I have spent 10 summers at SLC, 5 as a camper and 5 as a staff member. Each one of those summers has hundreds of its own stories that I could spend days talking about, but I don’t want to go into that here, and you wouldn’t want to sit here and read every story that I have to tell. Camp is a really hard thing to explain, and as such, it’s even harder to write about. My plan here is to tell one story from each summer that explains something that camp has taught me. Hopefully I stick to that plan.

2003 – I10 – How to think independently

Shortly after arriving at camp, mainside campers choose a hobby, an activity that they can choose to go to three extra times per week. My first summer, I chose drama hobby. Acting in a play was something I never really had the opportunity to do at home, so I decided that camp would be a good place to test my skills and try something different. I didn’t care what anyone else thought, I simply made my own decision to act. I’m really happy I did too, I met some of my closest friends from that session in drama hobby, including the only person I’ve been friends with at camp for all ten of my summers.

2004 – F16 – How to stand up for yourself

When I was in Frontier, I had a really bad group. I was that one camper who didn’t really do anything wrong, but still got in trouble because the rest of the group was so poorly behaved. One night, we were supposed to hike to Cornish and hear the story, but we had to turn back halfway down the trail because our group couldn’t behave maturely. As someone who never had the story before, this really upset me. The next day, I wrote a letter to the rest of my group telling them to calm down so that people who wanted to enjoy certain activities could enjoy them. From that day on, the rest of the group seemed to respect me a lot more, simply because I stood up for myself. That was the first time at camp that I really felt like I had a voice

2005 – BH23, BH24 – How to learn from your mistakes

This past summer at camp, one thing I was known for was giving sailboat practicals. But I wasn’t always an expert—I failed the practical the first time I took it. It was a cloudy day on teenside, and the last day of waterfront specialty for first session. I had successfully set up the boat and learned to sail, but I had a bit of trouble cleaning it up. Strike that. I had a lot of trouble both folding up the sail and tying the final knot, the daisy chain. The counselor who was giving the practical had to fail me, and I can’t blame him. I was really upset about it, but I came back at the beginning of second session and passed. I used the disappointment to motivate me to figure out what I did wrong and pass the practical on the next try.

2006 – TL27, TL27 – How to keep enjoying camp after things go wrong

In my second summer on teenside, I had a lot of things to knock me down. First, I got held back in lower teens for a second year. Next, I had two groups that didn’t get along particularly well. After that, I was rejected by both of the girls I asked over the two sessions. Lastly, I had my first freak injury at camp: scratching my cornea. This began a streak of weird injuries/sicknesses at camp, such as a staph infection (2007) and Lyme disease (2010). But I digress. After all of these setbacks, I kept pushing myself to get back up and give camp another chance. For example, when I scratched my cornea, I had to wear an eye patch. I was embarrassed to walk into the teenside dining hall for dinner that night because of it, but my counselor made it seem like having an eye patch was awesome. Thanks to him, I was able to keep enjoying my camp experience like nothing was wrong.

2007 – TL35, TL34 – How to contribute to a team

My last summer as a camper was the only summer I enjoyed Olympics. I’m guessing this is true because it was the only summer I actually helped my team. By this point, I had been on my school’s swim team for several years now, so I knew I was a good swimmer. When Olympics rolled around, I signed up for a bunch of races mainly because nobody else on the red team wanted to. I ended up in six consecutive races. I won five of them. I single-handedly gave my team a huge number of points using my unique skill set. Although my team didn’t end up winning (we came in second, stupid blue team breaking the curse…), I knew that I had directly and tangibly contributed to the team’s success.

2008 – Library Aide – How to be the best at whatever job you have

Since I didn’t get into Work Program in 2007, I didn’t get the first crack at aide jobs for the next summer. The job that I knew I was best suited for, Waterfront Aide, was taken by a very good friend of mine. After an interview in the winter office in January, I received the job of Library Aide. This was a new job, so I really had to be the one to decide what it would become. I worked hard at it by completely reorganizing the library, keeping inventory of both books and board games, and giving campers something to do when “Library” was on a group’s schedule. At the end of the summer, a former Library Aide congratulated me on a job extremely well done making the library relevant again. That former Library Aide was the Executive Director, Jordan Dale.

