Wilt Chamberlain: PFC Alum…Sort of.

53 years ago today, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single basketball game. Did you know that before Wilt was famous, he worked in the kitchen at PFC!? He was actually “asked to leave”, but later came back to visit after much fame and fortune.

Some remember that when Wilt rode a horse out on Route 6 (not allowed nowadays) his feet would drag on the ground! We’re guessing that if Wilt played in one of our counselor basketball games today, he’d likely score 100 points again.

Here he is signing autographs and posing with Uncle Marv & Mickey.

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The Best Internship Around: Camp Counselor

Many people will tell you that the key to a successful future in the workplace is a solid internship related to your field of (potential) expertise.  While that may be true for a lot of people and a lot of careers, a job as a camp counselor can give you the skills to succeed in not only the workplace, but in all aspects of your life.  We’ve come up with three major things a summer camp job has the potential to provide, but like anything else, you get out what you put in.

Confidence

One of summer camp’s greatest qualities is its appreciation for individuality.  The most notable counselors are the ones who sing the loudest, dress the craziest, and are willing to participate in any and all activities that his or her campers come up with.  At camp, it’s hard to feel embarrassed.  It is surprisingly easy to step out of your comfort zone and into the uninhibited summer camp lifestyle.

Selflessness

While being a camp counselor can give you a great deal of self-understanding and important life skills, the most successful counselors are those who are not at camp for themselves, but for the campers.  Camp teaches you how to put the needs of your campers, or of any group, above your own.  In order to deal with confrontations, homesickness, shower hour, and anything else that comes your way in the bunk, you have to know how to prioritize.  As camp counselor, you are truly a surrogate parent for your campers and, while their problems may seem small to you, to them they are big and should be treated accordingly.

Leadership Ability

At camp, campers do not judge your ability to show them how to kick a soccer ball, make a friendship bracelet, or ride a zip line.  We find that campers instantly idolize a counselor’s ability to do anything, giving you a solid platform to develop and transform your leadership skills from the get-go.  You’ve been hired as a camp counselor and specialist in a specific activity; your accountability is already there.  This gives you the time to focus on building your character, integrity, commitment, enthusiasm, and open-mindedness.

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A True Counselor Hunt!

What makes PFC great? The people. No question. We take pride in hiring the best counselors around to make each and every summer at Pine Forest exceptional! Former campers, athletes, coaches, teachers, bio-engineers…You name it. We search far and wide to find great people.

Last week, one of our directors, Lee, went overseas to Manchester, London and Krakow (Poland!!) to search for a few sensational international specialist counselors for activities including: Ropes, Aquatics, Waterfront, Outdoor Rec., and much more! There’s nothing like meeting applicants in person.

Here are some new faces to look forward to seeing this summer at PFC!

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We love our new campers!

Beginning tomorrow, PFC kicks-off a whirlwind weekend filled with new camper events!

A great opportunity for new campers to meet one another, eat some pizza and get excited for the 2015 summer!

Saturday Jan. 11th – Playdrome in Devon: 1 – 3pm

Sunday Jan. 12th – The Field House at Chelsea Piers: 1:30p – 3:30p

Any questions? Call us. 267-639-2488

SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND!!!!

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Finding An Overnight Camp That’s Truly Worth It.

You may have seen the blog “The Opposite of Spoiled” by Ron Leiber that appeared in the New York Times on December 11th, entitled “Finding an Overnight Camp that’s Truly Worth It.” If not, it’s worth the read. Leiber raises five “essential” questions that parents should ask when choosing a summer camp that is truly worth it. Here are the questions from the article and our answers. We think that they truly set Pine Forest apart, above and beyond others. Read on!

1) “Where are other children going?”

