Excitement was in the air on Sunday, June 12th as a host of enthusiastic new campers and their parents got to sample the fun that awaits them at Camp Starlight this summer. Following some introductory games, everyone assembled at the flagpole for an official greeting from David and Allison. Before some ice breakers that had campers, parents, and staff laughing, several members of the Key Staff were also introduced. Then it was off for a small group tour, during which lifelong memories and friendships were already being formed. From the Main Field to the Carriage house and everything in between, campers got a glimpse of all the places where they will have great times as Starlighters over the next several summers. The day culminated with an option period during which campers actually got to choose and participate in the very first activity of their Starlight careers. Finally, everyone came together for an indoor cookout before reluctantly getting in their cars and going home to anxiously count down the days until they return for the official start of Summer 2011. We’re delighted to have such awesome group of campers spending their first summer with us during our 65th! We can’t wait to see everyone again in a couple of weeks!
Posts Tagged ‘ready for summer camp’
New Camper Day 2011
Thursday, June 16th, 2011Kids, Clothes, and Chaos
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011We came across this blog and got a really good chuckle out of it. Since we’ve rounded that corner into April and the “waiting to pack” countdown has officially begun, we can’t resist sharing it with you. We would like to thank Lisa, the original author, for her permission to reprint it…
I am fortunate enough to be able to send my two older children to sleepaway camp. It is a fantastic learning, growing and 
maturing experience – for me and them! My kids learn that the world still turns if they wear clothes that don’t match or the same shirt 4 days in a row, or what it’s like to meet new people, watch themselves become independent beings and experience things they never could at home (we don’t have a lake in our backyard or a kiln in the kitchen).
That said, there’s a lot of waiting involved with camp. It all starts with the waiting-to-pack time period. It’s incredible how much stuff needs to be stuffed 
inside of the trunks that are taken to camp. Ok, first off, let’s not date ourselves to when they were actual black with gold rivet trunks – they’re really just duffle bags. Granted, huge, enormous, can hold at least 4 grown men duffles, but duffle bags nevertheless. And these duffles sit in my bedroom for weeks until they are actually picked up and taken away (given that we don’t have an extra bedroom and my husband and I’s room has the most space). So I wait as long as possible to unearth them from where they are stashed all winter to reduce the number of nights I can possibly slip, roll and kill myself on an errant battery or sunscreen stick that has escaped the double layered ziploc bag in which it was stored. Aside from my general safety, I have to wait to pack because nothing pisses me off more than putting items inside the bags and crossing them off my checklist, only to be asked the next morning by one of my chidlren if they can wear that shirt, jersey, soccer cleat, you name it, one last time. So, although I have a few friends that are happy to feel organized starting this process in February for a June pick-up, I’ll stick with the wait-until-the-last-minute crunch time way that seems to work best for us.
But the waiting doesn’t end with the pick-up of the bags. No siree. Then there’s the parking lot send-off where the parents stand in the middle of an open parking lot in midday. Blinking, shielding their eyes in the glaring heat (even behind the giant black Jackie-O glasses bought for the occasion) at a tinted window to try to catch a last glimpse of their child while trying to choke back emotion to “put on a good front”. Inevitably, there’s a late-comer who was stuck in traffic so us parents are left standing like beauty pageant idiots waving and waiting, waving and waiting.
Once the bus pulls away then the wait for the first online picture begins. Can you say refresh button? You never know when new pics will be posted… And of course, the first letter (hopefully with no circled tear droplets or talk of homesickness and hitching a ride home) and the first phone call. Visiting Day can never arrive quickly enough and as soon as you pull away from camp, the countdown to their homecoming begins. And then there’s the the daily wait for the mailman in the hopes he brings some small tidbit of a literary connection.
Key thing to note (and I learned this the hard way the first summer my kids were away), is that my summer life is what happens in 
between all this waiting. So although I miss them terribly each summer and usually have several countdowns going at once, I also recognize that the countdown to the hectic long days of the school year with homework, carpooling, sports practices and coordination of schedules is also going on during these precious and fleeting summer weeks.
So I’m trying to appreciate the waiting. And dare I say, enjoy it. Because before you know it, we’ll all have to endure the longest wait of all… when summer ends and we wait until next summer to do it all over again.
Lisa
1,3,5,6 We Want Olympics!
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Over several decades, across many miles, and in the heart of campers of all ages lies the excitement of arguably the most 
anticipated event of the summer. When will it happen? Who will be our leadership? What team will I be on? These questions echo in the minds of campers and counselors alike throughout the school year, and they only grow more intense as the summer progresses. So what is this hallowed event that has everyone’s attention? And what is it about this event that has everyone so excited?
