Woodeden Easter Seals Camp

Woodeden Easter Seals Camp London, ON September 20, 2012 www.eastersealscamps.org/about/woodeden-camp

Kim, the director, seems fun and passionate. This camp is unlike any other camp we have been to. Incredible facilities and all completely accessible and completely donated. The high ropes course is the largest fully accessible one in the country. It has elements we have never dreamed of and a highdrolic lift. We walked around on a tour and saw the facilities and listened to Kim’s enjoyable ramble. She is someone you would want as a friend. I am so intrigued by the people who work here by what they see and what makes them so resilient. Their is a part of me that wants to be a part of that brand of magic.

Laura

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Pearce Williams Christian Centre

Pearce Williams Christian Centre Fingle, ON September 19, 2012 www.pearcewilliams.org

From the moment we met Joe Richards we knew we were in for something different. Joe is a no nonsense, go big or go home kinda guy and his camp is every bit a refection of him, from the way they hire staff to the think different way they run many different groups a time during the summer. Maybe the most incredible new idea at Pierce Williams is their World Camp. World camp is a work in progress but is modeled after the Heffer fund where participants will come to camp and live in different forms of shanty housing from all over the world and get a chance to use experiential learning to teach about poverty, hunger, and other giant global issues. This is just one of Joe’s many ideas on how summer camps as an industry needs to change from the way things always have been, because the future is full of plenty of potential struggles for traditional summer camp. What is great about Joe is his big picture radical ideas and his ability to put his money where is mouth is.

Jack

Camp McGovern

Camp McGovern Hanover, ON September 17, 2012 www.campmcgovern.com

Camp McGovern is located near Hanover Ontario. It is run by one lone ranger. We arrived late at night on Monday. The next morning we met Grego Dow and he took us on a tour, fed us some lunch and told us all about what it is like to run a camp basically by oneself. My favorite part of this camp was that their campers were completely funded by either Big Brother Big Sister programs, the United Way or some other supportive service of some sort.

Laura

South Mountain YMCA

South Mountain YMCA (Camp Conrad Weiser and Bynden Wood) Wernersville, PA September 11, 2012 www.smymca.org

South mountain is beautiful. Upon arriving here we met up with Sue Williams. She was the first female camp director we came across, so of course I loved her instantly. She also has experienced so much camp, having worked in the camping industry all over the country. Her confidence was not boastful or unapproachable but seemed trust worthy and passionate. She gave us a quick tour and then we went to eat pizza and beer with her, the CEO Nathan Brant, and a handful of other employes. Jack and I after not eating enough all day got a little tipsy after one beer and could both feel where we slipped in conversation. But all in all it was a nice meal and fun to meet these people. The next day we helped out at their United Way day of caring. Jack mowed for hours and I washed a vinyl fence. It felt good to do some manual labor volunteer for our stay.

Laura

Camp Delanco

Delanco Camp Tabernacle, NJ September 10, 2012 www.delanco.org

This Camp is located in the pine forests in South Jersey, we were warmly greeted by Matt and Mike Ralph. These brothers are some of the most passionate summer camp enthusiasts we have met. They are a part of a very unique camping operation. Their camp is completely staffed by volunteers and a board picks who is going to be the camp program director for each week and then from there the program director runs the show, everything from the staff to the schedule and the programs for that whole week. Matt Ralph runs Summer Camp Culture which is a blog about anything and everything camp.

Laura

Frost Valley YMCA

Frost Valley YMCA Claryville, NY September 6, 2012 www.frostvalley.org

Woah, incredible place. We were both a little nervous pulling in. This camp, in the middle of the Catskills is basically its own small city. Isolated by mountains and valleys, even the drive to the camp was majestic. We pulled up to the camp office and asked one of their many secretaries to put us in contact with Dan Weir. We then got wristbands and parking permits and the whole shabam! Dan met us there and walked us up to the dinning hall to eat lunch and then spent the whole day with us. Frost Valley has so much to offer and so much to learn from. Between the amazing facilities, the diversity of camp programs, and the traditions that let all campers feel some ownership over such a big place.

Laura