WATERBORO — There’s the sharp scent of fresh paint, a roar of chainsaws, a sweep of brooms and a cracking sound as an old, rotten, wooden support is removed from a building, to be replaced with new.

Washing windows, plumbing repairs, replacing a deck ”“ the list sounds endless.

But teams of willing volunteers, 50 to 60 of them, made a cheerful day of it Monday at Camp Laughing Loon, where, by the end of the month, lots of day campers will be having fun on the banks of Ossipee Lake.

Camp Laughing Loon is a private nonprofit ”“ “very” nonprofit, said its board president Jean Leach. So the work done by those volunteering with the Day of Caring, sponsored by United Way of York County, was very welcome.

“There’s no way we could do it without them,” said Beth Delano, a camp board member and project manager for the volunteer day. “We have a very small maintenance budget, and the volunteers are very skilled.”

Delano noted many bring their own tools.

The volunteers at Camp Laughing Loon hailed from Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick, Hannaford headquarters in Scarborough, TD Bank and the Junior Naval ROTC group from Massabesic High School. Most are repeat volunteers who sign up for this gig every year, she said.

They were among dozens and dozens of volunteers across York County, accomplishing projects nonprofits would otherwise have a difficult time getting done.

At Springvale Public Library, a contingent of volunteers from Goodall Hospital landscaped the grounds.

In Bar Mills, a group of volunteers from People’s United Bank painted and landscaped at Day One.

There was a parks cleanup in Biddeford, a painting project at Caring Unlimited in Sanford, and a host of others projects in both cities, as well as those in Kennebunk, Saco, Lyman, Kennebunkport, Dayton, Lebanon, the Berwicks, Kittery, Old Orchard Beach, Wells, Alfred, Ocean Park and York Harbor.

In all, said Meaghan Arzberger of United Way of York County, this year, Day of Caring volunteers were involved in 88 projects countywide. A total of 995 community volunteers from 41 businesses and 13 schools were scheduled to take part. As well, donors have contributed $10,350 to make it possible for the day of service to take place, she said.

Leach and Delano also took note of donations that helped the volunteers do their job: Lumber from Deering Lumber, paint from Sherwin-Williams, and other items from companies as varied as Hannaford, G&F of Waterboro, Moody’s Nursery and Dupuis Hardware.

Ernie Wadleig, who works at Hannaford’s Scarborough office for Delhaize, the supermarket’s parent company, smoothed paint on the ceiling of the porch of one of the Camp Laughing Loon buildings. The ROTC teens swept the roadways through the camp while others completed a variety of tasks, from cutting trees to painting window trim and repairing canoes.

“It was good to get out of the office and volunteer,” said Bruce Wright as he helped pull a rotten support out from underneath one of the camp buildings.

“We help when help is needed,” said Tom Laverriere.

Both men work at Pratt & Whitney.

First opened in 1918, Camp Laughing Loon was a girls-only overnight YWCA camp until 1976, said Leach. At that time, the camp branched out on its own and transformed into a co-ed day camp, serving 6- to 12-year-olds from across York County.

The first day camp at Camp Laughing Loon starts June 24.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, Ext. 327 or [email protected].