The Best Summer of Your Life
What a day! Thank you to all of our amazing parents, campers, counselors and key staff for making the 2016 reunion our best yet. With buses from Westchester, Livingston and Maryland, we were so thrilled with the turnout. It felt so good to finally be back together again. The countdown to PFC 2017 is ON!
There are friends in the neighborhood, teammates on local leagues, and cousins who you see over the holidays, but there’s nothing like the bonds of camp friends, and especially bunkmates. Maybe it’s the conversations you have when the lights are out or the stories you tell around the campfire on an overnight. Remember the candlelight ceremony when bunks cluster together and don’t want to leave? Bunkmates are truly special. And on Sunday, November 6th, we can all be together again. Bring your favorite memory of 2016, your plans for PFC 2017, and a hug or high five for every camp friend. We can’t wait to see you there.
Sunday, November 6th
10AM-12PM
The Funplex, Mt. Laurel, NJ
Westchester Bus (Bloomingdale’s in White Plains, NY):
7:15AM Assembly
7:30AM Departure
2:15-3:15PM Pick-Up
Livingston Bus (Livingston Mall, across from Macy’s):
7:30AM Assembly
7:45AM Departure
2:00-2:30PM Pick-Up
Maryland Bus:
7:00AM Departure from Wootton High School in Rockville, MD
8:30AM Stop at the Maryland House to pick up our Baltimore campers
1:30PM Pick-Up at the Maryland House
3:30PM Pick-Up at Wootton High School
Please note that, if you are traveling from PA, the Ben Franklin Bridge will be closed that Sunday. It also happens to be Daylight Savings — don’t forget to turn your clocks back!
In LESS THAN A DAY we’ll be back in Greeley. And it’s not just reunions that we’re looking forward to!
Here are just a few of the things we’re counting down to:
THE FRESH MOUNTAIN AIR. Is it just us, or is it easier to breathe at camp? Why is it so hot in the city? How do people take this heat? Take us to Lake Greeley!
A WORLD WITHOUT RINGING and BUZZING! Listen, we love our phones during the year too. But you know what? We can’t wait to get away from them. Enjoy the break! You know what doesn’t need a filter? #PINEFORESTCAMP
FACE TIME. No, not the kind you’re thinking. When’s the last time you had an uninterrupted conversation with your friends? No phones. No TV. No homework. We can’t wait to SEE you and TALK to you and spend time with each other! It’s what makes camp friends the closest kind of friends. It really is!
CAMP FOOD. No, really. Is it just us, or do you miss it too? Maybe you’re a hard-boiled egg for breakfast, chicken curry salad for lunch, vegetarian meal for dinner kinda kid. Maybe you love grilled cheese on whole wheat bread and tomato soup on the side as much as we do! Maybe it’s just that freshly baked Friday night challah. No? How about bug juice? Admit it. We had you at “bug juice.”
FREEDOM. INDEPENDENCE. FUN. Hey, what do you want to do today? Swim, bike, canoe, climb, dance, run, act, paint, cook, serve, hike, read, write, shoot, score, draw, sing, perform, photograph? Oh, all today? With your best friends? From morning till night? Really? NO PROBLEM! Ya know, why? Because it’s camp, and that’s what camp is all about.
See you in 12 hours, happy campers!
It’s incredibly natural to go into apocalyptic mode in this next week.
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 kissing 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!
It’s that time of the year! You forget what your living room floor looks like under all of that camp gear, you’re constantly hearing the most up-to-date countdown to camp (8 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes!), and you miss them already. Take a deep breath. We are here for you as always! Below are some last minute tips as you make your final preparations for PFC 2016!
What to pack:
Plenty of underwear
A good flashlight
Lots of socks
Bug spray
Sunscreen
Stationary and stamps
A favorite stuffed animal
Hopes and dreams
What not to pack:
Homework
Electronic devices (Kindle, iPod Touch, screens that play games or shows, cell phones)
Important dates:
First day of camp: Saturday, June 25
Visiting Day: Saturday, July 23 @ 11:30AM
Last day of camp: Saturday, August 13
Important contact information:
PFC summer office: (570) 685-7141
Mountain Baggage: (570) 775-0556
R&B Baggage (for Florida families): (603) 536-2197
CampRx: (877) 302-3881
PFC mailing address:
185 Pine Forest Road
Greeley, PA 18425
Policy reminders:
-Phone calls are not necessary, but one can be scheduled before Visiting Day and one after Visiting Day. You can schedule your first call once your camper arrives at camp.