As Leiber says, this is a trick question. There is a natural instinct to send your child to the same camp as his or her friends in the neighborhood. The answer should be that a worthwhile overnight camp has a diversity of geographic areas represented. Overnight camp friends should not be the same as friends at home. That’s the biggest difference from day camp. Every child has friends from home and school, but let camp introduce him to a whole new group of friends, some that span great distances, with different interests, styles and stories. Let your child reinvent him or herself!  An investment in camp should broaden a child’s circle of friends and prepare him or her for making connections in college, in the work place and in life!

Here’s an interesting statistic: At PFC we have campers from 114 towns, 15 states and 4 countries. There’s a whole world of new friends out there, and they might be living right in your cabin!

2) “What are the retention figures?

This is one of our favorites. Once a child starts at camp there is a 90% return the next year. This continues until “graduating” as 11th graders. Our retention rates are truly amazing. The author asks if we do follow up on those few who don’t return, and of course we do. Every camper is an integral part of our camp family. Honestly, the few children who depart before their final year do so for reasons unrelated to camp, a family trip is planned, a team requires practice at home, etc.

The blog also asks the retention rate of counselors and the percentage of counselors who are former campers. Here’s an answer that you might not expect: first as to counselor retention, our standards are high. Counselors are not automatically asked to return, in fact we are very selective about who meets our standards. Also, the truth is that not every former camper makes a great counselor. The transition is not easy. Not every young adult can make the change from being the one who is looked after to the person who does the looking after. New counselors bring new ideas, new energy and a gung-ho spirit, that not every former camper possesses.  Our experience and firm belief is that the best counselor team is a mix, new and old. We want the most enthusiastic, positive role models for campers, whomever they are!

3) “What can they do here that they can’t do at home?” 

Here’s the beginning of a truly endless list that starts with wake-up and goes till lights-out. Good morning, it’s group clean up, then off to rock-climbing, mountain biking, martial arts, sailing, canoeing the rapids of the Delaware. Travel with your camp basketball team to play another camp. Experience Capture the Assagi, join a dance team, start a rock band, hike the Appalachian Trail, overnight in a yurt, cook wood-burning pizza, visit a Triple A small-town baseball game, act in a bunk skit, link arms with a whole camp and sing songs around a campfire that have been sung for generations.

And by the way, we try not to do things that you do at home. So on trips we stay in college dorms-not hotels, we don’t normally go to amusement parks, bowling, movie theaters. It’s on purpose! You can do that at home with your parents!

4) “What makes your camp unique?”

To us, that really is the most important question. Our camp organization is 85 years old and has been in one family for 5 generations. There are thousands of camps in the USA, hundreds that are old but very few, if any, can say that. Our longevity and track record is truly unmatched. Our facilities are modern. The range of activity choices, amazing. Our camp staff is second to none, filled with coaches and teachers and camp folk. The ratio of staff to campers, almost 2:1. We have a rare range of campers from all over. But it’s our 5 generations, 85 years, of down-to-earth, friendly, warm, accepting, earthy, kids of character who make Pine Forest unique.

5) “Can you tell me about the ties that bind?”

Here the author is really asking about the soul of a camp.  He mentions his daughter, at lineup, watching two staff members honored who fell in love and became engaged at camp. He’s speaking to a sense of self, a sense of identity that links a person to his or her camp for all of time.

All you have to do is look around Pine Forest to see our ties that bind: from names on courts and fields to our Old Timers Tree and memory wall spanning generations. As you probably know, we keep in touch with campers and alumni during the off-season in ways that go above and beyond any other camps we know of. Between reunions, local get-togethers, alumni events in cities around the country, and alumni Facebook pages, Pine Forest Camp is with our campers, in their daily lives, long after they’re campers. If you’ve never done so, just take a minute to check out our online database of Old Timers Tree names or our Married Couples Who Met at Camp link. Both speak to the heart and soul of camp, and that heart and soul is you: each and every past, present or future camper who spends one summer or ten in Greeley, PA.

What a Thrill: An Alumni’s Perspective!

