(Originally written in September 2011)
Dear Campers and Staff from Summer 2011,
Wow! What an awesome summer it was. I am sitting at my desk up at camp, 8:30PM on a Monday night in September, it is freezing outside (well in the 40’s), and camp is LONELY. Trust me, I love every minute being at camp, but it’s just not the same as when 700 people are running around!
In just 49 days, so many memories were formed for both campers, staff, and campers/staff together. I remember back to our week-long staff orientation with our annual Welcome Circle, The Amazing Race, the staff pool party, and much more. Then all of our campers arrived and I vividly remember the buses pulling up to the pavilion for lice checks and trying to “hold back” the staff from running up to our campers, past the skin diamond, with big hugs for all!
And how many times did the Junior boys try to hit me with a water balloon this summer all the way up to the CIT boys trying to get me into their baby pool! I can’t forget the 2 days I got to bond with the Freshman boys out of camp in Cooperstown, NY. Luckily, nobody got left behind at the West Point Military Academy and how about all of the boys trying to drive those go-karts and hitting the staff “accidentally”! On girls side, the senior girls invited me to play in games of BBK (which surprisingly I scored a homerun!) to hanging with girls camp during the all-camp swims on super hot days, I enjoyed getting to know all of our new campers and seeing our returners!
It would be remiss of me not to mention the Canadensis Today Show and all of the fun we had producing it. From picking a different menu reader each day to our wonderful C-Reporters, to the birthday patrol, campers were involved more than ever in what has become such a hit for our families and alumni back at home. Special thanks to all the staff who allowed us to come and interrupt your 1st period group and film on location, especially to Kate Mullen when we interrupted the dress rehearsal for Aladdin!
Don’t forget that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and there is one group of people that often do get forgotten about. Our support staff, consisting of 26 hard-working European college students are an essential part of camp life. After all, who would wash all of our clothes, feed us, keep us safe and secure, and pickup all of our trash! So, a special thanks goes to our fine group of young men and women for all they do (except when they decided to “steal” the Color War box!)
And to all of the campers and staff who helped shape Summer 2011 into what it was, thank you. Don’t forget that camp lives on throughout the winter and I personally can’t wait to see everyone at our Canteen on the Fly’s, our Winter Reunion, charity events, sporting events, home visits, and all of our other fun get togethers! Keep in touch and let us know what you are all up to! Most importantly, we’ll see you right back here for Summer 2012!