Well, at Camp Starlight we call this thrilling week of spirit and competition Olympics! Our campers and staff pass many a spare moment over the year thinking about what the team names will be, who will be the officers and captains, and what the theme for Sing will be. Once the summer kicks off, and the weeks begin to pass, whispers about when it will break can be heard around camp.
But as anyone who has spent a summer at Starlight will tell you, Olympics is an exhilarating week of athletic, strategic, and academic competition. Whether your strength is playing on the soccer field, catching cheese balls on your shaving cream laden head, or having the fastest buzzer pressing thumb in Wayne County, your team will be depending on your contribution! From the second Olympics breaks to the moment your feet hit the lake after the final scores are announced, the electrifying spirit of the Blue and the White can be felt in the air. At Starlight, there is no doubt that we truly do justice to the time honored tradition shared by summer camps around the country and passed down over many years.
So the next time you catch yourself daydreaming of smearing on your face paint 
or spraying your hair in your team’s shade, know that there is another Starlighter somewhere sharing in your excitement and anticipation. So until we’re back together facing off on the fields, dodging gigs in our seats, and handing off the baton, make sure to keep “B-L-U-E, we got the spirit!” and “We are the white team! Couldn’t be prouder!” fresh in your thoughts!
Shout Out from Schumer
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
Camp Starlight Boy’s Athletic Director, Adam Schumer, recently checked in to let us know what he has been up to and gave us a couple of exercises to help us train for the 2011 Slope for Lope.
After Camp; Adam returned to his job as an elementary physical education teacher at Forest Hill Elementary School in Palm Beach County, Florida. Adam is extremely busy as the coach of the John I. Leonard High School Wrestling team. His team recently won the Palm Beach Gardens duals, and they have seen remarkable improvement across all weight classes. Adam and his team look forward to the regional, district, and state tournaments.
To keep active during the off-camp season, Adam participates in a number of athletic events. He ran in the Palm Beaches Marathon Festival, where he finished near the top of his age group this past December. Adam also participates in various Adventure Races across Florida. These races include canoeing, biking, and running. Participants are given a map and are required to check in at various points as they make their way through the course. Adam plans to bring this Adventure Race concept to Starlight this summer.
Adam says the winter season is the perfect time to move your exercise routine indoors, and he suggested a couple of fun winter activities for campers. Younger campers should start practicing some of your favorite circus tricks, such as hula hooping, juggling, or jumping rope (if you have high ceilings). Just make sure you’ve got enough space and don’t damage any of your parents’ favorite furniture! Older campers, keep up the yoga and pilates. They are great for strengthening muscles, improving flexibility,and lowering stress from homework and exams. They’re also easy and inexpensive activities that you can do just about anywhere in your house.
Hopefully these drills help out, and he can’t wait to see you at Camp in June!
Feeling Groovy at Camp—Now and Then!
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
When I think about “camp songs,” I immediately think about singing around campfires, but each year at camp also has a distinct popular music soundtrack. Recently, campers weighed in on Twitter about the tunes that remind them of past summers and that got me thinking about what the United States and camp was like in the 1960s and 1970s.
Hadley Hury remembers You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (1969) and Music Man and the Counselors’ Show from 1970. That’s also when Charlie Ziff was theater director, Hadley was assistant director and Jay Newman had the job of radio director for The Fantastiks. 1969 was the year that campers watched the moonwalk on television in the theater and there was lots of talk about some “big thing going on in some little town called Woodstock!”
Bobby Brickman says he has vivid memories that revolve around people who played lead roles in productions of Brigadoon in 1961, Carousel in 1963, and Bye Bye Birdie in 1963. It’s clear that for a very long time, camp has been the place to put creativity and passion into great performances!
Barbara Gough adds that when she hears the captivating bass line of “Reach Out of the Darkness” by Friend and Lover, she’s immediately transported back to 1968. Friend and Lover was a one hit wonder and their song ranked in the Top Ten during 1968 when Barbara says campers “danced to this playing on the jukebox in the Canteen all summer long!” The song embraced social change with lyrics like “I think it’s so groovy now, That people are finally getting together. . .Reach out in the darkness. . .And you may find a friend.”
Back then, while campers made friends and memories, things in the United States as a whole were not so peaceful. When students in California held a Selective Service sit-in, 3,000 of them were arrested and housed in the San Francisco 49ers’ old football stadium. A promo man got a sound truck and started broadcasting “Reach Out of the Darkness” towards the students. That’s what started the song’s rise up the charts—and why campers miles away listened to the hit that summer!
The historical events of those times grounded the more multicultural and open society we have today, but during the 1960s, many people felt uncertain as to what the future held. In 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, “Reach Out in the Darkness,” rocketed up the charts and like other big hits that year, captured the country’s changing mood. Songs that also ranked in 1968 include the Rascals’, “People Got to Be Free,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson,” The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” James Brown’s “Say It Loud–I’m Black and I’m Proud,” and versions of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Gladys Knight and the Pips and Marvin Gaye.
