Hey, Camp Folks!

It's time for another story from our July ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions, though many kids were unable to attend. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone—camp included, however, some camps were fortunate enough to be able to keep their doors open this summer season. We asked kids who attended camp this season to tell us how camp was different this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Lily E. who wrote in to tell us about her trip to Camp Newaygo. Lily is our $100 prize winner! Here’s her submission:

“Hi, my name is Lily and I am 8-1/2 years old. My time at Camp Newaygo was a blast. I was in Cabin 1 and I had 2 great counselors, Maggie and Hannah. In Cabin 1, I made some good friends. The session that I went to was Christmas in July. This is a tradition at camp and we sing Christmas Carols and decorate our cabins for Christmas and each have a Secret Santa. Other things were different this year, but that’s Ok. I was just happy that I could go to camp. Going to camp is a great experience. At camp you do a lot of fun things. The activities there are so fun. So were the evening programs. Some activities that I did were tie dye, zip line, and rock wall. They were all really fun. Some things that were different this year were “picnic” breakfast, and you couldn’t go into any other cabins besides yours and your sister cabin. My cabin was fun. I hope to go again next year.”

It’s great to hear that you had so much fun attending summer camp at Newaygo, Lily. Sounds like you had a very merry camp stay with caroling and secret santas! Picnic breakfasts sound like a really cool way for Camp Newaygo to have implemented some safety precautions this season! It sounds like the other, more traditional camp activities were pretty cool too like the zip line and rock wall climbing! Thanks for your submission!

For anybody interested in checking out Camp Newaygo for their own future camp stays, visit their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

It's time for another story from our July ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions, though many kids were unable to attend. The coronavirus has had a huge impact on everyone—camp included, however, some camps were fortunate enough to be able to keep their doors open this summer season. We asked kids who attended camp this season to tell us how camp was different this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Josie E. who wrote in to tell us about her trip to Camp Newaygo. Josie is our $50 prize winner! Here’s her submission:

 
“Hi, my name is Josie and I am 10-1/2 years old. There are 3 of us sisters, and we all went to Camp Newaygo in July. Until then we had not been able to go anywhere, so we were glad to finally get out of the house! I was in cabin 2 with my great counselors Zoe-Kate and Laura. I made lots of memories and friends in my cabin. This was the first year that I got to go for a whole week. It was also a year that camp was quite different. The ways that it was different were: we had a picnic breakfast (instead of a hot breakfast in the dining hall), and you could not be with other cabins besides your cabin and your “sister” cabin. My sister cabin was cabin 8. They did that to keep us safe. But, that did not stop any of my fun. I was glad to go to camp. I missed going boating and they didn’t offer dippin dots this year at the camp store, but I loved the evening programs like the talent show, pageant, Harry Potter and many more. I am lucky because I am going to Camp Newaygo Family Camp with my whole family in August, so I will get one more chance to go to camp this year. Usually Camp Newaygo is just for girls, but this time we can show our Dad everything we love about camp!”

 
Thanks, Josie! It’s great to hear that you and your sisters were able to attend summer camp at Newaygo. I’m glad that the safety precautions that were being taken there did not interfere with your fun. That’s awesome that you got to spend a whole week there and that you got to go back in August too with your dad! I bet he had a good time seeing what Camp Newaygo fun looks like firsthand!

For anybody interested in checking out Camp Newaygo for their own future camp stays, visit their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

We’re happy to hear from our participants for the August ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. We have today’s camp story submission, not from a camper, but from a grandmother who got to participate in some fun summer camp activities this year.

Our featured submission today for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Carol H. who wrote in to tell us about the time she got to spend with her grandkids at Camp Seneca Lake. Congrats on your $25 prize, Carol! Check out her submission right here:

“A slender ray of sunshine peeked through the cloud of COVID-19 for my family this summer. My name is Carol H; I am the grandmother of two very disappointed campers, Sam P. and Abby P. Sam and Abby truly live “10 for 2”. They cherish their summers at Camp Seneca Lake and speak enthusiastically about their experiences all during the school year. Fortunately, Camp Seneca Lake was able to offer several CSL Family Weekend Getaways in July and August. Parents and grandparents and kids spent time at camp all together. My husband and I shared a cabin with our grandchildren, their parents, and two of their closest elementary school friends. I even celebrated my birthday there! I have not been a camper since 1965. The weekend made me remember why I loved camp so much and showed me some of the things my grandchildren enjoy at CSL. We did archery, arts and crafts, kickball, and lakefront and pool activities. Socially distanced meals were served in the dining hall. There were Shabbat services at the beautiful lakefront fire pit. And we hung out in our cabin and talked to new friends and old friends who sat on the porches of their nearby cabins. I walked on the gravel trails and on the paths through the woods. What a hike it was down to the lake –and back up again! Camp is Sam and Abby’s happy place. Next summer, if all returns to normal, I will be able to picture them on the 200 acre campus doing everything we did together and so much more. The experiences I shared with my family at CSL were priceless!”

