Dear Treetops Families,
What a wonderful and full first week it’s been! The start of Camp brought a heat wave and several nights of dramatic evening thunderstorms. With the breadth and depth of activities campers have already experienced, I can hardly believe we are only approaching the one-week mark!
Helping campers to become oriented to our beautiful campus, our daily routines, and our expectations—in the dining room, on the tentline, and within activity spaces—was our focus for the first few days. This time sets the foundation for the rest of the summer, allowing campers not only to feel safe and comfortable, but also helps them to grow, challenge themselves, and become confident in their newfound skills and abilities.
This week, campers fell asleep to the sounds of croaking wood frogs and raindrops on their canvas tents, and woke to the sounds of songbirds. Morning chores and workjobs began on Sunday with campers helping to feed, water, and care for our farm animals, prepping meals in the kitchens, and tending to various program areas around Camp—all important jobs that keep our community clean, safe, and running smoothly. Additional important community tasks included helping to unload a hay delivery, moving the rams to fresh pasture, and relocating chickens to a spot right outside the Camper Kitchen, so they can provide farm-fresh eggs for cooking and baking projects.
During these hot sunny days, campers have been eager to cool off in Round Lake. Many have already passed their Rafters swim test—allowing campers to swim beyond the docks and to the farther-out rafts, a requirement for off-campus boating trips —and their Clothesliners swim test, which allows swimmers to go beyond the raft to the High Jump (the latter is also a requirement for participation in off-campus swim trips). It was wonderful to hear campers encourage one another, offering both congratulations to those who passed and support for those who will need to try again. Campers were also busy learning beginner paddling and sailing skills, excited for the opportunity to be out on the water in a canoe, kayak, sailboat, or on a paddleboard.
In the riding rings, campers had their first lessons, some having the opportunity to ride a horse for the very first time. Others picked up where they left off last summer, quickly remembering how to communicate by using their own bodyweight, voice, reins, and heels to direct their horse where to go and what to do.
The various shops were also abuzz with activity: Campers worked on looms (some have even finished their first weaving project!); shaped intricate Ocarina whistles, and slab-style mugs in the Pot Shop; they came together as tent groups to name their tent and design a tent sign; dreamed up plans for projects in the wood shop; needle-felted, folded origami, designed various tent decorations, and sewed projects in the craft shop; and of course, there were many many friendship bracelets made to gift to longtime friends or new ones. Junior Campers also crafted colorful lanyards, the first step and a requirement to take the Knife Safety class and earn their prized Camp knives, proudly clipping their distinctive lanyards to their knives, engraved with their name, upon successful completion. The Camper Kitchen and Teaching & Learning Kitchen (TLK) have also been busy with cooks and bakers of all ages preparing chive pancakes, homemade biscuits, fresh strawberry treats, and more!
Campers learned the basics and became acquainted with the safety rules of rock climbing and had opportunities to scale the indoor climbing wall and the Clark House chimney. These are all necessary building blocks that will allow them to gain the necessary experience and skills to venture farther afield, including the campus Crag and off-campus climbing trips.
Mid-week, campers had the opportunity to join our first off-campus trips, which included hikes up Ampersand, Jay, Giant, and Cascade, watching the Lake Placid Horse Show, and berry picking at nearby Rulf’s Orchard in Peru.
Campers also had the opportunity to practice flexibility this week, as our annual Fourth of July bonfire (planned for Tuesday) was postponed again and again due to inclement weather, including thunderstorms, rain showers, and high winds. Although we were all disappointed, we rescheduled, and campers practiced resilience and were happy to have more evening activity time to play games, work on crafts, read their books, or play and sing camp songs with friends.
On and off-campus, this year’s Supers are learning what it means to be role models for the younger campers, as they take on leadership roles within the community and work together as a group. Their final year as campers brings many privileges and added responsibilities. These include Super Time, a period in the evening in which they have added bonding and free time with friends, a later bedtime than the younger campers, the responsibility to help on Dish Pantry to get the meal’s dishes sorted, washed, and put away, scooping Sunday ice cream for the rest of Senior Camp, and the opportunity to take on the role of Barn Manager, a coveted leadership position at barn chores — just to name a few. This week, the Supers wrote, rehearsed, and performed the Super skit —a story of how whimsy, love, and togetherness overcome an evil force set on poaching Round Lake’s precious pink whale—to rousing laughter and applause from the rest of Camp. The Supers also traveled down the road to the Cascade Lakes to practice wet canoe skills, learning how to work together to flip and right a capsized canoe.
As we all settle into our summer home, it’s so exciting to see our Treetops community take shape. Returning campers are excited to challenge themselves anew and show the ropes to new members of our community, while our first-time campers are taking advantage of the myriad activities they have available to them. As we come to the end of a very busy first week, I can’t wait to see all that the next week will bring.
Thank you for trusting us with your campers this summer. I am eternally grateful for this special community we have the privilege to build, and the opportunities we have to connect—to one another and to the land and the animals — and for the time and space to appreciate all the gifts and experiences that our mountain home provides.
With gratitude,
Hannah Edwards
Camp Treetops Director