2009 – MVB CA – How to be flexible

2009 was the first summer that I was responsible for a group of campers. I think the key to my success as a CA was that I was ready to handle any task that the counselors or supervisors needed me for. If I had to keep campers busy during rest hour because the counselors were working with other campers, I was there. If I had to cover for a group that was having a lot of conflict and could explode at any second, I was there. If I needed to lead the youngest campers in camp in an epic charge across the ballfield to find shelter from the rain, I was there. I was always ready for anything, and that was the reason why I was so valuable to my unit (that’s my staff reports talking, not me).

2010 – M3 Counselor, M2 Counselor – How to do the little things right

2010 was an amazing summer because all of the counselors in my unit were very close friends. I would argue that MVB 2010 was one of the strongest units in camp’s history. Unfortunately, not everything that summer went perfectly. One of my campers was sent home early, which is never an easy thing for a counselor. After helping him pack up his stuff, while we were waiting for the golf cart, I remembered that I still had his Nintendo DS in my room. I gave it back to him, and suggested that we play a game against each other (since I also had a DS) while we waited for the golf cart to take his stuff to the office. We were about to start when Ken walked in. He drove us to the main office, and I sat with my camper until his parents showed up. Offering to play a video game together or making fun of quirky moments in the camp office together made him happy at a time where I know I wouldn’t have been. And when he waved goodbye with a smile on his face, I knew that I had done something right.

2011 – M1 Counselor, M1 Counselor – How to be persistent

I complained a lot about summer 2011, but it wasn’t without reason. Most of the upper staff in camp agreed that my group was the worst group in camp that summer, as well as one of the worst groups they had ever seen. It took me a while to figure out how to deal with all the different clashing personalities and wide variety of needs within the group, but I eventually learned. One camper in particular seemed to be having a very tough time at camp. He never knew where any of his stuff was, had poor relationships with the rest of the group, and had no idea what was going on during most of our activities. Sometimes, I just wanted to scream at him, but that never really worked. Eventually, I managed to become close enough with this camper to help him get more out of his camp experience, but I was only able to get so far because I never gave up.

2012 – I9 Counselor, I10 Counselor – How to do what you love

This past summer was a victory lap for me in a way. I was a counselor in Idyllwood, the same unit I was originally a camper in my first summer. By second session, I was counselor for the same group, I10, that I started my camp journey with. My journey was complete, but I was a different person than I was when I began. If there were one moment from last summer to describe this, it would be the last hobby of second session. I had been in waterfront hobby all summer, giving sailboat practicals to all the mainside campers, and even passing some of them. During this last hobby, however, the waterfront director let me take out a boat by myself. It was the perfect day to sail—sunny, fairly windy, and not too hot. I confidently captained the boat around the lake on my own as if shouting to the whole camp “This is who I am! This is where I belong!” When boats were called in, I tied up the sail and swam back to the boating area, not realizing that it would be my last time in the lake that summer.

My proudest moment of this past summer was standing on stage and receiving my five-year jacket. When my name called, I ran from my seat as fast as I could (I was slowed down by campers mobbing me for hi-fives and hugs) to the stage to put on my jacket. On stage, I hugged and congratulated all of my friends on stage, friends that I had grown up at camp with. The only person I had been friends with for all 10 summers was one of the people on stage, and I made sure to thank her for just being a friend over all those years. In this moment, the only thing I was feeling was an intense love for camp and what I do there. No job in the world would ever make me as happy as working at SLC.

If it were up to me, camp would go on forever. But sadly, it doesn’t. Every summer, we all have to say goodbye to each other, promise that we’ll keep in touch, and shed a few tears over how much we’ll miss our friends. The more years you spend at camp, the more meaningful the experience of saying goodbye becomes. My first summer, I left the senior dining hall without even saying goodbye to most of my friends. My last summer, I held up my ride out of camp for nearly half an hour so I could find my friends scattered around camp and say goodbye to them. I knew that saying goodbye on that beautiful Monday morning was something I had to do because I might not have another chance. Leaving SLC is always hard to do, but this past summer was the hardest of all. That’s because this past summer was my last summer at camp. I won’t be back at SLC for summer 2013.

