Dear Treetops Families,
One of the most incredible things to experience each year at Camp Treetops is the unique community we create throughout a single summer. For seven weeks, we bring together counselors and campers from all over the country and the world, representing different backgrounds, cultures, and traditions. It’s only the first week, and I can already see this special community forming.
Campers who were strangers just a week ago are walking arm-in-arm to their next activity. They are leaning on one another to overcome the challenge of homesickness, working together to write and perform a skit, and sharing the load as they carry buckets of food scraps to the composter at work job time. In the absence of cell phones and electronics pulling their attention from the world around them, campers and counselors have the time, space, and attention to get to know one another and build authentic connections and a sense of community.
Campers are also settling into the rhythms and routines of a Treetops day and beginning to explore and develop their interests. We started the week with orientation days to ensure campers were comfortable navigating campus and introduced them to their counselors, some new, many returning, as well as the different rules and routines in each Camp space.
Tuesday provided campers with a smorgasbord of activities to choose from. They approached their swim tests bravely, knowing that their success would allow them access to a larger swim area, as well as off-campus swim trips, boating trips, and the opportunity to sail. Campers also eagerly joined activities in our craft shops: beginning new woodshop projects, trying their hands at forming mugs and candleholders in the ceramics shop, and starting complex and colorful weavings on the tabletop and floor looms.
Many Junior Campers crafted and painted newspaper hats in preparation for our first Camp-wide event: our Tuesday night Junior Camp hat parade over the hill to the bonfire and the all-Camp sing-along. On Wednesday, we had our second all-community event, as we were treated to the Super skits, written, produced, and performed by our oldest campers. With only a few days to prepare, the Supers crafted a funny and succinct skit in which the whimsy of Treetops was at risk, but thankfully restored through dedicated efforts, teamwork, and commitment to Treetops traditions.
In addition to the plethora of on-campus activities, campers also headed out on several off-campus trips. Groups went to the Lake Placid Horse Show, ventured to a nearby orchard to pick berries, and then baked a special treat back at Camp in the Teaching & Learning Kitchen (TLK). Many Junior Campers also embarked on their first hike of a 46er—one of the Adirondack High Peaks rising over 4,000 feet—Cascade Mountain. While they did have to eat lunch below tree line to wait out a passing thunderstorm, they still were able to reach the rocky summit, pausing at the top to take in the beautiful views of our campus below. Supers also headed to the nearby Cascade Lakes to paddle and practice water safety skills, including how to respond when a canoe or kayak capsizes or flips in the water, learning to work together to return the boat safely to its proper position.
Whether on campus or off, each activity helped campers to build connections and community. They are stretching themselves to try new things, testing their abilities and interests, and exploring the wonders of the natural world around them.
It has been a fantastic first week of Camp, and I am grateful for the opportunity to ensure that your child can experience the simple joys of being immersed in Treetops for these several magical weeks of summer—a place that is truly a “child’s world.”
Thank you for sharing your children with us this summer!
With gratitude,
Hannah Edwards
Camp Treetops Director