Tag: coed sleepaway camp

Hiding Behind My Sunglasses

Posted on by PineForest

Yes, that will be me this Saturday, hiding behind my sunglasses, holding back my tears. Me, who promotes camp to other parents and me, who believes wholeheartedly in the unparalleled benefits and fun of overnight camp. Even so, that’ll be me.

It doesn’t matter how much you know they’ll love it. It doesn’t matter that you know they’re about to make friends and memories that will last a lifetime. It doesn’t matter that you know they’re about to have more fun than they ever thought imaginable. The bottom line is, letting your child go, allowing and empowering them to spread their wings without you is hard. Really hard. I think of this as the most “selfless” thing we as parents have probably ever done. Putting our needs and wants second to what we know is best for our children is something we do every day, but this is the granddaddy act of them all.

When it comes to camp, I find all the comfort and solace I need knowing my children will be safe, loved and cared for by some of the most amazing people I know. That they will be making friends and living with other amazing children who, like them, just want to have fun and take in all that camp has to offer. Pure, unplugged fun. I will, like you, pour over the posted pictures each night and hang on every word that comes to me in letters. All the while, reminding myself how lucky we all are…the kids who get to go and us parents who get to send them. The summer of 2015, Pine Forest Camp’s 85th summer, is going to be incredible and I truly can’t wait for my children to get there.

Good luck Saturday, parents. I like to keep the morning short and sweet and without a lot of fan-fair. That’s my advice. And, of course, wear your tinted sunglasses :).

Hilary Slovin
Camp Mom

PFC Bus

Letter to Counselors From a Camp Parent

Posted on by PineForest

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This letter from a Pine Forest parent was sent to the office just yesterday and we reprinted it with her permission.

Hello PFC summer staff 2015-

I am a parent sending [my children] to PFC this summer. They are so excited, and we are thrilled and grateful to be able to give them this gift of camp. However, my sleepless pre-camp nights have begun, because letting your children go away and leaving them in the care of others, is not a mother’s natural inclination. It is definitely unsettling.

I tell you this because I want you to know, that in caring for my children this summer, I consider you to have the most important job in the world! You probably have some friends who may be studying in a science lab or working for a judge or taking summer school classes…all to better their resume’ and prepare for their future. But if I were an employer looking to hire…your job as a counselor at camp would far outweigh those supposed resume building experiences. You have an opportunity to really care for and truly influence an individual. If you do it right, you can do anything well! To me, you would be the definition of a successful person.

So, thank you, in advance, for trying your best each and every day, even when it isn’t easy, and thank you for keeping my children safe and happy. You should feel honored and proud to have this most important job!

Enjoy!!

2015 Master Classes!

Posted on by PineForest

We are thrilled to announce that we’re bringing these exciting special guest instructors to camp this summer for ALL campers!

SOCCER: Gordon Hill, a soccer legend! World renowned former Manchester United star and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) “A” licensed coach, the highest coaching designation in Europe.

ART: Steven Charny, PFC alumna and former Art Director at Rolling Stone Magazine will create a special mural with campers.

BASEBALL: Frank Decembrino, Head High School Baseball Coach and Former Associate Scout for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club will host his Elite Baseball Clinic.

CHESS: Danny Kopec, International Master Chess Champion and teacher and Director of TOP Chess Camp.

SELF-DEFENSE AND FITNESS: Eugene Gershman of Krav Maga Centers of America

SPORTS BROADCASTING: Jeremy Treatment, TV play-by-play, color announcer and reporter. Campers will learn and practice the art of sports broadcasting.

ULTIMATE FRISBEE: Philadelphia Spinners Team Members.

DANCE: Kelli Moshen, Owner/Founder of Moshen Dance Project, performer and teacher. Back by popular demand!


And there are even more to come. Stay tuned!

New Family Weekend 2015: Check!

Posted on by PineForest

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Wow! What a weekend! Pine Forest Camp was filled with new families, new friends and fun for the overnight New Family Weekend. The sun shone on a glorious two days at camp. It started with bunk assignments, introductions at Netsy Playhouse, and then families went off for a tour of camp and activities were in full swing. Campers and their brothers and sisters climbed the climbing wall, canoed to Blueberry Island and even inaugurated the boys’ pool, with a splash.