Obviously I want to come back to camp again this summer, but I can’t. Eventually, we all need to grow up and find a place in the so-called “real world” where we belong. The most important thing that I would like to thank camp for this past summer was telling me that I was ready to find my place. I knew that camp had done its job when I felt ready to leave and face the world.

Now that I’m approaching the end of this blog post, I should admit that I’ve technically been lying about the fact that I spent 10 summers at camp. Technically, there was an 11^th. In 2002, I did Get Your Feet Wet, and spent five days at camp. While the experience didn’t totally thrill me, it made me want to come back for more, which is what ultimately matters. But when I did come back for more, I found out that Get Your Feet Wet had taught me all the wrong things. Over those five days, we took a hike, a trip to teenside, had a mini-Olympics, and put on a show for our parents at the Eddie Cantor. Those were all great things, no doubt, but they weren’t the true essence of camp. Camp is special because of the ordinary, everyday moments you share with your friends. My camp friends are important to me not because of extraordinary moments like performing in the all camp show together at the end of the session, but because of ordinary moments like making a game out of rehearsing lines for the show together while waiting for the rest of the group to change for swim. Camp’s power lies in its ability to make the ordinary things that would be boring anywhere else into something new, exciting, and memorable. To modify what has become an SLC cliché, an ordinary day at camp is better than an extraordinary day anywhere else.

While I won’t be back at camp this summer, I know my heart will be there. From my internship in the city, I’ll always be thinking about how camp has impacted me and how much I wish that those ordinary moments with friends could last lifetimes. Every night, I’ll wish that I was sleeping beneath the stars with the sound of cicadas and crickets just outside my window. If there is one perfect place in the world, it is Surprise Lake Camp, . I’m going to miss camp terribly, but I know that I’ll be back again someday soon. And soon can’t come soon enough.

Thank you, Surprise Lake, for the memories, for the friendships, and for helping me discover my identity. On behalf of all those who have to leave camp one day, thank you for preparing me all these years for the day when I would finally have to say goodbye one last time.

JT

The year I graduated college the NYPD came to recruit, I always wanted to be a police officer and in 1986, there were not as many women in blue, but I wanted it.  I came home and told my “Nana” that this is what I want to do….she said to me, ” Sheryla, you can  get hurt….you can do so many things, I don’t think this is a good idea.”  I never listened to anyone, except my Nana….so I took a pass.  Often times I think that it was a mistake to listen,  I would have had 20 years in and been retired at this point. Retired , pension, summers off….oy! My cousin, who is on the job and I respect assures me I would have been a “Boss” and still working, and that statemnet means the world to me.  I would have made a difference there, but would I have had the impact on lives that I am now realizing I have had?  The answer is no….Over the years, I run into former campers who thank me for things I have no recollection of doing.  Campers who are now raising families, and sending their kids to camp.  As ususal, my Nana was right….I belong here….camping….it’s all I know….I can sell it….cause I believe in it…it changed my life…the life of my kids, my family and thousands of others. I am who I am…..because of camp.

Today we had well over 200 families come and tour camp.  Our staff was incredible, it may have been raining but the SUN was shining here at camp.  The parents and campers hung on every word. They toured, played and left  eager anticipating what lies ahead for this summer.  I know the value of camping and JCC’s…it saved my life as a teen…gave me my Jewish identity…

I know that this summer we have yet another opportunity to build future leaders (our staff and our campers) and I am blessed to be a part of it.  Surprise Lake Camp is the best in Jewish Camping and we change lives every day…..if your child is not here….ask someone what SLC means to them.  Everyone who comes here leaves with skills that they carry with them forever.

As much as I am enjoying the silence here and now in the gazebo…..I can not wait for the day when the buses pull in….the sounds of laughter and awe…..mixed in with crickets and bullfrogs.

Happy Camping my friends!

Sheryl

Most of our campers live 10 for 2!….That’s how they measure a year….others do it this way….feel free to sing!

