Author: PineForest

It’s incredibly natural to go into apocalyptic mode this month.

You know what we’re talking about:

What do you want your last meal to be?
Do you want to see a final movie tonight or just relax and hug?
When would you like to take Rover for a final walk?
How about Grandma and Grandpa? Let’s give them one final call!
Give your sister one huge final good kiss goodnight! You won’t again till August!

We know you’re well-meaning, but we have some advice for what it’s worth: Stop. STOP! You’re freaking them out! Let’s all try to remain normal and happy and calm. Be cool! Let’s enjoy final pre-camp moments but not belabor them. Let’s focus not on what your kids are missing at home but what they’re about to embark upon at camp. In our experience, end-of-world conversations and conversations focusing on home breed anxiety for a number of reasons. Here are a few of those reasons, and here’s what your kids may be thinking: I don’t know what I want my last meal to be! Oh my gosh, but what if I pick the wrong one and I want mom’s mac & cheese tomorrow and I can’t have it! How can I live with that regret! I hadn’t thought about seeing a movie or walking Rover, and I’d sort of forgotten that I wasn’t hugging my little sister goodnight all summer. AH! That’s scary! Am I SURE I want to give all of this up?

Of course the answer is a resounding “YES!” The gifts of camp are immeasurable and what they’ll be experiencing in a few days is life-changing. So let’s not focus on a final tuck-in or that one last hug. Keep your kids happy and focused on moving forward towards camp. Will you treasure those final moments? YES! Should you talk about them with your kids? Probably not. We’ll say it again: play it cool.

Smile, keep calm, talk about the great adventure they’re about to have. “Goodnight, Honey. I love you, and I’m so excited for you” always works. It’ll make it easier for your kids to get on the bus, and it’ll give them the courage to get off that bus once they’ve arrived “Up Where the Sky Begins.” We’ll take it from there!

A Note from the Health Center to our Camp Parents:

We’d like to take a moment to share our plan of action for an increased risk associated with tick, flea and mosquito bites throughout the United States. Camp has been taking steps to minimize exposure for our campers and prevent the spread of disease. In addition to the measures outlined below, camp regularly consults with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations to update our protocols.

Prevention

• Outside lawn chemical professionals have been hired to treat all fields and field perimeters with flea and tick control as well as areas around bunks, buildings, and activity areas with flea and tick control.
• All trails and paths at camp are treated with flea and tick control.
• An outside professional pest control company has been contracted to regularly treat for rodents, etc.
• Grass is cut frequently and brush is trimmed back in regularly trafficked areas.
• Application of CDC approved bug spray throughout the day as needed for activities in wooded areas. There are also bug spray stations throughout camp.

Education and Practice

• All counselors have training sessions on ticks and the counselor’s roles in health care, including
  • Hygiene, shower hour self-check prompting, tick checks after hikes, walks in the woods, and campfires
  • Basic tick prevention, best practices, bug and bite identification
  • Camper clothing coverage, including long pants and sleeves on hikes
  • Avoiding brushy areas, high grass and leaf litter.  Walking in the center of trails.
• Nurse education during training
  • Tick checks, identification, removal
• Full body checks after all hikes and walks in wooded areas.
  • A note: Nurses and counselors prompt campers to self check in and around the bathing suit area.
• Check clothing.

Please don’t hesitate to call us with questions or concerns. We will stay vigilant!

The Health Center

Hi, Moms + Dads!

It’s that time of year again! Time to think packing! This is a reminder to keep it simple! Less is more. Camp is a simpler life, so don’t overdo it. What fits into a cubby and a top shelf is all that a camper needs. Everything should be able to fit into TWO DUFFEL BAGS – no more!

We know the packing list may seem overwhelming at first, especially for our newest PFC families. Here are a few outside-of-the-box tips we thought we’d share.

1) Our camp colors are BLUE AND GOLD and during our Color Days events, campers are split into teams of those colors. Pack your camper with one or two items of each color (it doesn’t have to be solid). That way, your child is prepared for membership to either team! Hey, maybe throw in a cool bandana or two.

