A Love Story From Camp Rising Sun

They met at Camp Rising Sun when he was a kid who had cancer and she was the camp doctor’s daughter. They grew up together, and they fell in love. He also survived his cancer, and last month, on June 21, they married.

Next month they will return to Camp Rising Sun with the groom, Freddy Samoskevich, as an assistant director, and the bride, Joanna McNamara, as a camp nurse.

“The biggest part of Camp Rising Sun was the social aspect of it because when you’re young, you’re going through all kinds of things like hospitals and medication and it’s really hard to make social connections,” Samoskevich said in an interview. ​“At camp, you could talk about catheters and chemotherapy and everyone would understand and was friends with you.”

Branford Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Marshall Shaun Heffernan was one of the few wedding attendees who have known the couple since they met at Camp Rising Sun 22 years ago. (He is pictured standing second row far right.) 
 
​“The Camp Rising Sun family watches these kids grow from little kids,” Heffernan said. ​“The whole camp is absolutely amazing.” Heffernan, now the director of the camp, takes a week’s vacation in August to be at the camp in Colebrook. He started out as a camp counselor back in 2001.

On Wednesday, July 16, Camp Rising Sun hosts one of its most important events, the Annual Night Out to Benefit the Kids.

Last year, the event featured 1300 people and raised over $85,000. It is entirely volunteer-based, including the venue of the Owenego Inn along with some other local restaurant supporters.

“The Annual Night Out is a really fun night,” Heffernan said. ​“What we try to do is make an affordable family night that includes dinner and a good, fun time.”

Camp Rising Sun was created in 1983 by the American Cancer Society (ACS) as a place where any child from ages 5 to 17 who has had cancer in their lifetime gets to live in cabins, go kayaking, play whiffle ball, and have field days and beach parties.

Camp Faces Financial Issues

This year, Camp Rising Sun faces new financial pressures because their main supporter, the ACS, pulled its funding in order to focus funds on further eliminating cancer as a national health concern.

This year, Camp Rising Sun’s funds will also have to be put into transferring kids from Camp Hope based in North Scituate, R.I., due to ASC budget cuts, Camp Hope was forced to close this year, but the kids will instead attend Camp Rising Sun. 

So Camp Rising Sun has to fund raise in other ways, including having staff members run as a team in the Hartford Marathon. 

The Annual Night Out includes henna tattoos, face painting, and activities for adults, such as a silent auction and raffle. There is also an opportunity for sponsorships or individual donations to be made.

Although the goal of the night is to fund raise for the camp, the camp is attempting a $100,000 challenge with all of the ticket sales for the event.

“We have a donor who said that for every dollar we raise between June 1 and July 15 up until $100,000, they will match that,” Heffernan said. ​“Right now, we’re at $44,000, so our goal is to get as much as we can because we are essentially going to double every dollar that comes in.”

Each dollar sold with any pre-sale tickets is put directly towards the camp, Heffernan said. These dollars are put towards renting out the camp grounds, the YMCA’s Camp Jewell in Colebrook, Conn., and a new addition to this year’s camp week, a commercially-run fireworks show.

“A lot of kids can’t go into crowds because being around that many people might get them sick, so they don’t usually go to their town fireworks,” Heffernan said. ​“We bring in a full commercial display and a live band. We want this week to be the most memorable week for the kids out of their whole year.”

The annual night out event will be held on July 16 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Owenego Inn at 40 Linden Ave. Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $10 for kids. Food and drinks are included with purchased tickets. 
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