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Moments So Dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do you Measure – Measure A Year ?
In Daylights – In Sunsets
In Midnights – In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches – In Miles
In Laughter – In Strife
In – Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life
How About Love ?
How About Love ?
How About Love ?
Measure In Love
Seasons Of Love
Seasons Of Love
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Journeys To Plan
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand
Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure The Life
Of A Women Or A Man ?
In Truths That She Learned
Or In Times That He Cried
In Bridges He Burned
Or The Way That She Died
It’s Time Now – To Sing out
Tho` The Story Never Ends
Let’s Celebrate
Remember A Year In The Life of Friends
Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Remember The Love
Measure
In Love
Measure Measure Your Life In Lov
Seasons Of Love …
Seasons Of Love

The summer of a life time is slowly creeping up on me.

A few months ago I attended the London, Camp America Recruitment fair in the hope to be placed at a camp I had chosen. A few days prier to the event I searched through all the camps that were attending online to see which ones appealed to me the most. With my heart set on Camp Westmount I got on the train to Reading to meet my friend, Siobhan, who was also hoping to get placed.

The alarm was set for 7am and when it went off on the morning of the big day I couldn’t believe I had even had an hours sleep let alone 8. Begrudgingly I rolled out of bed and got dressed, wrapped cold pizza in tinfoil and left the house. The cold, winters walk to the station woke us both up and we boarded the 9am train to London Paddington.

Arriving in London to be greeted by the hustle and bustle of early morning travellers we headed for the underground to join the monotonous clan. Luckily once we took to the surface the sun was poking its head between clouds but this did not deter the cold effecting us.

As we approached the building, that was playing host to the Camp America fair, queues were already forming. At this point it was 10am and there must have already been 200 young adults chatting and shivering in line. Donning a green #iamCA sticker we joined the back of the line and was handed a large booklet filled with information.

With frozen fingers I sifted through the booklet and circled, for the second time, the camps that looked most appealing. In discussion with Siobhan we each changed our minds on wanting to go to Camp Westmount. Siobhan liked the idea of spending her summer in California whilst I liked the sound of Surprise Lake Camp (SLC). The destination of the camp wasn’t my priority because I new, if I got placed, then I would travel America afterwards. It just so happened that the camp I found most tempting was in New York. What drew me towards SLC was the short right up that described what they were all about. The paragraph sounded friendly and fun which is what won it over for me.

It must have taken us a good hour and a half to come to our final decision about the top 5 camps we would look to get placed at. We both figured that we had best decide on a few favourites because the likely hood you will get placed at any is ambiguous. Once we had sorted this out it was a matter of waiting for the doors to open at 12am.

Without anything to occupy us the impending feeling of frozen toes and red noses came to the forefront of our minds. I don’t think my toes have ever been as cold as they were that morning. In the end I walked down the street to get a cup of tea and as much as I love tea, I didn’t want to drink it because it was keeping my hands warm.

At 12am the que surged forward and the nervous really started to kick in. As we slowly crawled further towards the entrance I realised how hard it was to walk. The frozen toes were truly getting to me and getting a place was ever more paramount.

After what felt like an eternity we finally entered the realm of warmth. We were ushered up a flight of stairs and motioned to sit on chairs facing a big screen. The man spoke and I half listened and half revelled in the fact I could feel my body defrosting. After watching a short video we were left to fight to the deaths to try and get placed at a camp.

I spotted the SLC stall as I was walking down the stairs towards the main room that held all the other stalls. Once I reached the bottom I wished Siobhan good luck and headed towards slot 61 where SLC was based. I smiled at the camp representative and asked if I could collect some leaflets. Reading through them clarified for me that this was the camp I wanted to spend my summer at.

Avri, the camp representative introduced himself to me and I returned the pleasantries. He carried on talking to another girl and it looked like the interview was going well for her. This made me more determined to try and have mine go the same way. After he had finished he invited me to sit on the hot seat and he began asking me interview style questions. I answered them with honesty and enthusiasm. I tried to demonstrate parts of my personality as I was advised on the introduction video. After answering all the questions my heart quickened as I watched Avri write down a few notes. He then turned to me with a smile and said he would like to offer me a place. With a sigh of relief and a shake of his hand I already felt like part of the team.

