Kids enjoy summer camp thanks to donations from Press-Telegram readers

Dottie May Frazier was all smiles as she went soaring over trees and water, clutching a zipline 7,000 feet high in the crisp air of the San Beardino Mountains.

Her first zipline flight was so exhilarating, she said, “Let’s do that again.” And she did.

Frazier, a living legend with many firsts on her resume, can add another: the first, and, at 94, easily the oldest of “Tom’s Kids,” to go ziplining.

Frazier was at the YMCA’s Camp Oakes along with 160 other much younger campers enjoying a week at summer camp, many of them there courtesy of donations from Press-Telegram readers to the newspaper’s Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Fund.

The fund was started 17 years ago in partnership with the Long Beach Community Foundation by Tom Heessy, the newspaper’s longtime local columnist who died April 2.

In Heessy’s honor, all kids going to mountain camps operated by Long Beach’s Big Five youth agencies this summer are being called “Tom’s Kids.”

The youth agencies include the YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, Camp Fire USA, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

“All these kids need is love, and we give them plenty of that along with many activities in the great outdoors,” said Jeremy Echnoz, executive director of Camp Oakes and the Y’s Los Cerritos branch.

When Frazier was flying overhead on her zipline, she waved at many of “Tom’s Kids” who waved back. The younger campers were canoeing and fishing on the camp lake when they spotted Frazier overhead.

Back on the ground, Frazier called herself “the oldest Y camper.”

Don’t let her petite size and 98 pounds fool you.

She is tough and fearless and has overcome an assortment of broken bones and even a broken back during her many physical activities.

She was a “Rosie the Riveter” with Douglas Aircraft during World War II, a surfer as well as water and snow skier, and a competitive billiards player.

She knows how to fix auto transmissions and still drives her own car. She also is an expert gardener, does her own caing and has breakfast with friendly squirrels.

At Camp Oakes, she mingled with the kids and posed for photos with campers holding a sign proclaiming, “We’re Tom’s Kids.” Frazier wore her own “Tom’s Kids” T-shirt.

At lunch, kids talked about their camp experiences.

Keiana, a middle school student who said friends called her Kiki, was trying to catch a fish using co as bait.

“I almost got one, but it got off the hook,” she said.

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A fellow camper, 11-year-old Mackenzie, did better, catching a 6-inch bluegill.

Leilani, 7, while eating a lunch of macaroni, chicken nuggets and co, said she had enjoyed a piece of Frazier’s birthday cake. Frazier tued 94 July 16.

Edgar, 13, said his favorite activity so far was the high ropes course. Adrian and Jesse nodded in agreement.

All three boys said they were looking forward to ziplining and other activities during the week.

One of the cabin counselors, Mark Lopez, said he started out as a camper 15 years ago when he was 11.

“I couldn’t afford to go to camp, but I got help,,” said Lopez, a deli food manager at Wal-Mart in South Gate. “Now I have to give back to help other kids.”

You still have time to donate to the Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Fund and send youths to camps this summer.

The average cost of sending a child to camp for one week is $400.

Help send more of “Tom’s Kids” to camp to enjoy outdoor activities like ziplining and making new friends.

Readers so far this year have donated $64,480 to the effort. The Press-Telegram and Dottie Frazier thank you for your generosity and for making a difference in the lives of children.