CUMBERLAND — After claiming he wasn’t one to “clean up poop,” Ahmad Salman, a 7-year-old New Yorker, was ready to groom or ride the horses at Mexico Farms. He is one of many New York City kids spending time in the country with a host family during summer vacation as part of the Fresh Air Fund.
“Cleaning up horse poop is no fun,” Ahmad said. Others weren’t amused by the task either, wanting to wash their hands right away.
This is the 7-year-old’s second stay with the Frankenberry family, who taught him how to swim and took him camping for the first time last summer — including his first s’more.
The plans for this summer include a boat ride and a day at Hershey Park, but the family enjoys staying in and watching movies, too.
“We found out he likes Power Rangers,” 10-year-old Barth Frankenberry said. “He’s really funny. Whenever we go to do something with him, he’ll be so excited and he’ll get this funny voice. It’s just like he’s a part of the family.”
Over the past year, their relationship with Ahmad has grown. The Frankenberry family traveled to New York in October to visit Ahmad’s family, which opened Barth’s eyes to city life. “It was pretty big and crazy and wild,” he said.
The Fresh Air Fund, founded in 1877, sends New York children from disadvantaged neighborhoods to the country. Cumberland is part of the Friendly Town Program, which allows thousands of children to go to 13 states and Canada to experience a country lifestyle.
“It’s a really neat program,” Shannon Frankenberry said. She hopes that the program teaches her three sons about building relationships with others and understanding others’ lives. One of her favorite aspects is the photo album that the host family creates for the child before he heads back to New York.
For Kina Davis, the coach of the Potomac Valley Equestrian Team, horses can teach many virtues. She believes that horses can teach kids patience and the value of silence, something that “humans can’t even do.” Although this is her first Fresh Air program, she has held several programs for other groups, including special needs.
“It’s exciting just to stand back and watch how cool things are when you bring horses and children (together),” she said. “There’s nothing that I’ve actually done besides bring the thing together. It’s done itself; I’m a bystander watching this miraculous thing happen.”
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Related Photos
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From left to right: Taliyah Malloy, of Staten Island N.Y., Callie Heft of Frostburg, Rebecca Mason of Cumberland and Molly Campbell of Ridgeley W.Va. enjoy the company of a horse named Zeppelin at Mexico Farms. Time with horses is only one of many rural activities the Fresh Air Fund allows inner city youth. Steve Bittner/Times-News
New York City kids get some Fresh Air
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