Later in the day, Moms and Dads had a chance to meet the camp leaders at a question and answer session about getting ready for camp, while campers played games and practiced for the talent show campfire.

Barbara served a delicious barbeque chicken dinner with homemade apple cobbler and ice cream for dessert. We all saved room for s’mores at the campfire, and what a campfire it was!  Songs, jokes, skits, karate demonstrations, Rubik’s cube feats, and even yo-yo tricks by Chad.  At the end, both new campers and old, Moms, Dads, and even grandparents, linked arms and sang for the first time this year, the songs that we have been singing around that same campfire for 85 summers, “Taps” and “Friends.”

The next morning, everyone looked settled into camp life in their pajamas as we met for breakfast and goodbyes.  It won’t be long before those new campers are back for the real thing. Hopefully they will be more confident and secure than ever as they arrive at their summer home. The best is yet to come!

Thanks to all for a spectacular New Family Weekend! See you on opening day!!

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Top 10 Ways to Stay Healthy at Camp

Posted on by PineForest

We will be on the look out to take the best care of your kids, but it won’t hurt to review this list!

10. Homesickness – It is real.  So if your camper is talking about not feeling well, also encourage them to focus on feeling happy.  Know that they might be feeling sick but they also might feel H.A.L.T.D (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, Dehydrated).  Ask them to share their concerns but also ask if we can address H.A.L.T.D.

9. Hand washing – In the last 100 years, this might be the most radical change in health.  The amount of bacteria that lurks around campers and activities is high.  We can’t really do much about it but we can wash it away!  Encourage your camper to wash after using the bathroom and before eating.  If they shower on a regular basis (which they do at camp), that helps too!

8.  Bugs – Bugs bite. But how we respond to them is important.  Encourage the camper to not scratch them and turn annoying bites into infected wounds.

7. Ticks – Show your camper what a tick looks like and the importance of self-checks.  Let’s not get involved with Lyme Disease.

6. Wear the right clothing – When hiking, wear long pants and know what poison oak and poison ivy look like.

5. Eat well – Campers are encouraged to make healthy choices.  Fruits and vegetables are available at every meal.  Encourage them to make good choices and to recognize how too much sugar and caffeine might make them feel.

4. Drink water – Send them with a water bottle and beg them to drink water.  Water will help them feel great and enjoy all of those activities they came to do!

3. Actually drink water!! This is very important!

2. Sleep – The best way to make the most of camp and take part in all of the activities is to rest the right amount.

1. Encourage campers to talk to their counselor if they do not feel well.   There is nothing wrong with not feeling well and it is bound to happen over the course of the summer.  Keeping counselors in the know is the most proactive way to stay healthy throughout the summer.

Countdown to New Family Weekend!

Posted on by PineForest

New Family Weekend is just one week away! The comfort and excitement of our new campers and their families is a top priority, so PFC opens its “doors” just three weeks before opening day! It’s our official start-of-summer!

To truly experience camp life in all its glory, each new camper family gets a cabin to stay in overnight. It’s really a perfect way to see the facilities, experience the activities and get a taste of bunk life. This weekend is also a perfect opportunity to meet new friends, their families and our awesome camp leaders.

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There is nothing like these first sounds of summer: children’s laughter echoing throughout camp, balls bouncing on the courts, crickets chirping at night and even the sound of the cabin doors opening and closing. It’s a right of passage for all PFC campers to smell a campfire and taste a s’more. And there is nothing that brings the day to an end like breathing in fresh mountain air, gazing up at millions of stars in the sky, singing “taps and friends” arm-in-arm with incredible children and adults, all with the same goal in mind: becoming acclimated and excited for the best summer ever.

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I attended New Family Weekend last year with my son, my second PFC camper. Having this inside perspective and first-hand experience of what camp is truly like was incredibly valuable for me as a parent. The weekend gave my son (and me!) that extra bit of confidence and comfort, and he made his best friend of the summer that weekend (I made a few new friends as well)!

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Created so that each new camper’s first night at camp, is not actually his or her “first night at camp,” this weekend is truly such fun and so very special. Wishing you a great first camp adventure!

Hillary Slovin
Camp Mom

Sounds of Summer

Posted on by PineForest

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Hi, From Camp!

