TURNER — They swim. They bike. They camp.

They play competitive Ping-Pong with Swedish fish on the line.

It’s been a whirlwind, seven summers in a row.

“He’s like a 24/7 friend,” said Tyler Simmons, who was 7 when then-7-year-old Princeton Gahagan, a Long Island native, first stayed with the Simmons family through the Fresh Air Fund.

The program has been connecting inner-city youths with country getaways since 1877. It matches 4,000 kids and volunteer host families in 13 states each summer. This summer Maine has about 220 hosts, 33 in the Auburn area, according to Jenny Morgenthau, the fund’s executive director.

“I think it’s a very simple idea — it was a good idea then and it’s continued to be a good idea,” she said.

Kids as young as 6 board buses in New York City bound for a one- or two-week adventure. Two-thirds are typically invited back by their hosts.

Jennifer Simmons, a school counselor, said it’s become a given. Gahagan is polite, kind and has fit in perfectly, she said. “I think we lucked out.”

In Long Island, Gahagan has an older brother and sister. He’d never camped before coming to Maine.

“I was scared at first,” he said. He’d worried about wild animals and he hates bugs.

When he arrived Wednesday, camping, hiking, mini-golf and swimming in Pleasant Pond were all on his to-do list for the coming week.

“In New York, it’s really, like, you’re kept in, you don’t really do much,” Gahagan said. “When you come here, you’re outside all the time.”

On Tuesday, another host family, the DeMerchants, said goodbye to 9-year-old Jordan, who’d been back for his second year.

“He truly is somebody very special to us,” Kayt DeMerchant of Turner said. As Jordan was boarding the bus in Auburn bound for Queens, he said, ‘I’ll be back. Tell the dogs I love them.'”

DeMerchant works from home and has a 7-year-old daughter and 9- and 11-year-old sons.

“With three siblings, summer can feel long sometimes. To have someone in that mix is fun for everybody,” she said. “These kids aren’t expecting major things. They really are looking for the typical Maine experience.”

The family went swimming, camping and skateboarding.

“Last year he made s’mores for the first time ever at our home and pretty much every day he asked to make s’mores,” DeMerchant said. “I think our family gets as much out of it as Jordan did. The kids are excited to go to New York City again and see it through the eyes of Jordan.”

The Simmonses, who also have a daughter, Allison, 16, want to visit Gahagan’s family in New York someday. Tyler and Princeton keep up with instant messages and Facebook throughout the year.

“He’s like part of the family, really,” said Rick Simmons, a forestry specialist. “It’s kind of like an everlasting relationship. I look forward to keeping tabs on him, how well he’s doing in life. Who knows? These guys might be friends forever.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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