This was a line for summer day camp, which wound around the Redwood Heights Recreation Center on Friday afternoon.

More than 130 parents waited -- some for more than 12 hours -- to receive registration numbers at 6:30 p.m. for the Saturday morning sign-up session.

At the front of the line, Elizabeth McPartland, and a few other parents of kids who attend St. Lawrence O'Toole School, sat in canvas chairs. McPartland had arrived at 5:30 a.m.

"For me, this is where I chose my child to be," she said. "It's not like other camps are bad, it's just that we trust this one."

Parents -- some of whom called in "sick" on Friday -- came to be sure they could reserve spaces for their kids to attend the center's popular Summer Escapes day camp. The program has grown to such a size and reputation that directors say they can no longer keep expanding it.

It is just one of a half a dozen summer programs offered by the city's Parks and Recreation department, park officials said.

But the parents who lined the Redwood Heights' grassy perimeter said it's the camp that parents consider most desirable, so it attracts kids from every school in Oakland.

Ken Greer, who arrived before 8 a.m. to reserve a space for his 10-year-old, said he's waited in line for the past four years. The camp's popularity has spread by word-of-mouth, he said.

"It's the quality of the camp and counselors," said Greer, stretching his legs from his seat.

Kids spend their days hiking, swimming and taking field trips to Marine World, the Santa Cruz boardwalk and other fun sites, parents say, and the program is cheap. Each week costs $150, and families tend to reserve three or four weeks.

Parents in the line were trying to grab one of 110 spots offered each week, which they hoped to coordinate with their summer vacation plans.

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into," said Chuck Corwin, who had arrived at 4 p.m. and settled into a spot near the end of the line.

He said wasn't sure if his 11-year-old son would get any spots at the camp.

But the program has no room to grow, according to Gwen Austin, the center's director. It started with 50 kids about 25 years ago, she said. Now, kids fill the grounds.

Parents have waited in line for similar stretches of time in past years, camping overnight and purchasing tickets in the morning.

This year was different. Austin had expected people to arrive in the evening in time for her staff to disperse the registration wristbands, rather than camp out at sunrise.

Still, she had heard that community members didn't mind urban camping -- if it meant their kids got to attend the Summer Escapes program.

"A lot of people preferred to spend the night," she said.

Contra Costa Times
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