Summer camp is always a microcosm of our world-at-large where campers practice and learn skills for negotiating the world, where 
assumptions can be challenged, and where diverse people find ways to celebrate community and appreciate each other. One great thing about camp is that for a few weeks, the world grows a little smaller and everyone listens to the same soundtrack. In a fast-paced and interconnected world, camp “sounds” like the perfect place for connecting with others and as Hadley says, every summer adds up to “good times for campers and staff.” It’s often only later that campers realize how much the experience has shaped them and the way they see the world–much like how hit songs can illuminate the past in retrospect. The music (and fashions) may change through the years, but the core camp experience never goes out of date.
We’d love to hear about how your time at camp contributed to your understanding about others as well as what you’re looking forward to most this summer!
Thanks for the image Cre8iveDoodles ~*~ New Beginnings!
Pining for a Good Ol’ Starlight Cookout
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011Let’s be honest… who does not find themselves on a random Wednesday evening pining for a good ol’ Camp Starlight cookout? Is there any better way to enjoy a nice, juicy burger or hot dog with a side of delicious knishes and a fresh slice of watermelon? Top it off with your favorite soda, lemonade, or refreshing iced tea and what more could you ask for? You find yourself drifting off to an evening of great Pennsylvania summer weather, shooting the breeze with your camp friends on the plush lawn of the golf course hill. It’s a fond memory for some and a daydream of cookouts to come for many of us.
During the summer, we enjoy those S days with a late reveille and fun filled days spending time together with our divisions. Once the bugle call resounds through camp, you know the meal we all look forward to from week to week has finally come! You make your way across camp with a little more pep in your step than usual. When you are greeted with the smiles and expert spatula skills of Scotty B. and his crew of male division leaders, you can almost taste the delicious meal. You line up and tap your foot or maybe sing along to the latest tunes Jason has pumping through the speakers, then take your spot across from the Upper Seniors, who are no doubt having a blast piling food on plates with a smile and a joke for everyone.
Once you have your plate’s fill of whatever combination meets your fancy, you direct your attention to the spread of campers and counselors relaxing on the grass. Making your way through the groups, big and small, of Starlighters congregating together while they enjoy their dinner, you finally find your spot of perfect grass with your friends. And the rest is history! Cookouts on the hill are always an evening of laughter, music, and quality hang out time with your friends, camp family, and staff. It has become a very special time of the week for everyone to get together and talk about the wonderful memories and adventures they’ve experienced as well as the adventures still to come. So the next time you find yourself lost in the memory or anticipation of a Camp Starlight cookout, close your eyes. We just bet you’ll be greeted with the gorgeous panorama of the mountains and the mouth watering aroma of a burger flipped by Scott and company, prepared just for you!
10 Things for First Time Campers to be Excited About
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
New Camper Day!
Will this be your first summer at Camp Starlight? If so, you already share something in common with almost 100 other campers. We invite you to come to New Camper Day on June 13th to meet other first timers and find out what other things you might have in common. You’ll also be introduced to several of our staff members and get to try some of the fun activities you’ll be enjoying all summer long at camp.- Meeting your new bunk mates and counselors for the first time
Do you have butterflies in your belly about that? Betcha they do, too! Don’t worry. As soon as you meet them, the butterflies go away and you’ll forget you ever even had them. - The Opening Night Show and Sing-Alongs
Every year, we open camp with an awesome show. We sing, we act silly, and we laugh a lot. - More of 50 of the funnest activities in camping!
Sports, crafts, dance, science, nature, outdoor adventure, swimming, water-skiing, tubing, cooking, and a WHOLE LOT MORE! Everyday is different and even more exciting than the one before it. - Your camp sibling
Every new camper gets two camp “siblings”, an older and a middle camper who have been coming to Camp Starlight for several summers and who were once first time campers like you. Your camp siblings are special friends. The three of you can talk to each other, attend special camp sibling events together, and cheer each other on during camp activities like Olympics. - Awesome evening activities and special events
Singing, dancing, games, cooking, sleepovers, Wrestling (in jello!), square dancing, concerts, carnival, slip ‘n’ slide…you name it. If it’s fun, we do it at Camp Starlight! - Jason Glick and Barrie Dratch
Our two Lower Camp Head Counselors also happen to be two of the coolest, funnest, most adored people in camp. Along with the Lower Camp Division Leaders, ADLs, and counselor staff, they go out of their way during the summer to make sure that our Juniors and Inters have the most spectacular time of their lives. - Trips
Bowling, the movies, baseball games, and more! - Junior and Inter Day
A special day at camp dedicated to just your division. Need we say more! - New friends
Friends, friends, and more friends. Camp Starlight is full of friends. In fact, there are so many friends at Camp Starlight that we made it our camp song.
