Dayton Boys & Girls Club would come at higher price

Organizers are moving forward with plans to bring a Boys & Girls Club to Dayton, but parents will likely have to pay a higher fee than in other areas, said Travis Crowder, director of the Mason Valley club.

Crowder led a question-and-answer session Tuesday evening at Dayton High School about the proposed club that would take over when the county program is discontinued June 4 because of budget cuts.

The Boys & Girls Club summer session would begin June 7. To meet the $100,000 or $150,000 yearly cost of running the club, parents would be charged an annual fee of $15 and a

$60-a-week fee for the summer program.

"We had to go with a fee-based program to get it up and running," Crowder said. "We're doing it with a very short timeline. Once it gets started, where it goes from there is completely up to the community."

Although it will cost more than nearby clubs - Yerington charges $15 per year and Carson City has an annual fee of $20, charging an additional $25 a week for the summer program - the structure will be similar, Crowder said.

A grant will allow them to serve both breakfast and lunch, provided through the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, each day.

Activities will include, arts, crafts, recreation, sports, cultural enrichment and others. He said they would like to include field trips over the summer, but still are working out the details.

Parents weighed the pros and cons of the proposed club. Jacqui Bohemier said she was still considering whether to send her son to the Dayton program or allow him to continue at the more established Carson City club.

"I want my son to be with his friends here," she said, "but at the same time I want him to have fun for the summer."

Crowder said it will take some time for the club to be established and that if more than the anticipated 60 students enrolled, fees could be lowered.

The key, he said, will be participation from community members and leaders to organize fundraisers and support for the club, which would be housed at Dayton Elementary School.

A teen club also is being considered at Dayton Intermediate School.

Volunteers are being sought to serve on a board of directors for the Dayton club to oversee its operations.

The board of directors for the Mason Valley Boys & Girls Club is holding a retreat on May 5 where it will decide whether to officially kick off the Dayton club.