Please join us in welcoming our new CDC Director, Chris Thurston!

We are also so pleased to be welcoming a new Director to Center Day Camp!  Chris Thurston is excited to bring the Maine camp experience to Maine kids! Graduating from the University of Maine in 2011, and eager to make a difference, he moved to Massachusetts and joined AmeriCorps City Year working with young people at the Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury, which lead to a teaching position at The Community Academy of Science & Health in Dorchester. Most recently, Chris has served as Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Wakefield MA for several years.  

For eight summers Chris attended and worked at Camp Manitou, a residential camp in Oakland, Maine. He served as part of the leadership team and worked directly with campers and counselors from around the world. As the Camp Director at The Boys and Girls Club of Wakefield, he increased enrollment each summer, improved programming, developed community partnerships, and supported families through the campership initiative.

Chris is impressed by the history and community commitment of Center Day Camp, and is thrilled to be returning to Maine. He is excited about being actively involved with JCC Camping, the Summer Camp Society, The American Camp Association (ACA), Maine Summer Camps, EPIC New England, and other camping organizations, as well as increasing programming opportunities and camp engagement activities in the offseason. Chris will begin his tenure at Center Day Camp in late November, just in time to open registration for summer 2020, and he looks forward to meeting alumni and new and returning campers and staff!