What I felt was so lovely about Avri himself was that he didn’t sit behind the table like every other camp representative did. He sat opposite me whilst he asked me the questions making me feel more at ease. The fact that he chose to sit on the same side as the people he was interviewing says to me that he is presenting himself as an equal.  After speaking to him for more than a minute I felt comfortable in his presence.

Once the forms were signed and I had bid Avri farewell, I made my way towards the que to have my photograph taken and to pay my deposit. Standing in the line I nervously rang Siobhan to ask if she had also been placed. Luckily she had so we both were able to leave with smiles on our face.

The entire day consisted of lots of queing and many excited people drifting from stall to stall. It was definitely an experience I wouldn’t want to relive in a hurry but it was all worth the nearly frost bitten toes and cold pizza for lunch. I am one step closer to being able to wake up in New York City.

Mum and Dad said it would be fine, that I could call any time, and that I would be having so much fun time would fly, and before I knew it I would be sad to be leaving and looking forward to next Summer. I had packed my lucky teddy bear, and my lucky underpants, and was ready for my first summer at camp.

I may have been 33 years old, and heading off to be Idylwood Unit Supervisor at Surprise Lake Camp, but I kind of knew how some of the first-timers must have been feeling.

We had a week of getting to know fellow workers, from kitchen staff to admin personnel to fellow Unit Supervisors, as well as the gorgeous local area. By day three I was already nicely settled in, spending mornings jogging the trails and cooling off in the lake, (and what a surprise it is, with everything from turtles to iguanas popping up to say hello), and afternoons training for the coming kids.

It is the natural beauty of SLC’s setting which really makes it special, (along with the fantastic people I got to work with, and the campers themselves). One morning I woke up for my daily 7am jog, only to find myself face to face with a deer. I’m not sure who was more surprised.
 
After a week, just when I was enjoying my vacation, the campers arrived. Thirty-six 10 and 11 year-olds were delivered into my care, and
we started as we meant to go on, with secret handshakes, nicknames, ‘soccer’ (I’m English, so pardon the quotation marks), baseball and frisbee.

The days flew by: up early, morning round-ups with our fellow Mainsiders, songs and dances, breakfast, swimming, sport, art, Jewish studies, climbing stuff, throwing stuff, building making and destroying stuff, feeding the goats, stroking the snakes and iguanas, lunch, more swimming, more sport and art and dance and adventure, dinner, teeth brushed, rooms tidied, a few card games or books read before bed, and up to do it all again the next day.

There were socials: beach parties on the sand, or dance parties in the gym, where we got to mingle with our sister unit, Journey’s Way. First romances blossomed, first slow dances were danced, love notes were passed…and that was just among the counsellors…

The weather was amazing, whatever it was: usually sunny and warm, the occasional storm produced some stunning thunder and lightning, leading to one of my highlights, (and the kids’ too, I’m sure), an impromptu mud-slide session on the field which led to the entire unit showering al fresco, in an overflowing drainpipe. I’ve never seen kids dirtier or happier before.

A lot of my time was spent communicating with parents, and it was a pleasure to speak to and eventually meet each and every one of them on Visiting Day, (a day when enough food was consumed to feed a third world country for a year), but the highlight of my day always came when I had time to just hang out with the campers and join them in whatever activity they were doing, climbing the wall with them, or dodging the ball with them, or taking a dip in the lake when someone needed a water-buddy.

And my parents were right: 18-hour days may have been exhausting to start with, (although occasional days off in Manhattan were helpful for recharging my batteries), but by the end of Second Session I was sad it was all ending. The Summer Olympics kept me away from Camp this year, but I’ve no doubt I will be back for the friends I made, (and have still to make), the things I learned, (and hopefully taught), and most importantly the young lives that were changed over the course of those two months.

I had heard a lot about how the camp was founded as a way of getting city kids who may never have seen greenery to experience something new, and different, and beautiful, and last Summer I was lucky enough to be a part of that, to see dozens of young boys grow up and develop and try new things. >From the camper who started camp homesick and begging to go home who ended up crying because he didn’t want to leave, to the camper who was scared to go in the lake on day one but ended up swimming with the best of them, I got to see SLC in action and will never forget it.

