CHARLESTOWN — Camp Watchaug, the 75-year-old idyllic summer camp set on 30 pristine waterfront acres and packed with generations' worth of happy memories, has reached another milestone. The camp, founded in 1948 — by what was then known as the Westerly-Pawcatuck YMCA, Camp Watchaug — is now the official fourth branch of Ocean Community YMCA. The accomplishment — which came after the approval from the national YMCA of the USA — is a milestone which warms the heart of many, especially the one belonging to legendary camp director John Barton Coduri.
"It's wonderful ...
just wonderful," said Coduri, a longtime leader with both the local and national YMCA, one recent afternoon as he walked through the camp property with his daughter, Jennifer Coduri Ross, chair of the camp's board of directors, and camp executive director Carmen Matlock. "It's such a beautiful natural resource." "Camp Watchaug is the jewel of our association," said Maureen Fitzgerald, the president and CEO of the of the Ocean Community YMCA, who shared the announcement of the national approval in a phone call earlier this summer.
"We have put over $2 million in restorations and enhancements at the camp," Fitzgerald said, as she listed the improvements at the camp, which were funded by donors and foundation support. In addition to a brand new welcome center, she said, there have been improvements to the amphitheater and pavilion, septic system and roadway improvements, plus a new zipline and archery area. "We have doubled our enrollment," Fitzgerald pointed out, explaining that between 300 and 355 children now attend the camp each summer.
"We have much more happening indoors now too," she said, "and can now do pre-summer and fall programs." Fitzgerald said there has also been interest from community members who want to rent the facility for family reunions, weddings and corporate retreats. "Making it a branch provides the necessary infrastructure for usage beyond four or five months out of the year," said Jeffrey Liguori, managing director of Napatree Capital and the chief volunteer officer for the Y in an email Friday afternoon.
"It helps expand, and strengthen, the mission of the Y." For many years, Liguori said, the camp was managed by a camp committee and a camp alumni committee. Now, with its own management and board, the longtime volunteers, the "passionate supporters of the camp," have been energized to "promote our services beyond a summer camp.
" Establishing the camp as a brand, he said, "also expands the donor base, which is key to strengthening the membership and ensuring that the Ocean Community YMCA succeeds in being a significant community asset indefinitely." " I have a personal interest in seeing increased programming for kids with special needs – physically, emotionally, behaviorally," Liguori said. "Camp Watchaug provides an amazing outlet for that group, and offers integrative programs with typically functioning children, which benefits all.
" "We are aiming to expand programming for special needs kids across the organization and the year-round availability of Watchaug greatly helps that cause," he added. Fitzgerald said the work on the camp, which followed a well thought out master plan, has been 18 years in the making. "We've raised the level of the whole facility," she said, "and we have a very strong alumni association.
" Coduri Ross, who spent most of her childhood summers at Camp Watchaug, attributed her father's work with the alumni group as "one of the pieces" of the camp's growth and success. "He developed and recruited people for the association," she said. "It was the dedication of the alumni association that led to our becoming our own brand.
" Coduri, who served as camp director from from 1975 to 1983, was inducted into the Camp Watchaug Alumni Hall of Fame — an organization he founded — in 2018. Last year, largely due to the efforts of former campers Timothy Babcock, Gerard "Gerry" Corneau and Steve Servidio, the association held its first major event — its 75th reunion. In a 2023 interview with the Sun about the reunion plans, the three men — all of whom worked as camp staffers — each praised Coduri, calling him a "role model for life.
" Corneau, of Ashaway, a licensed mental health counselor who also attended the camp for most of his childhood summers, now sits on the camp board of directors with Coduri Ross. Reached by email last week, he said he has "never known a person as intentional and steadfast as John Coduri." "In every single thing that he does he has a plan.
It is well considered, reasonable, doable, and is in the best interest of those around him," Corneau said. "So the continuum of development at Camp Watchaug is entirely unsurprising to me." "John has a method of looking at what is available — in this case a gorgeous physical place and many people who love the place — and facilitating healthy growth and development," he added.
"It's what he does with everything and everyone so I'm sure that camp becoming the fourth OCY Branch is important to him, but he's that way about everything he does." "My dad really put his complete heart in Camp Watchaug," said Coduri Ross in an interview about the 75th anniversary last year. "He had a real passion for it.
" "There's a lot of history here," said Coduri Ross, shortly before she and her father joined Matlock for a quick golf cart tour through the property, where hundreds of children were swimming, boating, playing or making crafts, "and anyone who comes out here sees it's now a year-round facility, especially since Carmen has become the executive director." "Working here is more than a job," said Matlock with a smile, "It's more like being in a family." Both women went on to discuss the activities planned for the rest of the summer and fall.
"The Spooktacular was a real hit," said Matlock, as she described a Halloween event held last year, "as was the Easter Egg Hunt." "We're going to continue to expand the year-round programming," said Coduri Ross. "It's an exciting, exciting time and there's more to come.
" "And financial assistance is available," she added. "We're getting bigger and better," said her father with a broad smile, "and we're still promoting Y values." Liguori noted that the "reach of the Ocean Community YMCA, as well as the strength of the organization, "is a huge asset for the communities it serves.
" "Our membership rate as a percentage of the population is much higher than the national average," he said. "That isn’t by accident. Having Watchaug as now the fourth branch strengthens one of the most critically important organizations in the Mystic/Westerly/Richmond/Charlestown areas.
" Corneau was a 14-year-old counselor-in-training (or "CIT" as the position was called) under Coduri at the camp in 1972. "I'm pretty sure that if you looked at a picture of the CITs from 1972 we'd appear a little motley and very ordinary," Corneau said in his email "but if you ask any of us, we would probably tell you it was the best summer of our lives." "John was in his 20s then, Julie was his young wife, Jen was a baby, and they were living at camp," he recalled.
"He managed to make each one of us feel like we were special, and specifically, that our development as a counselor and a person was important to him." "It is not surprising to me that so many Camp Watchaug alumni went into public service, education, and healthcare," he said. "That so many of us love Camp Watchaug, and still feel so connected to the place, and to each other shows how brilliant he has always been at his work.
" "I know that camp is very important to John," he said, "I hope he knows how important he is to all of us." "This is a place where memories are made," Matlock said. For more information, visit https://oceancommunityymca.
org/camp-watchaug/.
