We have A LOT to look forward to this summer. New friends, new adventures, new sites. You even get to enjoy fun food you almost never have – can you say ‘liquid nitrogen slush puppies’ and ‘taco in a bag?’

And, while there will be a lot of ‘new’, you’ll also get to experience a wide number of traditions we enjoy each summer. Some happen every day while others are a little further in between. Two of them happen just at the end. Here’s a bit of a preview….

Daily Traditions

Starting camp by the flagpole with the entire camp is a treat. It’s one of the few chances everyone gets to be together in one spot. Juniors through CITs and all of our staff gather around the flag each morning at 9:40am. We greet each other, play a little bit, hear about the big news of the day, celebrate birthdays, and start the day as one.

Later each day, you can find at least one bunk (if not the whole crowd) dancing on their chairs in the Dining Hall. Music plays at every lunch and dinner and most of it is requested by the kids. Our in-house DJs do their best to keep the lunch and dinner crowds bee-bopping along.

To end the day, we get to spend a bit of time reflecting on all for which we were grateful. We do this by naming at least two of our daily happies. I walk through the boys bunks while Camp Director Kate or our Head Counselor Tiny gets the happies from the girls. I don’t know a better way to end the day.

Every Now & Then Traditions

While not all of our Evening Activities happen as one camp, those that do are special. So special, in fact, that we end each of them by joining arms, facing the lake, and singing Taps and Alma Mater. These songs have been sung together for decades and we look forward to enjoying them together again soon.

(For our new campers, don’t worry – we’ll provide you the words in our upcoming NewsWeeq and at camp.)

We also enjoy other traditions that happen each summer depending on the session. Events like Carnival, Swim the Lake, our AT Hikes and more. While I can explain them, it will be a lot more fun to experience them at camp!

Ending Traditions

At the end of each of our sessions, we enjoy a ‘Color War’ experience – Tribals in the first three week and Olympics in the second. While they rhyme, each has their own traditions, teams, and expectations. Sportsmanship remains supreme in each as our campers ‘battle’ across the arts, aquatics, athletic, and adventure activities.

After we’ve found the winning team, its time to start packing up and saying our ‘good byes.’ There are certainly tears at this point, we remind everyone the wonderful phrase from Dr. Seuss: Don’t be sad because its over. Be glad that it happened!

 As we put our wishboats in the water and make our memories come alight, we get to reflect on what has been an amazing three or six weeks. At the end, we have all enjoyed new experiences while also connecting with traditions that began before us and will last after our time at Weequahic. That’s a pretty powerful combination…

…and we can’t wait to enjoy it with you! See you soon,

Cole Kelly

As of this writing, the start of Summer 2018 is just 50 days away. Let me first state the following: YAHOO!!! We can’t wait to get the kids to camp!

That said, there is a lot for our parents to prepare. The packing list, bags, the forms… it’s a lot. We know and wish we could make it easier.

But while ‘the stuff’ that makes camp work has grown over the past several decades, the results – an amazing summer full of fun, friends and growth – is still the goal.

And, you aren’t just preparing the gear but also your children as well! We have 150+ campers attending Weequahic for the first time this summer. Helping them to start on off on the right foot is important.

Focusing on what will be great about the experience, coming up with a plan on what to do when (not ‘if’) they miss home, and helping to build some pre-camp connections are important and useful. We are excited to help with any and all of those ideas.

The same goes for our 500+ returning campers. Parents who prepare their returning kiddos to know that camp will be different some ways helps to make for a more joyful return.

Because they are different kids now than when they left the previous summer, camp will seem changed when the get back to their summer home. They’ve got ‘different eyes’ through which to see and experience Weequahic.

Prepare Yourself, Too!

Finally, parents – you are preparing yourselves! Sending your child off for three or six weeks is a daunting task. I know – just sending our boys off for a ten-day jaunt with a grandfather is hard enough!

First of all, call us anytime. While the kids are at camp, we are happy to help no matter what and no matter when. During the summer, our office is open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and I’ve got an emergency cell phone on me at all times. (I’ll share the number as we get closer to camp.)

Secondly, please know that everyone who is a part of our team is at Weequahic because they want to create an amazing experience for everyone they meet though gratitude, attitude and courage. And, we train and support them all the way!

We believe it’s important to find team members who will live out these values around our kids. We will all do our best to ensure your camper’s safety and well-being while also building a hugely positive experience filled with awesome moment.

Third, please know that we are going to make some mistakes. We are human, too! That said, we’ll listen, be quick to acknowledge where we have screwed up, and will do our best to fix the situation asap.

Parents, please let us know how we can help to prepare for the best summer imaginable. We’ll do all we can to make sure that both you and your camper has an amazing experience with us!

Can’t wait for camp,

Cole

Yes, I know – school imagery does not always make the best start to talking about camp. Please know, we are not ‘anti-school’… we just do things differently! And, math is very useful, even at camp.

Now, my math-learning days are way back in the past. However, this idea that you have to divide in order to multiply doesn’t make a lot of sense.

As one quick-witted, math-superstar camper once told me, the order of math functions move along the ‘Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally’ route: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.

Hm… yep, multiplication comes before division in this routine. (It’s true – I looked it up.) So, what am I talking about and why bring it up?

Because at camp, we divide in order to multiply.

Joy at Weequahic

One of the cranky ‘philosophizers’ I enjoy to read is a guy named Samuel Clements. He also goes by the moniker Mark Twain. Of the many sayings he wrote, this is one of my favorites:

“To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.” 

This perfectly encapsulates camp. To examine why, let’s do a thought experiment.

Say you were at camp all by yourself in the middle of the summer. (Of course, this would never happen but it’s a useful fiction for our purposes here.) All the big bouncies are ready on the lake, the fields are perfectly mown, the theater stage is set for the grand production, and the canteen is stocked.

Could you have a good time in that environment? Sure! There would be a lot of fun things to do, enjoy, eat, etc. It could be fun.

But, sooner rather than later, you’d get a little lonely. There would be no one to hit the tennis ball back, argue about the best canteen treat, dress up like a twin, triplet or octuplet with for dinner, laugh along with your jokes, etc.

You need someone there to divide the joy with, to share it. You need someone and not just anyone will do. It requires a buddy who sees the world like you do, shares your interests and laughs, and supports you when need it.

The Good News

So where will that person come from? The good news is that you are going to have several tons of options! Our new campers are coming from 10 states and 9 countries. Our returning campers add three more states and two more countries. And, our 225 staff members are from an even wider number of places.

Do you know what each and every one of them want to do? They want to make a friend (or forty) and have a blast – together.

It’s true! So, what does that mean for you?

Pretty simple, really… if you really want to have a blast this summer, make a friend and divide the joy with them. The more people you share it with, the more joy you’ll experience. (See, I told you the math would be useful!)

I’ll make it even easier – you can start with me! Speaking for everyone at Weequahic, I can’t wait to get you to camp. It’s going to be an amazing summer!

See you soon,

Cole Kelly, Director