The Big Win

Hey, Camp Fans!

Throughout September so far, I’ve been announcing the winners to our annual ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. And, today, the time has come to reveal our grand prize winner for this year’s edition. Find out right here and right now—the winner of our $300 gift certificate is….

Emily G.!

Yaaaayyy, Emily!!! Congratulations. You’re our grand prize winner!!! Emily wrote in to tell us about year #3 at summer camp, Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Read her account of her fun camp stay right here on today’s Blog post:

This past summer was my third year at camp. After being defeated in summer 2020 by camp being canceled I was extra eager to attend this year. My camp experience started out strong, I loved my counselors, my cabin was amazing, and I made amazing friends with a lot of people. I was especially excited to go on my cabins trip this year. This year our trip was a four day backpacking trip around North Manitou Island. I had never been backpacking and was super excited to try it. The day we left for our trip my cabin was in high spirits and we were all excited about this new adventure. Throughout the four days we all bonded whether it was at one of our campsites or while on the trail. It was also so amazing to just look around and see what I was hiking through. The scenery was straight out of a fantasy book and it felt so surreal. The trip went by so fast and I was having a hard time realizing what I had accomplished. I don’t have a lot of time throughout the year to go on hikes and be in the woods, so every year at camp I love to take it all in. Camp will forever be a part of me and I will forever be thankful for the experiences & friendships it has given me and what is yet to come.

What a fantastic submission, Emily! How cool to have this adventure to sort of epitomize your camp stay this year—sure to stay with you forever. I’m glad this year delivered such a meaningful experience for you after you were stuck at home for summer last year. I’m so glad Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha keeps you going back for more! For anyone else interested in checking out Hayo-Went-Ha, you can do so by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John