I went to PFC in the late 80‘s/early 90’s.  I started as a high senior 9 and continued on for the next 5 years into the counselor years.  Some of the best years of my life thus far.  I stopped only because it was time to get an internship “in the real world.”  It was not my choice, that’s for sure.

Fast forward many years, I am now a Mom of two childen at PFC…a13 year old girl, who will start her fifth summer as a high senior 9 and a 10 year old boy going into his second summer as an Inter 5.  I was an Inter 5 counselor and some of my then campers now have kids at camp as well!  How old that makes us all feel goes without saying!

When we started our family camp search, we researched a few camps.  I told myself what was right for me may not be right for my children.  PIne Forest was all I wanted for them but I tried to be fair and open.  It was my daughter who knew right away that Pine Forest was for her.  Perhaps her 2nd generation status wooed her a bit, but she said she just got “a feeling” the second she saw PFC.  She’s so my kid.

As I tell my children, PFC was my happy place for many years in my youth but it’s now theirs.  I try not to bombard them with memories and stories and resist the urge to point out pictures of me on the Hughie and dining hall walls.  They’re building their own memories now and the time is all theirs.  But as I’ve learned, PFC is still a place in all of our hearts.  The same incredible Black family still owns and runs it, 5 generations, 85 years strong.  A lot of course has changed with the times, but so much has remained the same.  Just how we would want it to be.

Sometimes you don’t know how much something means to you until you come back again and see it through the eyes of your children.  I encourage you to give camp a call, check out their website, schedule a meeting with one of the team and consider giving your child the gift of PFC, just as your parents did.  Give yourself the thrill of a lifetime, getting to watch your child walk the same hills, play on the same fields and sit in the same Netsy benches for Friday night services as you did!  It really is a rare and special gift, not only for your children, but for yourself!

– Hillary Lane Slovin

A Day in the Life: Pine Forest Camp (Video)

See what it’s like to be a Pine Forest Camper! All of this footage was shot in one day at camp this past summer.

THANKS!

As we embark on our 85th summer, we want to express our heartfelt thanks for the 4 generations of campers and counselors who have been a part of Pine Forest Camp.

From the tree tops of Lauri Field to the shores of Lake Greeley, from Juniors to mighty Hi-Seniors, from great –grandparents to great –grandchildren, thank you all.

Every camp tells a story. Whether you went to PFC for one summer or ten, you have written Pine Forest’s story and it is filled with fun, friendship and love.

Keep the memories alive and the friendships strong, not just in summer but in every season of the year and of your life. Wherever you are, Pine Forest is with you. And after all of these years and all of those generations, that is a lot to be thankful for.

Happy 85th! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Camp T-Shirt Day!

All over the USA (and the world…!) PFC campers, counselors and alumni are wearing BLUE & GOLD. That’s pretty cool!

We’re into it, but, feel free to wear your PFC gear everyday!

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A Reunion History!

Here are some fun facts about the Pine Forest Camp reunion over the years…

– In addition to parent drop-off, campers are coming by bus from: Maryland, Livingston and Westchester. Do you know of another camp that does that!?

– One year, we had a camper come all the way from Caracas, Venezuela (Note: camp did not provide the plane…).

– Over the years we’ve had our reunion at some pretty interesting locations: The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, The Marriot Hotel (on City Line Ave.), Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, WXPN World Cafe Live and even at camp!

– The reunion was once at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, featured in the movie, Silver Lining Playbook.

– Reunions used to be 5 hours long. What were they thinking!?

– Over the years, our reunion gifts have been: frisbees, yo-yos, book covers, flashlights, rulers. What will is be this year!?! Let’s just say, we’re keeping the ‘door open’…

– There used to be a lot speeches. Like, too many. Now it’s just fun & friends.

– We’re changing the location next year! This will be our last reunion at the Funplex! It’s crazy, noisy and fun! Any suggestions for next year!?

SEE YOU ON NOVEMBER 2nd at THE FUNPLEX in MT. LAUREL, NJ.DSC00529

 

(80th reunion at camp).