Tag: American summer camps

It is definitely summer when you know this is about to happen…

June 24th, 2014

School is FINALLY over! The weather is warm. It’s summer. But as a camper, you know that it’s never REALLY summer until you get to camp, and in just one more week, you’ll be there. The closer arrival day gets, the more you replay what you know is about to happen in your head. There are little signs every year that mark that day to which you’ve been counting down for several LOOOONNNNGGG months. But it’s most definitely summer when you know this is about to happen…

Your parents will take you to a meeting place for a bus or plane ride to camp, or maybe they’re driving you to camp themselves. The trip to camp will seem 10X longer than it actually is because you just want to get there.

Your mom will most definitely cry when she says goodbye and assures you she’ll see you on Visiting Day. You’re so excited you can hardly stand it, but maybe you’ll cry a little too just so that she doesn’t feel bad.

As soon as you pull into camp, you’ll start looking for your camp friends. Maybe they’ll spot you first. No matter who finds whom, you’ll run and hug. After hugs all around with your friends, you’ll also hug your favorite returning counselors and staff members.

You’ll meet your bunk mates (if you don’t already know them) and your new counselors, who are every bit as excited as you that you’re finally at camp!

You’ll go into your new cabin with your friends and realize that you really ARE at camp. Another summer has begun! Bring on the FUN!

You’ll spend the rest of the day cheering, singing and laughing with your friends. This is just day 1, and the entire summer is ahead of you. But it’s definitely summer because all of this happened, just as you knew it would.

The Camp Weequahic Staff Orientation

June 19th, 2014

Do you know what makes Camp Weequahic so special besides our campers? Our staff. Camp Weequahic takes great pride in the amazing staff we assemble each summer and the enthusiasm that they bring to camp. Orientation for the Summer 2014 staff begins tomorrow, and we can are confident that this is one of the most awesome groups of people we have ever assembled. Campers, it’s going to be an incredible summer!

To insure that our staff is one of the best, we have them arrive early at camp so that we can spend some time teaching them everything they need to know about Camp Weequahic and you (our campers) prior to your arrival to insure that they’re ready to help you have the best summer ever from the moment you step onto campus.

We, at Camp Weequahic, believe that every summer should be even better than the last, and our staff orientation is a critical part of that philosophy. Amongst the staff of 2014 will be faces that we know you are counting down the days to see as well as some new ones who we know you’re going love. Our 2014 staff members have expressed many times over how excited they are about spending the summer at Camp Weequahic working with our campers. The only thing missing is you! We’ll ALL be ready and waiting for your arrival in just 9 more days.

Camp Family

June 12th, 2014

Over the next several weeks, campers will arrive at summer camps all over the country knowing that although each summer brings new surprises, it also brings the familiarity of a second family and home. For campers, camp is a touchstone of people, activities and events on which they can depend each summer.
For those who have never experienced summer camp, it’s difficult to imagine forming such tight bonds with others in the span of a month or two. Those who have attended or worked at a summer camp understand cmaps are more than a place where campers go to have fun and enjoy the outdoors each summer. They’re a place where friendships and networks are formed that last long beyond the teary goodbyes and hugs that mark the end of each summer.
Although almost ten months pass between summers, with camp family, it inevitably feels like everyone was together just minutes ago. Hugs are plentiful when camp campers reunite with their camp family and conversation comes easily. There’s also an easiness about the pastoral settings of summer camps that facilitates a relaxed atmosphere. Tradition is an easy place marker that helps everyone slip back into the summer routine.  And the thrill of the endless combination of opportunities to embark on new adventures is balanced with the everyday act of sitting down to meals with camp “siblings” or coming back to the bunk or cabin at night to share the details of the day.
Summer camp is a naturally inclusive atmosphere, which is perhaps what makes it unique from other social settings and allows for tight familial bonds to form in such a short period of time. There’s also something to be said for the overnight aspect of sleepaway camps. At sleepaway camp, campers are together around the clock as opposed to a school or day camp setting in which the majority of campers return to their homes at the conclusion of the day.
There is an intimacy about sharing living quarters that makes people more open and even accepting of each other. Sleepaway camp friendships, like family relationships, are built upon the knowledge that everyone must co-exist. Campers tend to maintain acquiescent opinions of one another, and disagreements are typically brief. Personality quirks are not only socially acceptable at camp but often an attraction. There is a saying that summer camp is the only place where ‘you’re so weird’ is a compliment.
Family is comprised of people who accept each other for who they are, in spite of any and all flaws, and encourage each other to be themselves. For campers, their camp “family” is no different, which is what makes them so eager to return to their summer homes each summer.