Plus, I can never hear the word ‘announcements’ without a part of me wanting to break into table-pounding song. Thanks, SLC.

Doron Klemer

In the mountains of the Hudson Valley, there’s a special place tucked away that people call their second home for the summer. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to grow up in this place and learn so many things about myself that I couldn’t discover on my own.

It’s been 11 years since the first time I set eyes on SLC and I could never imagine looking back. I’ve made some of the best friends anyone can ask for. I’ve learned what the importance of community is, and what it can do to bring a group of people together, big and small. Not only has camp given me a sense of community but has also built me into a strong and motivated leader.

I was a camper from age ten to fifteen and at the time I could have made the argument that it was the most rewarding time in my life. Spending days on end with my friends and immersing myself in the activities we loved to take part in, yes I’ll go ahead and say right now that Hockey was all a huge part of it!

Being under the guidance of my counselors and learning from them and understanding what lessons they had to pass on to me that I would carry with me for years to come.  I found as I got older something seemed more important to me, and that was giving back to camp and being a member of the Surprise Lake staff.

Being a counselor has been the most rewarding part of my time at SLC for so many reasons.  For my first few summers as a counselor I was working with Mountainview Boys. While boys of that age can be a complete handful, watching them learn from such silly mistakes and arguments can be an incredible experience. Watching them play sports and work together and understand the concept of teamwork. Knowing that you’ve taught someone who is still shaping into someone who can understand on their own, is something extremely gratifying.

The time came for me to find a new challenge as a counselor, so in doing what any sane staff member would do at camp.  I jumped from working with the youngest boys in camp, to the oldest girls in camp. This past summer I had the absolute honor of working in Boulder Hill with an amazing staff and an even more amazing group of campers. Being a counselor to these girls this summer was the most incredible experience I have encountered in camp to date. Having actual conversations with them about what they think, how they feel and what was troubling them really made me understand what the true meaning of being a counselor was. If these girls (not just my group specifically) had an issue they could come to me, or any of the counselors for advice. And being able to address their problems give them some of kind of direction they were looking for and watch them go out and learn from these mistakes, and learn from these problems became the most important aspect of being a counselor.

Something very different for me this summer was finally being head coach of the Girls Hockey team and watching them grow into far more than just a team. We had a motto. How it came about? I just started saying “It builds character”, after everything that would happen whether good or bad. These girls turned into a binding force and I could not have asked for a team that was more focused on taking care of their own rather than winning. The girls put up an amazing fight but at the end of the day win or lose they walked away with something far more satisfying than winning the cup. And that was the bond they had built in just two weeks time. In that moment on the bus ride back I knew these girls had created more than just a team they became a family.

When we go through orientation we’re constantly reminded that we are working the summer for the kids. Now while it’s great to be at camp as staff with the people you grew up with, and the staff that come back year after year from other countries… we sometimes lose sight of what the campers need. That was never the case for me this summer. Before I arrived at camp this past summer I made a promise to myself that I would give the campers a summer that they could hold close to them and remember forever. I’ll admit I was a little intimidated at first making such a jump but I knew it was the right decision.

As the summer passed and came to a close, I reflected on what kind of impact I might have had on the campers in the two months that had flown by. Did they learn anything from me? Could I have done anything differently? These were the questions that I thought on, as the campers were packing and getting ready for their final departures. And you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing; I know that I gave my all in making sure these girls had an amazing summer.

I found my purpose in camp, and it was to do exactly what my counselors had done for me. Give these kids the best summers of their lives, and I can’t wait to do it all over again next summer.

Surprise Lake Camp has not only given me memories that will last a lifetime. But it has given me the opportunity to thrive in what I love to do. Not everyone realizes how special our 10516 really is and what it holds and has in store for us every summer.

So thank you SLC and let’s look forward to another 110 years of changing lives and making memories!

