Month: July 2015

Spotlight on: CAs!

Posted on by PineForest

After all of this talk and excitement about the Senior and Hi Senior trips, we thought it might be fun for you to hear about our CA trips! During the second half of the summer, our CAs go on trips to Boston, Washington, DC, and New York City to check out several area colleges. It’s a good way for them to get a feel for what kind of college would be a good fit for them. Do I want a city school? Do I want a small school? Could I envision myself as one of the students I just saw in the dining hall? Does the school offer a major I’m interested in? The list goes on! There’s nothing like experiencing colleges alongside your camp friends.

Their first stop was Boston. On their first day there, they got to spend some time exploring Newbury Street and went to a restaurant that offers made to order stir fry! They then checked into the Boston University dorms where they would be spending the next couple of nights. On day two, they took a tour of Northeastern University, ate lunch on campus, then headed back to BU for a tour. Next up: Quincy Market! Day three started at Tufts University, where our CAs had an information session, tour, and lunch on campus. What a productive three days!

7237e747-e900-4d8c-a14e-0d167e1115af

On Monday, the CAs are headed to The District! When they arrive, they will get to explore a museum of their choice, followed by dinner at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl! After spending the night at American University, they will head to George Washington University for a tour and lunch – then back to American for a tour! Their night will be spent enjoying dinner and movie at Gallery Place. As their trip comes to a close, they will be stopping by the University of Maryland on the way back to Greeley for a tour.

That brings us to New York City! On August 12th, the CAs will be taking a day trip to The Big Apple where, as you can imagine, it’s easy to fill a day! They will be taking tours of New York University and Columbia University and will have time to hang out in Union Square and Times Square. They’ll end their final college trip of the summer with dinner at a Food Network approved barbeque restaurant in Times Square!

 

Parents, we’re glad we could knock out some of those college tours for you and we can’t wait to hear your CAs’ feedback!

Welcome, TOP Cooks Camp!

Posted on by PineForest

We are so happy our Seniors and Hi-Seniors are home safely from their trips!  We’re all back together again and even enjoyed popsicles after dinner!  Our 7th graders relaxed in the Adirondacks, the 8th graders enjoyed Ben and Jerry’s in Burlington, Vermont, the 9th graders enjoyed a Red Sox game, and our 10th graders bobsledded like Olympic gold medalists.

We’re holding TOP Cooks Camp at Pine Forest this week.  Campers from all over came together to spend time with our fabulous campers and learn about cooking!  Today, Philadelphia’s own Chef Poon put on a culinary performance in the Dining Hall making wontons, dumplings, and watermelon sculptures!
We love having our TOP Cooks campers in Greeley for the week and anxiously await taste-testing whatever they whip up in the kitchen tomorrow!
IMG_6654

Lower Camp (Still) Rules!

Posted on by PineForest

Today was day two of lower camp takeover. The day started with waffles with whipped cream – it doesn’t get much better than that! We beat the morning heat at our pool luau and had pizza for lunch, during which there was no shortage of singing. We had Mr. and Mrs. PFC this afternoon, followed by dinner and a coed social! The theme? Nerds and jocks! We can’t wait to show you the pictures! Speaking of which, we’ll have many pictures posted tomorrow night from our senior trips. We can’t wait to have them back at camp TONIGHT! It just wasn’t the same without them!

IMG_4383

PFC U on the Road!

Posted on by PineForest

Can you believe it’s already time for senior trips?!  Our 9s and 10s had on-time departures and a seamless border crossing bright and early this morning! Curious as to what they’re up to? We thought so! Below are some highlights.

9th Grade Trip to New England:
-Quincy Market and Fanieul Hall
-New England Aquarium
-Freedom Trail
-Red Sox game at Fenway Park
-Old Orchard Beach and Palace Playground
-Tennis Hall of Fame
-Touro Synagogue
-Brick Market Place

10th Grade Trip to Montreal
-Laser Quest
-Jet boating on the Lachine Rapids
-La Ronde Amusement Park
-Lake Placid Olympic Sport Complex
-Catherine Street

…And we didn’t even mention the amazing meals and downtown sightseeing! Can we please be campers again?

IMG_4285

Spirits High!

Posted on by PineForest

It’s the day after Visiting Day. The tents are still up and so is our spirit. What a day it was, happy families, friendly counselors, and beautiful weather.  Thanks to every mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and uncle who attended.  It was a perfect day!  And thank you also for the record-breaking early enrollments. It was our best ever early registration. Amazing!