-NO packages, please! If a necessity is inadvertently left behind, please call the camp office for a pre-approval code so that your package will be accepted and delivered to your camper. We do allow birthday packages, so please clearly label these as birthday packages with your child’s birth date. Remember: NO food is allowed!
Photos:
Photos from the day will be uploaded to CampInTouch almost every night. You can access them using the same login you use to fill out forms.
https://pineforest.campintouch.com/v2/login/login.aspx
Expert tip: Mail a letter to your camper a few days before camp starts so that there’s one waiting for him or her on the first day of camp.
Follow us! You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat using @PineForestCamp.
What a weekend!
New Family Weekend is an amazing Pine Forest Camp tradition: we invite all first-time campers and their families up to camp to spend their first weekend at PFC together! Families stay overnight in their own bunks before camp starts, and future campers participate in activities in their age groups to get to know one another. Think ziplining, canoeing, gaga, arts and crafts, basketball – you name it, we do it! It’s a good thing we lucked out with the weather! We end the day the best way possible: at a campfire! A big campfire highlight for us (besides the s’mores, of course) was Mickey leading a round of his famous “Fish and Chips.” We also loved watching the awesome talent show that included dances, jokes and gymnastics. You’d never be able to tell that these campers just met that day! We ended the campfire the only way we know how to: with “Taps and Friends.” After the campfire, there was a wine and cheese party for parents so they could get to know each other, too!
The next morning, families enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the Dining Hall, complete with hot chocolate and whipped cream. After breakfast, many families took advantage of the fields and courts being open and all new campers left with an exclusive new PFC sweatshirt and a great deal of excitement for what’s to come.
We want to extend a special thank you to our outstanding staff for making New Family Weekend 2016 one of our best yet. It really is all about the people! Being at PFC with new families each year confirms what we already know: Pine Forest campers are awesome because Pine Forest families are awesome.
As we sing when you visit:
“WE WELCOME YOU TO PINE FOREST, WE’RE MIGHTY GLAD YOU’RE HERE!”
And now, the big show! We can’t wait to see our new campers again in 18 DAYS!
New Family Weekend is just three days 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 wonderful opportunity to meet new friends, their families and our awesome camp leaders.
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 arm-in-arm with incredible children and adults, all with the same goal in mind: becoming acclimated and excited for the best summer ever.
Even for parents, having this inside perspective and first-hand experience of what camp is truly like is incredibly valuable. The weekend provides parents and campers alike with that extra bit of confidence and comfort.
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.
We can’t wait to welcome many of our new families on Saturday!
1. You begin almost every sentence with, “at camp I…”
2. You have a pile in your room for “camp stuff.”
3. You’re having dreams about that amazing moment on the first day of camp when get out of the car or the bus and smell the Greeley air for the first time!
4. You are doodling “18425” on your papers at school.
5. You and your camp friends have started guessing Color Days themes and breakout options.
6. You’ve already made your Visiting Day list in your head.
7. You’ve already made a playlist of potential songs for MTV Night.
8. The smell of bug spray makes you happy.
9. You know exactly what you want for your first canteen.
10. You check the weather in Greeley daily.
11. You post weekly countdown photos of your camp friends.
12. You sing camp songs and cheers at the kitchen table (sorry, moms and dads!).
13. You check the camp website or app every day to see the countdown to camp number get smaller and smaller!
14. You already know what you’re wearing to the first social.
15. You’re making room on your arm for friendship bracelets! That camp arm will be here before you know it!
We invite you to schedule a one-on-one, interactive family tour of camp, led by one of our awesome camp leaders. You'll meet our owners/directors and learn more about our amazing, 93-year camp history and traditions. Come feel the love and warmth that Pine Forest Camp has to offer! Email to coordinate!