Woohoo! Grandmothers don’t typically get to attend summer camp so thanks for sharing this cool story with us, Carol. I’m sure it was a treat for Sam and Abby to enjoy some camp fun with you there to experience it alongside them. Sounds like CSL offered you guys a great getaway during this difficult time our world is facing. It’s great to hear your family salvaged some summer fun this season!

If anybody else is interested in checking out Camp Seneca Lake for your own future camp stay, take a look at their website by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

We’ve been thrilled to hear from our participants for our August ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions. Though some were, many kids weren’t able to attend camp this year. Nevertheless, we still wanted to hear from kids to see what their experiences have been this year.

Our next submission for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest comes from Emily D. who wrote in to tell us about the trip to Camp Green Cove that she didn’t get to make. Her submission won our $25 prize! Here it is:

 
“It was my last year to attend Camp and would have been my sixth year. I was very excited and had anticipated it all year long. We suspected that camp might get canceled in April, but we kept our hopes high. In mid-May my session of camp was canceled. I decided that I wanted to get on the waitlist for a five week session from the beginning of July to mid-August. We knew that this session might as well get canceled, but we still have our hopes up. About mid-June, the news came that all sessions were cancelled. Although I was bummed, I asked my mom to email the owner of the camp to see if I was allowed one more year, despite the fact that I would’ve aged out this year. She responded to our email within 24 hours and let me know that I was allowed to go one more year with one or two of my closest camp friends. Although the situation was not the situation we had planned for it let us to something even better.”

 
Hi, Emily! Thanks for submitting your story about this strange summer season. What a bummer you weren’t able to attend camp this year. I’m really sorry to hear that. It’s pretty cool that you’ll get to make up for what should have been your last year next summer, though. It’s bound to be a blast! We’d love to hear back from you next year after your final camp stay!

Anyone else interesting in looking into Camp Green Cove for their next summer camp stay, check them out on their website by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

We’re happy to bring back what you guys wrote to us for our August ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest submissions. In our previous month, we heard from kids who weren’t able to attend camp this season to record this very unusual time in our world. In turn, this month we asked to hear from kids who did get to go to camp this year to tell us how camp was different this year or how it wasn’t much different at all.Today we have our first prize winner of our randomized contest. Congratulations to Bella E. who won a $25 gift certificate to Everything Summer Camp. Bella wrote in to tell us about her summer which was anything but ordinary. Here’s what she wrote:

 
“Hi, my name is Bella and I am 12 years old. I had a great time at Camp Newaygo, even though it was quite different this year.

Before we could go to camp, we had to do a lot of safety checks and quarantine for 14 days. I even had to get a COVID test (negative) before we could go.  All of these things were in place to keep us safe. When we got to camp, we were assigned to our cabin groups, which we stuck with the entire week. Because we spent so much time with our cabin, we got to know everyone really well.

I had 2 amazing counselors – their names were Athena and Hannah. We did 3 different activities each day with our cabin. Some of my favorites were tie-dye, paddle boarding, and outdoor cooking.

For evening program, we did a Harry Potter game, a pageant and some other fun activities. Even though it was different, we enjoyed many advantages like NO DISHES and breakfast in bed. I missed doing song block in the dining hall, but I really didn’t miss doing the dishes.

I had a blast at Camp Newaygo. I will always remember the memories I made there and I can’t wait to go again next year.”

 
Awesome, Bella! It’s great that you got to go to camp this year (even if it wasn’t quite normal). It sounds like Camp Newaygo did the best to make this camp season as fun as it could be! I’m glad you like your counselors so much and the activities were lots of fun. I don’t much care much for dishes either, so that must have been a nice bonus to your camp stay—haha! Thanks for writing in to us, Bella!

Anyone else interested in Camp Newaygo should check out their website by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John