-Erica Karron

Whether it is your first year or tenth year at camp, there is always that feeling of uncontrollable glee when you reach camp and feel the dirt road beneath your feet because you are finally home. Back to a family full of people who know you better than anyone else. Home to the most beautiful lake you have ever seen and trees so green it almost seems impossible for one place to be so perfect. But that is exactly what it is, it is perfect.

When you take a step back from all the nature, you realize the true reason why you return summer after summer: the people. If there is one thing I have taken away from my 9 summers at SLC, it is that the people are what make it all worthwhile. Meeting your best friend, boyfriend, or future wife at a camp tucked away in the mountains is something you never expect to happen, but it does, each and every summer. I suppose this is the tricky part when trying to explain to “non SLC’ers,” how camp works because the true magic takes place during those 5 minutes you spend with someone in speciality, on an overnight, or on the waterfront and before you realize it, a lifelong friendship is unfolding. After that, it’s as if you can’t imagine what life would be without them. In camp, you spend those hot summer nights staying up late to talk about nothing significant with your bunkmates. You experience your first kiss behind the equipment shack… until a counselor catches you, of course. You form so many weird, confusing “inside jokes” and secret handshakes with friends, but this is what ultimately gives life to camp. The bonds and friendships made here are like no other and are inexplicable because you have spent every waking hour with these people. You share laughs and tears, talk about personal things, and open up your heart to people who, not so long ago, used to be complete strangers.

Before you know it, you are already packing your bags to return home, but everything is different now. You are different. You have grown, learned, and matured in this very place. On that last morning of camp everyone can sense the grief and heartache that is about to come. Ironically, though, camp ends exactly the way it started, on the road. In the car, your mom attempts to console you as tears stream down your face but you insist that she “just doesn’t understand.”  How can she, or anyone for that matter, understand the most amazing 2 months you have just experienced with people who you will never forget? Camp becomes that one place where you can always act as a silly, energetic kid, regardless of your actual age, and without knowing it, you take in some of life’s most valuable lessons at the same time.

The strong and unique community we develop at camp in only 2 months is what separates us from the rest of the world. It is what makes us feel accepted, appreciated, and loved. It is why we succumb to the pressure of returning every summer because we cannot bear to be anywhere else. It is why we will always call SLC our home away from home and no matter where life takes us, we will always have our memories at summer camp to hold onto.

Tess Hamberg

I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I thought I was going to New York to play in the woods for nine weeks, then I’d return to my life.  I never would have thought that Surprise Lake would change my life completely.

For those of you who know me well, you know my path in life can be described as pretty circuitous.  I haven’t followed a typical route.  I spent my time at Syracuse changing my major on a quarterly basis and being incredibly indecisive.  I took time off from school, worked, did some soul searching, had several quarter life crises and transferred universities.  At twenty six, when most of my friends are in grad schools, out of grad schools, looking for jobs, or getting jobs, I’m still finishing college.  One thing has remained constant for me through it all, though, and that has been SLC.

Surprise Lake Camp has impacted every part of my life.  My best friends in the world are people I met on my first day of orientation in 2006.  I had been in camp for a few hours when I tried to inform Jess (who had been coming to camp for years already) where the dining hall was.  I still remember the big plastic orange button earrings and white sundress that Michelle was wearing when she first traipsed into my life.  I was sure we would not be getting along – she was just too out there.  Eight years later I’m certain that I will be causing trouble with these girls at the nursing home well into my geriatric years.

I’m an only child.  I don’t have a lot of aunts, uncles or cousins.  I have two surviving grandparents of whom I don’t see nearly enough.  My parents are wonderful, loving people who care for me deeply, but the appeal of having an extended family at camp is a big part of what has drawn me back year after year.  When I return to SLC every summer and Sheryl, with a big hug, says to me “welcome home,” it’s true.  Surprise Lake Camp is a very large, (often dysfunctional) completely eccentric, glorious family.  The outpouring of love that we all have at camp for each other is euphoric.  We all know that a bad day at camp is better than a good day anywhere else, and that is entirely because of the people who populate it.