The Full Season Camp Experience
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Making the choice about which length of camp is right for your child is downright easy, especially when it comes to the to the full season camps. For those children who wish to be at camp for the seven weeks, a full-season camp experience can be an extraordinary time in their lives
So, how do you know if a full season camp experience right for your child?
Remember our discussion of “Is Your Child Ready for Camp?” If you can answer a confident “yes” to all of the questions about readiness, then a full season camp may be perfect for your child.
As a 7 week camp Camp Starlight provides ideal opportunities for children to:
1) develop relationships and bonds with other campers and counselors with whom they are living,
2) explore new activities which they have never done, and
3) refine and develop skills and focus so that by the end of camp they are, as an example, not just getting up on water skis…but skiing barefoot; not just hitting a baseball… but mastering the sport; not just participating in a one-act play for 20 minutes….but being part of the cast of a full length musical.
Children who go to Camp Starlight return to school refreshed and ready to tackle the new year ahead. They have achieved great success at camp – not only in making great friends – but also in developing and refining skills during the summer that can last a lifetime. Many children who wish to make their middle, JV or high school teams can practice and refine those skills all summer long. They also create beautiful and meaningful pieces of art and have greater outdoor educational experiences during their time at camp. All because they have time and opportunity.
PBS’s camp expert, Bob Ditter, M.Ed., puts it this way:
Camp is about making some of the best friends of your life. It’s an exercise in self-reliance and social learning. Kids not only make some of their best friends at camp, they learn what real friendship is. Since campers live in groups, it is also about learning the give-and-take of making decisions and getting along with all those “brothers” or “sisters” you suddenly inherit when you arrive. In a time when resilience–the ability to stick with something and recover from a setback–is a great quality to cultivate in our children, camp is an increasingly attractive option.
Camp Starlight for example, offers a full-season schedule and is located in Starlight, Pennsylvania, about two-and-a-half hours northwest of New York City. Camp Starlight runs on a “brother/sister” model, in which boys and girls are scheduled separately for sports and activities but come together as a camp family for meals and evening programs. It’s a unique opportunity for children to experience the benefits of a same-sex camp while enjoying co-ed activities as well.
Susan
(Photos: Thanks to eyeliam and zappowbang for the great shots.)
Is your child ready for summer camp?
Thursday, May 20th, 2010You’ve collected the brochures, visited the web sites, maybe you’ve visited a camp or two. You may have even have marked off a few weeks in July on your calendar. But you did it in pencil, because you just can’t get rid of that nagging question – is my child, my baby (sniff) ready for overnight camp?
There is no magic formula or age for camp, and every child is unique; but there are some tried and true signs of readiness. So before you pack the tennis racquets and the swimsuits, start by answering these five questions:
1. Is your child interested in and asking about camp?
Spring has just sprung – if your child is already asking about going away to camp, take that as a good sign. Children who are self-motivated and interested in attending camp have a greater chance of being successful once they arrive. Point your child to this: It’s My Life, a PBS web site for tweens, which has advice specifically for kids headed to camp. The site even encourages kids to talk to their families first. What mom doesn’t love that tidbit?
2. Can your child manage personal care needs and the tasks of daily living without mom around? On their own?
Overnight camp involves independent living. Does your child get dressed for school without your help? Can he/she fix themselves a snack? Take a shower? Remember to brush their teeth? If they still need help or daily reminders, you don’t have to keep them home (remember, your child will have great camp counselors to care for them), but you may want to encourage more self-reliance, a good quality to have at home, too.
3. How long has your child been away overnight without you? Was it a positive experience?
If your child loves sleepovers and slumber parties (at other people’s houses) transitioning to sleep-away camp may be a breeze. A week at grandma’s isn’t the same as three or four weeks at summer-camp; but if an overnight without you has never worked, do some trial runs before registering your child for camp. My own personal role model, Supernanny, has some great tips for making sleepovers a breeze.
4. Does your child have a healthy respect for adults and listen to instructions?
Life will be much easier for everyone if your child is good at following instructions and is willing to go along with camp rules. Just keep in mind that our kids often reserve their worst behavior for us, their parents, bless them. If your child is well-behaved in school, with coaches and other adults in positions of authority, they should do fine at camp.
5. Is your child willing to try new things?
Life comes at you fast, Ferris Bueller said, and the same is true for summer camp. Each day is filled with new people to meet, new surroundings, and new activities to try. For kids willing to give it a go, there’s no better place to spread their wings than summer camp.
The Bottom Line
No one knows your child like you do – even after you’ve completed all the quizzes and checklists and asked all your friends about their kids’ experiences, the best thing to do is trust your instincts. If you feel it in your gut that your child can handle overnight camp, you’re probably right. Get ready… summer is on its way!
Thanks to stevedepolo and peterblanchard for their pictures!
Susan
