With only a few days left at Treetops, campers delighted in our annual Harvest Banquets—celebrations of our farm and community. Children harvested potatoes, herbs, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, and beans for the evening feasts. The tables were set with white tablecloths, candles, and colorful bouquets of flowers from our annual garden. Campers dined on roasted chicken and pork, as well as spanakopita, herb butter potatoes, green beans, and salad—all from our own farm, cared for and harvested by our community.
Later, at sunset, campers and counselors kicked up their heels in the sand at the waterfront for the last square dances of the summer. Inside the empty boathouse, the dance caller and musicians kept up the infectious melody and tempo. Everyone danced the Virginia Reel with their partner—euphoric and silly and full of life— dressed in our very best. With the sunset illuminating the sky, music and laughter echoed across Round Lake.
The following afternoon, campers and counselors gathered in the gardens to celebrate Farm Fest—the culminating festival of the summer. The celebration kicked off with a parade of horses, finely brushed and braided with flowers in their tails and manes, led by campers down the road. Afterward the horses were set loose in the pasture—the perfect backdrop for Farm Fest. Alongside Garden Rock, a merry band of campers and counselors came together to perform “Garden Rock ‘n Roll.” Nearly 20 activities were scattered along the road from the Main House to Children’s Garden—flower crown and bouquet-making, pickle tasting, salsa making, sun tea/water infusions, farm art, spinning wool, stick biscuits, face painting and more.
At Treetops, it takes time to discover how much can unfold over seven weeks. Now the endless days of June have given way to one last night in August. Saying goodbye is never easy—it’s like leaving home all over again. But friendships forged here have been known to last a lifetime. Camp Treetops is a community that is both rooted in in the Adirondacks, and extended across the country and world. Campers leave knowing that they will always have a place here, as well as friends around the globe…