There are lots of sounds that make me happy- great music, the songs of birds in the morning, the crackle of a campfire at night. But there’s one sound that we hear only once each year and it fills us with joy, excitement and anticipation.

Last week, Barbara and I went up to Greeley (the temperature was down into the 30s at night!) to open the doors for our first guests of the season. Not our regular PFC campers just yet! It was the Spence School from NYC, whose students and teachers arrived for a few days of team building and discovery at Pine Forest.

When we walked into the dining room for the first meal of the season (PFC Chef Dave Lang’s special BBQ chicken), we heard it. The sounds of children back at camp. Oh, what a happy sound! Laughter, cheers, applause. That’s what we look forward to and work towards all year long. They may not be our “true campers” who arrive on June 27th, but after a long winter, Pine Forest has come alive with the sound of children having fun. And that’s the best sound of all.

Come Meet Us This Summer!

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Explorers

Choosing the right camp for your child is not an easy task.  That’s why Pine Forest offers several options to help ease the transition to sleepaway camp, by actually allowing your child to experience a taste of Pine Forest first-hand.

There are a few great ways to get to know us.

Our Explorer Weekend is the ultimate experience for future Pine Forest campers.  The weekend is designed to provide all the fun and excitement that our campers love, while giving future campers an opportunity to start making connections that will help in their transition to a longer stay at camp.  Explorer campers will experience a full camp schedule including boating at the lake, climbing our adventure course, creating a special project in arts and crafts, games with our athletic director, participating in evening programs, making s’mores at a campfire, and then sleeping in a real cabin – WOW!!

A Play Day has all the wonderful aspects of our Explorer Weekend without the sleepover.

The last way a future Pine Forest camper can experience camp is on a tour. On a tour, you will spend time with our directors and have an opportunity to meet campers and staff and, most importantly, feel the excitement and warmth of Pine Forest Camp.

Enrollment in our programs are limited, so check out your summer calendar and come meet us this summer in Greeley, PA!

Unsure if camp is right for your child? Check out this Parents Magazine blog post written by a Pine Forest parent!

Happy Earth Day!

Posted on by PineForest

Wake up to the sound of a morning dove, a woodpecker or two.
Walk out of your bunk, the grass is still wet with dew.

On the way to the lake, what’s that rustle that I hear?
An eagle taking flight, a chipmunk or a deer?

At the far end of the lake, there’s a beaver dam, it looks new!
Just past Blueberry  Island, we can see it from our canoe.

You can smell the pines wherever you go,
Feel the sun on your shoulders, the warm summer glow.

At night around the campfire, it’s that fresh mountain chill.
Look up in the sky, a shooting star! Now that’s a thrill.

From sunrise to sunset, nature puts it’s stamp.
Every day is Earth Day at Pine Forest Camp.

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Unplugged and Happy

Posted on by PineForest

Hey Parents,

Yesterday, there was an article in the New York Times Style Section about the benefits of disconnecting from electronics entitled “Hey Kids, Look At Me When We’re Talking” by Bruce Feiler.

In particular, it highlighted the positive impact of unplugging at overnight camp.  Here is the key paragraph:

“In 2012, Dr. Greenfield and her colleague Yalda T. Uhls performed a study of their own. They invited 51 preteens to spend five days at an overnight camp without television, computers or mobile phones. These students were compared to a control group that retained usual media practices. All participants took before and after tests that required them to infer emotional states from photographs and videos. After five days without screens, the children at the camp were significantly better at reading nonverbal emotional cues.”

Last week we heard from one of our Hi-Senior girls’ parents, who wrote:

“Last night I drove 3 9th graders into NYC for a concert. As the driver, I remained silent and there was an interesting conversation going on between the 3 girls. Two were from camp… and the 3rd, [was]  a non camp kid.”

The camp girls were extolling the virtues of unplugging for the summer. They said that it wasn’t easy, but they really appreciated not feeling the pressure to stay on top of social media all summer. After the first week, they really enjoyed the separation. Late night chats with friends without everyone being distracted by their screens are really unique in this day and age. There is great importance in authentic face-to-face communication.

Just 2 days ago, another camp parent sent us a picture of a t-shirt that said “There is no WIFI at camp, but the Connection is Awesome!”

Exactly!

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/fashion/hey-kids-look-at-me-when-were-talking.html?_r=0