Luanne Phair, right, greets her Fresh Air Fund friend, Jayla Jones, 11, of Staten Island, N.Y., who will spend an August week in Oakland for the third straight summer.

Jennifer Civiello, of Wilton, takes a picture of her children — from left, James, 7, Noah, 9, Ben, 4, and Audrey, 3, who hold a sign welcoming their friend and Fresh Air Fund kid, Shakeinne, to Waterville on Thursday at Shaw's Plaza on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville.

Nothing comes between Bryce Doyon, an 8-year-old from Waterville, and his 8-year-old buddy, Fresh Air Fund child Mahmoud Jalloh, of Brooklyn, N.Y., as they meet Thursday.

Fresh Air Fund children get off the bus Thursday at Shaw's Plaza on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville as they meet their host families.

A Fresh Air Fund boy meets his host family Thursday as he gets off the bus at Shaw's Plaza on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville.