The Starlight Alma Mater is sung after most all-camp gatherings throughout the summer.
As the entire camp sings together in unison, you hear one line that especially represents the vast Camp Starlight community: “Let there be no goodbyes.” At Starlight, while distance may separate us from time to time, the special thing about Camp Starlight is that relationships last forever.
When you reminisce about camp during the winter, you probably think of the lake, the activities, and the fun, but camp is so much more than that…
Through your years as a camper, you have the opportunity to live in a bunk with 8 – 12 of your best friends and spend time with the other 560 campers and 300 amazing staff that also call Camp Starlight their summer home. Unfortunately, you can’t be a camper forever. So, as your days as a camper end, the Starlight community keeps in touch. While campers graduate high school, they foster their camp relationships as friends grow together, but they never forget their summer home. Camp Friends come visit us at camp on our Alumni Day during Olympics to rekindle their camp spirit.
As campers travel off to college and the distance from camp becomes greater, we see camp bonds grow stronger. Bunkmates become college roommates or help each other find college roommates. They become sorority sisters and fraternity brothers. We see bunkmates visit each other while away at school as well as meet together when they are home for the holidays. Camp friends grow closer as time passes because our special Starlight community watches out for one another and deeply cares for each other…
After settling into college many former campers reunite at Camp Starlight as they return as counselors to give back to the place they love. We are privileged to watch former campers become role models for the next generation of campers. It is truly something special to watch our former campers take on leadership roles as they are called upon to be Lieutenants, Sing Leaders, and Generals during Olympics.
After college, many of our alumni move to the same cities where they can continue to cherish their camp relationships and connections. Friends hang together on weekends and even attend some of our Alumni events. Many camp friends become bridesmaids and groomsmen at each other’s weddings. Some of those weddings are even to marry a camp couple who fell in love. The cherry on top is a camp couple with camp bridesmaids and groomsmen getting married at Camp Starlight. That is really something special.
The Starlight community not only has social benefits but can help boost your professional life as well. Leaning on the alumni network might even land you a new job.
Friends become colleagues, and colleagues become business partners. Before you know it, the two best friends from Bunk One now own a multi-million dollar corporation…
Of course, after the wedding season, the Future Starlighter comes next. Alumni then have the special experience of watching their own children grow up at their home away from home. Alumni campers become bunkmates with other alumni friends, further growing the Starlight network. We come together each visiting day to reconnect and rekindle old friendships. At Starlight, time and distance between our camp friends are meaningless because we “let there be no goodbyes.”
Some Alumni are fortunate enough to watch their grandchildren grow up at Camp Starlight. Third generation Starlight campers who have had both a parent and grandparent grow up at Camp Starlight share a lifetime of memories and friendships.
The Starlight Family is forever. The bonds of Camp Starlight carry us through our lifetime and are passed down from generation to generation. As we grow older, we pass the torch onto our youngest Starlighters to carry our traditions on for generations to come.
