Summer Camp Memories

I remember being very nervous about 6th grade camp. It was a weekender, so we had to sleep in bunks and take showers together, cook together, hang out together. It was one thing to sit in class with these people, but to just hang out with them? What in the world would I say?

One very vibrant memory, and I have no idea why this one remains with me, was learning to wash dishes for 60 people. My 6th grade teacher, Miss Castellanos, stopped me as I washed one fork at a time, and showed me how she and her sisters developed a sytem where they held 4 forks at a time in one hand and scrubbed them all at once with the other. Ever since that time, I've washed silverware in this manner and I think about Miss Castellanos.

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Permalink Reply by Krysia Bailey on March 13, 2010 at 3:59pm: I went to Camp Santa Maria, up in the mountains here, in Colorado, every summer for a week. Some years, it was awesome, some year- not. We had cabins with individual beds. There would be 5 or 6 girls to a cabin (it was a co-ed camp) and 1 teen-age "leader." These leaders led us to all our activities, made sure we didn't flirt too much with the boys, and kept us from fighting with each other.
I do have some very positive memories of Camp Santa Maria. The best one though, isn't of the camp itself, but the drive to the camp. My mom drove me up there once. Just the two of us. Which, in a family of 7, one on one time is a big deal. It was a beautifully clear, crisp mountain morning and I remember having a wonderful discussion with my mom. Not a lecture, not an argument, just me and my mom, driving to camp. It was one of the most peaceful moments I think I have ever had with my mom and one that I have treasured throughout all the years that separate me from that morning.
So, thanks, Mom and Dad, for sending me to Camp Santa Maria. You gave me some great memories.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Trudy Thomas on March 13, 2010 at 5:16pm: How touching. Thanks for sharing.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joy Garscadden on March 13, 2010 at 7:15pm: When I was a little tomboy, probably in kindergarten, my mother put me in pee wee cheerleading day camp. I sat in the back and was asked to leave after I was caught throwing pebbles at the pretty blonde girls in the front! Definitely not the example I want my little girl to follow!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Victoria Garcia on March 13, 2010 at 7:45pm: As a kid I remember going to several day camp activities, one overnight camp and one week long camp. All the camps were a blast!

The day camps had everything from tie-dying t-shirts to making sand candles to learning songs in sign-language. The overnight camp was a Girl Scout Winter Survival challenge. During this January camp experience in California we learned to determine which animal left the prints around the camp, how to read and make path signs using sticks and stones, how to set up and put out a campfire safely and correctly, and more. Naturally, the best part of camp were roasting the marshmallows for the s'mores, and the scary stories (all the troops joined together to see who had the scariest stories). We were supposed to sleep in our bags all night long, but our leader couldn't handle the cold so she woke us in the middle of the night and we snuck into her heated camper. We snuck back out before everyone else was awake. We got the recognition for completing the camp, but we had to fess up about the warm sleeping arrangements.

The week long camp was a Horse camp in Nebraska...nearly every girls' dream! On the first day we got to choose our own horse for the week. We learned how to saddle them up and bridle them. Every morning we were responsible for going to the field, leading them to the barn and saddling them up ourselves. We weren't allowed to get on the horse until the saddle had been checked. I was the only one that got stepped on, but my horse was so ornery it refused to move when three of us pushed on it! No broken bones, but I found out just how heavy and stubborn horses can be! After saddling up, we'd go for a guided ride all morning long across the fields and down the roads. During our "down" time we went sliding down a mudbank (not a camp for girls afraid of dirt), a hike across the fields just because, midnight hikes hunting for "Snipe", or played in the game room. I met a lot of neat people that week.

On the last day of camp, we had a rodeo for the parents to see our new skills. We had several races, including the Diaper Race which I and my partner won (babysitting had come in handy! I rode my horse across the corrall at top speed, jumped off at the other end where my partner waited with a VeRy LARGE cloth diaper and two pins. I had to pin the diaper on her without pinning it to her clothes and it had to stay on her as she walked the horse back to the other side. If the diaper fell off, you had to start over! Needless to say, ours was the only diaper to stay on--Yippee Ki Yay!!!).

We also tried a barrel race in which the we had to gallop across the corrall, loop around a barrel, and return to start--twice. My horse got a head start, speeding across the sand. BUT then, right in front of the barrel, it stopped...walked carefully around the barrel...then took off running again! It did this every time it came to the barrel. At one point, while running next to another horse, I got overconfident and took my feet out of the stirrups. At that very moment, I thought I'd slipped in the saddle. I found out later that my horse had gotten too close to the other rider and for some reason it bucked! I thought it was COOL! I'd been bucked but stayed on!

No matter the type of camp, getting to meet others was the most fun. I still have a few friends from each of those camps!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Theresa Fletcher on March 13, 2010 at 8:22pm: Ah....summer camp! I hold it near and dear to my heart, as I met my future-husband at a summer camp in NH when we were 14. He was from Long Island, NY, and I was from NH, so when the week of summer camp was over, we visited each other numerous times. This lasted for about five years, then he joined the military and left the country, and I moved to Colorado. We kept in touch through letters, email, etc, and reunited in September, 2008. Hard to believe that if it had not been for summer camp, we would've never met!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ashley McGowan on March 14, 2010 at 6:56am: What great memories. I love the diaper relay!! I'm going to try and bring it to our Gymkhana (mini-rodeo) event!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ashley McGowan on March 14, 2010 at 7:05am: My mom had gone to an away camp when she was growing up and hated it - mostly the competition aspect of it - which meant when I was younger she didn't even think about sending my sister or I to camp. In 4th grade I decided to go to camp. After lots of convincing, my mom and I went to a summer opportunities / camp fair. I picked out Sanborn in CO, she picked out a sailing camp in Maine. After more than a few phone calls to the camp director, I was enrolled.

Five weeks away from home was one of the best times I had. I spent my 10th birthday on an overnight in the rain with 9 other girls and 2 awesome counselors. I think it is one of the best birthdays I have had. I spent time riding, camping, I even climbed my first 14er that year.

I was able to go back for four more years as a camper. In college I returned as a counselor and wrangler. I think one of the best things I got out of my camp experience was my group of friends. I still keep in touch with the girls from my cabin. Two of the very cool wranglers when I was a camper are on the year-round staff with me now and we are all good friends.

It is amazing the connections you make with people. I had girls in my cabin from across the country, and even a couple of other countries. I don't know if we would have had anything in common if we met in a different setting. We were brought together by camp - trying new things, going new places, understanding and coming into ourselves.

I know that I was lucky to go to such a unique camp when I was growing up. I had experiences that I will never forget. And I have friends that I will never lose.; ▶ Reply to This