Tag: life at summer camp

Camp Weequahic – A Brief History

October 5th, 2015

JFOFcRucVhABVjcW739U2QeAsaHEIXWB5Dm9Y15Kc1UCamp Weequahic was founded in 1953 on an old farm in Lakewood, PA. Art Lustig, who at the time was a teacher and coach at Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ, decided to turn his popular day camp into a residential camp.

With the help of his wife, Mollie, and his three children and their spouses, Mr. Lustig took what used to be an old farm in Lakewood, PA, and turned it into a remarkable summer home for campers and staff alike. Deciding to use what he knew to be a great name, Camp Weequahic was born.

We recently viewed several pictures of CW from its founding. Our Lodge, which serves as the camp office, was shown very clearly with absolutely no trees around it. It’s funny to think about that as the Lodge now enjoys near constant shade from our 100’+ spruce pines.

The Lustig family ran Camp Weequahic continuously from 1953 until 2008. Starting in 2009, the Kelly family took up the torch and has since done nothing else but help welcome campers and staff to Mr. Lustig’s camp.

We are honored to be a part of Camp Weequahic’s history and look forward to many, many more summers by Sly Lake.

Color War: A CIT’s Role

August 4th, 2015

Olympic session’s Color War is, for many campers, the highlight of their time here at Weequahic. It is the craziest, most memorable week they will have at camp. Color War is something campers look forward to all summer and is truly a bonding experience for everyone. For our CIT’s, however, Color War is the pinnacle of their time at CW. It rounds out the many years they have spent here and is the finishing touch to their experience as campers.

Color War is led by all the CIT’s, with the help of two counselors, and really gives them all a chancAC9U6961e to show leadership, responsibility, team work, gratitude, attitude, and courage to our younger campers. Our CIT’s must show good sportsmanship and team spirit and really lift up their teammates and give them a reason to win.

During Color War, competitions include various sports, ceramics and woodworking and a CIT basketball game. Some camp favorites are tug of war, egg toss and bucket brigade. Apache, a similar competition to the Gitch (Tribal Wars), involves every team member in a giant relay race. Another fun event is marble call. Whenever a specific song is played over the intercom campers must run to the flag pole to put colored marbles in their buckets. This event is particularly funny because it can happen at any time.

On the final evening of Color War, we have sing night. Over the course of the week all the CIT’s practice for this event because it is a really special time when all of camp comes together to celebrate the summer we have all had together. Each team presents their plaque along with a skit. The CIT’s from each team then share their March, a song to celebrate their respective team, Memory, an Alma Mater from a previous summer, and Alma Mater, a song about their experience here at Weequahic.

Color War is a very special time at camp and is a wonderful chance for us to grow and become a closer community. It is a great opportunity for our CIT’s be true leaders and we know they will do a fantastic job. We want to wish everyone a fun and exciting Color War and cannot wait to see all our CIT’s in action!

Wee-Excel Day!

July 30th, 2015

Tomorrow is Wee-Excel Day; a special event day focusing on a camper’s program of choice. There are a wide range of activities for campers to choose from including Sports, the Arts, Adventure and “Olympic Prep.”

Some of our intensive sports camps include basketball, golf and roller hockey. Those campers wanting to play golf go to a local club where they get to play 9 holes on a challenging course. Our golfers love this opportunity because they really get to push themselves and see how much they have improved over the summer. AC9U3647

We also offer day long hikes for all age groups and our campers absolutely love the experience. Hikes are broken up by division and trails usually run for about 4 miles. The views are spectacular and campers get to cool down in falls that they pass along their route. After a long hike campers are treated to Jericho’s ice cream and feel refreshed upon their return to camp!

In preparation for our performance of Shrek, campers involved in the play have the entire day to practice their lines and songs, set designers can put their finishing touches on set pieces and the stage crew can work on lighting and cues. We also have a creative option for campers interested in activities such as scrapbooking, ceramics, photography, and painting. This gives campers a chance to paint any items they have made in ceramics or woodworking or make a book full of all the wonderful memories they have made here at camp.

In anticipation of Olympics, all our campers have been trying to guess when the breakout will happen. Olympics is a very exciting multi-day event that all our campers and counselors look forward to, so we have something called “Olympic Prep” for our older campers. These campers practice for certain events such as the hatchet hunt, grape tossing and counting to a minute (with a blindfold on). This gets all our campers super pumped up for Olympics breakout and is also a prime opportunity for our older campers to utilize their leadership skills on their respective team and help younger campers in their events when the time comes.

Wee-Excel Day is a wonderful opportunity for all our campers to dive into an activity they truly enjoy. Campers get to see the amount of improvement they’ve made over the course of the summer. It is also a time for them to use all the skills they have learned from counselors and fellow campers.