2) Your campers are never too old for pre-addressed envelopes or postcards. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and best family friends are definitely not getting that letter you promised unless it’s over-the-top easy for your camper to send. (Pre-address envelopes home too. It’s one less step for your camper to take while he or she is running to the mailbox on the way to tennis!)

3) Don’t buy expensive clothes,  jeans or bathing suits. Don’t pack twelve throw pillows. We are limiting pillows to one regular pillow and one decorative pillow.  Don’t pack anything you don’t want going in the laundry.

4) Everything packed for camp should be able to fit in the 4 shelves of a cubby and the few feet of an overhead shelf. There are also small shelves for each camper in the bathroom for toiletries. If you’re worried that your camper may STILL need more storage space, we recommend long plastic storage containers that fit under his or her bed. There are 14.5 inches between the floor and the bottom of the bed. But these extra storage boxes are usually not necessary.

5) You’ve probably heard the term “shoe bag” thrown around. At camp, shoe bags are often used to hang up on the wall and store extra “stuff” in (think flashlight, hair brush, etc.).  No, your camper doesn’t need it. But they may want it! It’s up to you!

6) Leave the electronics at home! No matter what you hear from friends about other camps, PFC parents don’t sneak them into their campers’ bags! Our parents are rule-followers, and our campers follow their parents’ lead.

Camp is many things, like making new friends, having fun at activities and learning new skills. But at its core, going to camp is a return to nature. It is a simpler life, unplugged but connected to the wonders all around us. Smell the pines! Breathe in fresh mountain air! Listen to the sound of crickets at night! Feel the warmth of the sun on your shoulders. Happy Earth Day from Greeley, PA, “Up Where the Sky Begins.”

Here’s a short Earth Day quiz, Greeley edition!

What is the Pennsylvania state flower that can be found throughout our beautiful camp, just beginning to bud during this time of year?
Answer: The Mountain Laurel

What environmentally important site is located in Milford, Pennsylvania, one of the closest towns to camp?
Answer: Grey Towers in Milford is the original 1900 site of the Yale School of Forestry Summer Camp!

Who lived at Grey Towers, Milford and is known as the “Father of American Conservation”?
Answer: Gifford Pinchot

Every summer, campers canoe the Delaware and Lackawaxen rivers. The two rivers converge in Lackawaxen Pennsylvania, a beautiful spot very close to camp. What famous American bird do campers frequently see there, soaring high above them?
Answer: The American Bald Eagle. Lackawaxen is home to 200 bald eagles!

Camp is located in Pike County, named after Zebulon Motgomery Pike. What famous mountain did he discover and where is it located?
Answer: Pike’s Peak, Colorado

Bonus Question!
Our camp was one of the first camps in American to win the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Award. Which of these things didn’t we do to earn it?
1) Change all light bulbs to LED
2) Cover the pools with special pool covers to preserve heat and lower use of energy
3) Recycle waste
4) Change from disposable dishes to reusable dishware
5) Hang underwear from the flagpole

A Roadblock to Snowplowing?  Summer Camp.

A note from Mickey Black:

You may have been hearing a lot lately about “Snowplow” parents, those who move everything and anything out of the way to smooth the road for their children on the path of life.  In my opinion, many  of these parents may even do so unwittingly, with the best of intentions, but not in their child’s best long–term interest. What’s an effective  way to prevent that?  Send them off to a great camp like Pine Forest.

My daughter and co-director, Anna Black Morin, a parent of two girls of her own, Ruby and Hattie (Hattie is named after her great, great grandfather and PFC’s founder Hughie Black), put it this way:

“Snowplow parents prepare the road for kids. Responsible parents prepare kids for the road. One concrete way to prepare kids for the road is to give the gift of a good, scratch that, a great residential, long-term, old-fashioned summer camp!

You don’t build resilience by eliminating struggle. You build resilience by normalizing it: teaching kids to see obstacles as temporary hurdles. Homesickness! Conflict with a friend! Advocating for yourself! Advocating for a friend! Trying something new (that might take practice)! Making decisions independent of your parents! The gifts of these experiences become immeasurable.

Camp is less than 100 days away, and this generation needs it now more than ever. And not just because it’s screen free, but there’s that too!”