After the last car left Mitchell Field, we were all in the pools for general swim, ate a light dinner (after all that food from home), and enjoyed two incredible evening activities: MTV Night for the girls and a huge campfire for the boys. Even our Explorers got into the act!

Today it was back to “normal” with touch football, basketball leagues, and full tilt activities.

Tomorrow the 9th and 10th grade trips head out and before you know it, Color Days will be around the corner.  The second half of camp flies by (but hopefully not too fast!).

PFC

VISITING DAY: TOMORROW!!

Posted on by PineForest

How does your cubbie look? Is that bed made with hospital corners? Has that toothpaste been used lately?  Why is this shampoo bottle still full? It must be get-ready-for-Visiting-Day-Friday!

And we’re ready! Nails clipped, hair brushed, clean socks and official shirts. We even made some welcome signs in our bunks!

Tonight we have services followed by the camp show, “The Little Mermaid”.  Tomorrow is the day we welcome you to our summer home. Come one, come all! Pine Forest Camp’s 85th Visiting Day!

As a reminder, below is our schedule! We can’t WAIT to see you!

11:30AM – 3:00 PM: Visiting and lunch, activities and pool open.
1:00PM – 2:30 PM: Enjoy camp in action!
– Courts & Fields Open: 11:30-3:00PM
– Ropes Open: 1:00PM – 2:30PM
– Boys & Girls Pool Open: 12:00PM-2:30PM
2:00 PM: 10 Year Tree Ceremony
3:00 PM: Camper good-byes and departure

Featured Events

– Basketball Clinic with Chad on Chadwin Court – 1:00PM
– Soccer Clinic with former English Premier League Footballer, Gordon Hill, on Leslee Field – 1:30PM
– Show Review – 1:30PM – Netsy Playhouse
– 10 Year Tree Ceremony – 2:00PM – Old Timers Park

PFC

The View from Hughie Hall

Posted on by PineForest

If you go on the upper right corner of our website, under the weather it says “details.”  Click on that and you get the weather report from our very own station! There’s a camera that gives real time views from the roof of Hughie Hall.  The time lapse is amazing! See the sun rise “up where the sky begins.”

Here’s the link:
http://weather.weatherbug.com/weather-safety/online-weather-center/OnlineWeatherCenter.aspx?aid=4693

The good news is that it’s looking beautiful for Saturday’s Visiting Day! So visitors, wear your sunscreen and hats!

weather pic

Around camp today it was also a beautiful day. Gordon Hill, British soccer legend, former Manchester United star, and top flight coach, conducted a series of clinics with every camper included. Dribbling, shooting, defense, and more,  all  drills were fun and lively. Tomorrow he will work with those competitive campers who want to gain an extra edge on their soccer game.

And what could be better than a barbeque lunch in the picnic grove in this glorious Pocono weather?! Two words: Grove Day! It’s the best! Also today, there was a 9 and under basketball game against our brother camp, Lake Owego and baseball at home.

The excitement grows for our 85th Visiting Day! We’re sprucing up for a day of fun and family. It’s less than 2 days away (but who’s counting?)!!

Spontaneous Dance Party!

Posted on by PineForest

At about 9:00pm last night, if you were walking down Junior Alley, you could hear a beat coming from the only bunk with all of its lights on: Elm. The closer you came to the bunk, the louder the beat got. Looking in the windows, you could see heads bopping and hear hands clapping. Open the door and it was bedlam; break dancing, bed jumping, high fives, and a lot of laughter. It was a full on, all Junior boys, spontaneous, dance off! Who was the coolest, the silliest, the wackiest? Check out those moves! Counselors too. The joint was jumpin’! Finally, Division Leader Matt told them they had to go to bed. And so they stopped dancing…until they COULDN’T and the next dance-off broke out! Stay tuned!

And in the meantime, “everybody form a line”!

b6d0a265-e810-4762-8327-778f61feeebc

This just in! Our weather camera was featured on our local NBC affiliate’s weather report this morning! Awesome!

To Greeley…and Beyond!

Posted on by PineForest

Although College Day 2015 has come to a close, the action continues at PFC and even outside of camp! Our Juniors spent the day at Costa’s Family Fun Park, which is a place they look forward to visiting every summer (not just because of the soft serve!). They got to ride go karts, water slides, and bumper boats, play mini golf and arcade games, and hit the batting cages. Not bad for a Tuesday! Many of our older campers had the opportunity to go waterskiing on beautiful Lake Wallenpaupack, while our dancers competed in a dance competition!

Up next? Gordon Hill’s soccer clinic, our first play of 2015, the rest of the division trips to Costa’s, and a hiking trip at the Delaware Water Gap! Oh to be a camper again…

Costas