Because of Camp....

Since Tuesday, February 16, I have heard that phrase a lot. I was at the National American Camp Association Conference in Denver for four days and Because of Camp...is the basis of their public service announcement campaign. We had the opportunity to hear how Because of Camp Keri Strug, a Olympic gymnast, learned to be a team player and how Luis Benitez led a climbing expedition to Mt Everest that included one member who was blind because of his camping experience as a youth.

Listening to these stories, and watching the PSA that is on You Tube filled with celebrities is maybe a little intimidating to compare to our own camp experiences. However that is exactly what I have been doing over the past couple of days. At the Friends of Pendola More Than S'mores event on Saturday, February 20, I spoke briefly about Because of Camp and made the statement that it was because of camp I am the person who I am today. That too is a pretty lofty statement and also doesn't say a lot. So I have been trying to reflect on what that means.

Because of Camp I have learned lifeskills. Everything from how to cook to how to fix a toilet that won't stop running. Many times during my young adult life, I would do a task...or make a suggestion and someone would ask, "How did you learn to do that?" Invariably the answer would be "At Camp". It took me a long time to realize that my camp experience made many of my skills and experiences unique.

Because of Camp I sent my own child to camp. He had both day camping and overnight camp experiences. Now it is nearing the time for my grandchildren to begin camp. I was ready to say 3 generations of campers until I remembered my Dad was a camper and was probably instrumental in my first camp experience. I remember him telling how his mother made him and his brother go to camp and how homesick they were at first. I also know that the hand carved totem poles on my living room wall that he carved while a camper where objects among his most cherished.

So if you are considering a camp experience for a child for the first time, please know that camp offers an opportunity for children to learn many things. Each person's experience is different. And if you had a camping experience, your "Because of Camp" statement is not the same as mine. Regardless of the experience, even if the only thing remembered is the bugs and the dirt, the perseverance and resilience to overcome the challenges of being away from home, living with people you have just met, and being independent enough to put on insect repellent when reminded, there will be a because of camp experience that will make a difference in the life yet to live.

I hope that you will consider Camp Pendola for a camp experience this summer and that this "camp up in the pines" will provide one of those because of camp statements that is remembered a lifetime.

Miss Lori