In addition to giving me friends and family, Surprise Lake Camp has made me realize what I’m meant to be doing with my life.  I need to work with kids.  Over the past eight years I have had so many ups and downs and twists and turns it has made me dizzy at times.  The most consistently satisfying challenge I have undertaken in all of that time has been working with my campers.  They have taught me responsibility.  They’ve taught me I can’t take myself too seriously – that I need to relax and have fun.  They have taught me of the promise of youth and that I still have it and will have it for as long as I choose to hold on to it.  They’ve shown me such myriad lenses through which to look at the world.  Every individual camper that I’ve ever been able to call mine has demonstrated to me the uniqueness of themselves and in doing so the beauty of humanity as a whole.

The corniness of this is not lost on me.  I just have so much love in my heart for SLC and all of the people in it that I find it hard to contain.  This is the true power of Surprise Lake Camp.  It’s what keeps us coming back summer after summer.  It’s what keeps us begging for reunions on Facebook, posting count downs, prattling on and on to our friends and family at home who just don’t get it, because how could they?  Camp is magic.  Camp changes lives.  It’s that simple.

To every past, present and future member of the SLC community, those of you I know well and those of you I don’t, I’d like to say thank you.  I wouldn’t be who I am now heading in the direction I am without you.  Keep in mind the impact that you have on the rest of us just by being a part of this rare breed known as SLCers.  We all have a home with each other, and I guess the point of this week’s blog is that that’s pretty great.

Much Love,

Dani Johnson

But the most important part of camp is that it feels magical. Every inch of camp is magic… Yeah, SLC gives Disney a run for its money. From the moment you turn down Lake Surprise Road, your stomach drops and your heart begins to thud so loud you can no longer hear your thoughts. You’re bouncing up and down in the seat with complete disregard for the brain cells that you are massacring as your head bashes into the roof of your parent’s car. The boxes in the seat next to you are piercing your ribcage as you try to lay across them for a better view of everything around you, but you feel no pain. Camp looks like it did when you left it just ten months before… BUT HOW?! (DISNEY EFFECT? Obviously) The apprehension that you can’t get down the road fast enough creeps into your entire being and you begin to panic. You begin to have inane thoughts, What if I die before I get signed into my unit? WHAT IF I CANT SING A NEW CHEER! but since you have lost the ability to keep your thoughts to yourself during these extremely intense few minutes, your parents start to yell at you for worrying them while also telling you you’re being irrational. And if you are anything like me, you yell back “YOU KNOW NOTHING OF CAMP! THESE ARE REAL FEARS!”. Your face starts to hurt because you’re smiling and screaming and by the time you pass Gene’s house, you’ve lost your voice, are completely out of breath and your parents have gone deaf and grey from your loud shrieks paired with a slight fear that you are truly having a heart attack in the backseat. Somehow, you are still screaming your face off. You get out of the car and just start running at people like a wild turkey. You might not even know who you are running toward, but you just want to hug everyone at the same time. Arrival day is synonymous in my mind with the sound of “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I MISSED YOU!”

When you finally get to the main office, your bags are half out of the car, your favorite stuffed animals are scattered on the dirt road and your parents are trying to coral you for a picture… but alas, they fail. At camp you are your own “grown up” person. You cannot be subjected to embarrassing photography at a time like this! You have important priorities that could change the course of your entire life- like meeting all of your counselors first, or unpacking your “cup-a-noodles” before lunch.

To anyone who is not a “camp person”, this appears ludicrous. But for hundreds of kids (and their newly deaf parents), this is reality.

The english language cannot do camp the justice it deserves. There are not enough words to explain each summer, or even the feeling of true belonging that is birthed each time we “nestle”. Each member of the SLC community is more than a camper, or staff member; they are part of a family.

I miss the magic that that begins on day one and carries through until the very last fraction of a second that you are on camp grounds. I miss waking up and absolutely loving every second of every day, no matter what is happening. When I am home, I even miss cleaning the bunk!

Feeling “full” of SLC enchantment is what draws you back each summer; what you thirst for as soon as you are released from school. That feeling of exploding as you venture back “home” to the 10516 is incredible. Camp runs deep in your entire being just after one summer, and when you’ve been there for years – it is a major part of who you have become.

I, like many others, miss camp because it is more than a place to spend the summer, it is home.

Rachel Wells