Youth

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Big Brothers/Big Sisters

The Big Brothers Big Sisters program serves children ages 5 to 15, mostly from single-parent homes.

The program matches youths with adults to provide young people with positive role models.

Big Brothers and Sisters are always needed; applicants are screened. Kathy Casper is executive director. Her office is at 231 E. Fourth St., 721-0329; e-mail: kcasper@teknetwork.com.

Rainbows

School-age children who have lost a parent through death, divorce or separation have a Fremont support group to help them cope.

Rainbows is for children from pre-school to ninth grade. Children participate in 12 sessions where they meet other children in similar situations and have trained caring adults help them sort through and express their feelings and to come to a healthy acceptance of the changes in their family.

There is a program for parents while the children are in their sessions.

The program is sponsored by First United Methodist Church and is supported by United Way and private donations.

Rainbows is open to all children in Fremont and the surrounding area. For more information, call First United Methodist Church, 721-0817.

If You Need A Sitter

If you're new in town and need childcare, you can ask people you may know. If that doesn't work, try these:

Fremont Area Child Care Association: Kay Steinmeyer, (402) 687-4184.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services maintains a list of licensed caregivers. Call 727-3200.
Bounce Back: Daycare for mildly ill children, ages 6 weeks through 14, at Fremont Area Medical Center. The $3 per hour fee includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Pre-registration is required. Call 727-3630.

Boys Scouts & Girl Scouts

More than 1,000 Fremont children are active in Boy and Girl Scouts.

Pam Ashley is the local Girl Scout contact, 402-847-3379; e-mail: fielddirector3@gsprairiehills.com. Executive director is Bernie Hansen, she can be reached at 1-800-695-6690.

More than 400 girls are members of Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior troops; the groups include girls in kindergarten through senior high. Girl Scout, Prairie Hills Council e-mail: gsphc@megavision.com; Web site: www.phgsc.org.

Jason Fricke is the local district executive of Boy Scouts of America contact, 560-7532; e-mail: jfricke@mac-bsa.org.

More than 600 boys in first grade through age 20 are Boy Scout members. There are over 200 adult volunteers. Local Boy Scout groups have six Cub Scout packs, six Boy Scout troops, six Venturing crews, two Explorer posts and one Learning for Life groups. Boy Scouts of America Mid-America Council Web site: http://www.mac-bsa.org.

4-H Clubs

In 2004, approximately 1300 youths participated in the Dodge County 4-H Program.

A century following their creation, 4-H clubs continue to offer young people opportunities to practice learning by doing.

4-H serves a wide array of interests with more than 100 projects available for youth to enroll. 4-H club programs are delivered by an adult volunteer leader or extension staff. In addition to 4-H clubs, 4-H offers youth camping opportunities as well as special interest events and activities.

4-H also provides school enrichment curriculum to area teachers. These short-term educational programs may be taught by school teachers or extension staff. Curriculum utilized for these programs is university- and research-based.

The Dodge County 4-H Program is coordinated by the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Dodge County, 1206 W. 23rd St., 727-2775; e-mail: dodge-county@unl.edu; Web site: http://dodge.unl.edu.

Non-Sports Activities

There are many programs to keep kids busy:

Vacation Bible School & evening activities: Contact your local church.
Camping: Fremont YMCA has summer camp at Camp Christian south of town, 721-6952; members of Boy and Girl Scouts and 4-H clubs also attend summer camps.
The Summer Reading Program at Keene Memorial Library has a variety of programs scheduled throughout the week year-round, 727-2694.
Specialized Summer Classes: Metro Community College offers a variety of classes for kids, 721-2507.

Sports Clubs

The following youth sports programs are in addition to those sponsored by the YMCA and the Fremont Parks and Recreation Department:

Fremont Bowling Club — Al Knoell, 721-5105
Fremont Boxing Club — Darrell Mumm, 721-8204
Fremont Girls Softball Association — Jim Kardisco, 727-1173
Fremont Golf Club — Melissa McFadden or Kathy Martens, 721-6641
Fremont Jaycee Youth Football — Danielle Schulz, 719-7883
Fremont Nighthawks Baseball — Bill Peck, 721-7405
Fremont Soccer Club — Charlie Brown, 727-8317
Fremont Tennis Association — Diana Myers, 721-6952
Fremont Track Club — Sean McMahon, 721-6794
Fremont Trapshooting Association — Russ Leedom, 727-9101; High School Trap Team — Russ Leedom, 727-9101
Fremont Wrestling Club — Chris Holt, 753-8256; Sean Edie, 721-8847; Web site, www.fremontwrestlingclub.org
Robinhood Archery Club — Vince Smith, 727-9141
Rosenbach Warrior Training Branches — James Rosenbach, 721-7294
Sk8 Fremont — Scott Schaller, 727-5847
Youth Bowling League of Plaza Lanes — 721-0300
Youth Bowling League of 30 Bowl — 721-6644
Whitetail Run Golf Club — Brad and Lisa Novak, 727-4403

Get Physical

The Fremont Parks and Recreation Department and Fremont Family YMCA offer a bounty of programs for local kids.

The Y offers instruction and/or teams in swimming, gymnastics, tennis, karate, baseball, ice skating, basketball, soccer, volleyball and flag football. The Y also sponsors summer camp and preschool classes. For more information, contact the YMCA at 721-6952.

The Parks and Rec department sponsors a summer playground program for preschoolers and elementary-age children, as well as instruction in swimming, tennis, bowling, horseshoes, sand volleyball, golf, archery, soccer and a full array of youth softball and baseball leagues.

There are over 1,000 youth playing baseball/softball which are for kids who have finished kindergarten through eighth grade. For more information, contact the Fremont Parks and Recreation office, 727-2810; Web site: http://connectfremont.org.

The Fremont American Legion also sponsors summer baseball for high school-aged youths. For more information, contact Charlie Smith, 721-6202.