks from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and then again from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This summer, it runs through Aug. 14.
The cost to parents is $25 for the entire summer. Registering on-site, it is $30 for the first child, $25 for each additional child. Since it is a drop-in program, parents can bring their children whenever they want and use it as often as they want throughout the summer.
"It gets them out, it gets them active, it gets them social. They meet a ton of new friends," Blaine Golles said.
The Golles family treasures its memories at the Canton Activity Crew as both campers and now as counselors. They all agree it has helped shape them into the people they are today.
"Just nowadays, playing with the kids, just thinking about what I had fun with, what I do now with the kids, I work with what I learned back when I went to camp," Austin Golles said.
"Something we experienced when we were kids and it is just that experience is carried over and now we get to be like big kids and hang out on the playground and get paid to do it," Alyssa Golles said.
"It has definitely changed me. It has made me more mature, made me much more responsible. I'm keeping track of all these kids and counselors, making sure I am on top of everything, keeping everyone safe," said Blaine Golles.
Austin, Alyssa and Blaine said they plan to recruit their younger brother Jared to work for the Canton Activity Crew as soon as he is old enough.
For more information on the Canton Activity Crew, click here.