THE END OF CAMP

My desk is clear. My email inbox is empty. The office is quiet. It must mean that another camp season has come to a close. 2009 was a most memorable season. What stands out most in my mind? Well, the endless amount of rain we received during the first half of the season, and our counselors’ ability to keep our campers safe, happy and engaged during this stretch of wet weather. It really is a testament to the quality of our staff.
In addition to our ability to persevere despite the bad weather, the timeless values of a summer at Chewonki emerge as a highlight. As I prepare to leave for the season tomorrow, I know I will miss the camp life, much as your children are missing life at camp as well. I hope they have shared with you the details of the magical conclusion to the season.
So much has happened since I last posted an entry in this space- Friday’s Treasure Hunt and Talent Show, Saturday’s final Scouting Games and Sag/Hoc Field Day and Waterfront Regatta, the last Campfire Saturday night, the final Sunday Service out at the Point, and our closing Banquet under the tent. I hope your son has shared details with you. As always, it was a special end to the summer.
At our final Sunday Service, I shared some thoughts on living the Chewonki life even when you are back at home. A recent trip to a doctor’s appointment reminded me of some of the frustrations of life away from camp, namely traffic jams and road construction. The trip reminded me how simple life is at camp, and I thought I would share those thoughts here.

A few ideas for living the camp life all year long.

Write letters
Start your day with a swim or some physical exercise. You will feel better all day long.
Eat a two, three or even a four course breakfast.
Make your bed each morning and clean up your room.
Closely examine things, even if you don’t have your binoculars with you.
Use resources wisely- water, food, fuel, energy- and advocate for the natural world.
Walk or bike to as many places as possible.
Compost!
You don’t have to be best friends with everyone, but you do need to do your part and be a good citizen to all others.
Take a rest hour at some point in the day for you to sleep, read, or relax.
Eat a fruit snack in the afternoon.
Sing, cheer and give thanks often.
Try new foods. Meet new people. Challenge yourself by doing new activities.
Take your family on a wilderness trip- go for a day hike on a local trail or park.
Be flexible and open to change. Remember, we now eat sun butter and jelly sandwiches!
Cover your cough!
Look for a natural history mystery and try to solve it with help from teachers or the internet. Why do leaves change colors in the fall? Why do the days get shorter?
Take time on Sundays to slow down and reflect.
Keep track of your stuff.
Run in the rain. Play in the mud.
Embrace and seek the simple gifts.
Now there is no challenge activity to sign up for. You are living the challenge activity. Go for the moonwalk!
Come back in 2010!

FOR THOSE JUST RETURNING HOME:
I’ve shared this with our families before, but it bears repeating. Campers have their own way of sharing their camp experience with you. Some will be eager to tell you all of the details within the first 24 hours. Others will prolong their stories, and want to fit right back into their home routines. Every once in a while throughout the school year, you will undoubtedly hear another camp story - "At Camp, we'd always.......!" Some campers may actually be "camp sick" for a few days, as they struggle with the separation of their close community and adjust back to their home lifestyles. One tool to help with these emotions is our camp newspaper, The Train Issue, our final edition of the Chronicle that contains camper addresses. Most extended trips also kept journals, including contact information of campers and leaders.
“So how was Camp?” is so broad a question that it is too much for most campers. Most will be able to express not much more than “Fine. Fun.” for a few days. Try asking questions about specific parts of their summer. “Who was your best friend in camp?” “What were your counselors like?” “What was your favorite activity?” “What was the most fun part of camp?” “Where did you go on your wilderness trip?” “What was the best day you had all summer?” “What did you accomplish that you did not think you would be able to?” “How was the food?” “What was your favorite special event?” “What kinds of songs and skits did you see at campfire?” Often times the more specific questions produce the most interesting responses.
Our full summer and second session campers and trippers will receive notes written from their counselors and trip leaders in the mail over the next few days. We hope that they will be helpful to you in evaluating your camper's experience.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2010
Enrollment for 2010 is already underway. We want to reward your loyalty and encourage you to plan for next summer by offering a $300 discount to all returning campers if we receive a registration and deposit by September 1, or a $200 discount if the same materials are received by October 15th. Program dates and prices are posted on our website under the Registration and Dates and Tuition tabs on the left. You can register by clicking on the account login button on the right of our webpage: http://www.chewonki.org/camp/default.asp
You will be registering via our online registration provider Campminder.
Later in the fall, we will be informing you of reunions & gatherings around the country, for the purposes of getting together and sharing plans for next summer. If you’re interested in hosting one of these reunions, we’d welcome your invitation. We also hope you will not hesitate to recommend Chewonki to family and friends.
Thank you for sharing your children with us this summer. We have enjoyed playing and learning on the beautiful coast, mountains and rivers of Maine, and the Canadian wilderness. Most of all we have enjoyed having your child become a part of our Chewonki summer family.

Sincerely,


Garth Altenburg
Director, Chewonki Camp for Boys

The Final Push!

It's hard to believe that 48 hours from now we will be putting the final touches on our summer by packing camper belongings and preparing for our end of summer banquet out on the lawn under the tent. The last few days have been joyous and frantic, and the next two promise to be no different. We postponed the Talent Show for tonight rather than Wednesday night to give all of our cabins a chance to add a little polish to their acts. Additionally, we still had a few cabins out on their cabin wilderness trips, and none of the cabins wanted to miss talent show. Now that all of the cabin trips are back, we are gearing up for the grand finale. Today has been the annual all-camp treasure hunt, followed by Talent Show this evening. Tomorrow will be our final Sag-Hoc scouting game out in the woods, followed by our Waterfront Regatta and Field Day. There will be more blog details emerging about all of these events of the next day or so. There are so many events going on right now that it is hard to find a moment to sit down and jot a quick note, but we hope to keep you up to date with all the exciting goings on.

MONDAY DEPATURES: For those campers being picked up by car, please be here between 8:30 am and noon. Please note that there is no major programming on Monday, so their is no reason to delay departure. We will say all of our goodbyes on Sunday evening. You are welcome to tour around campus with your son if time permits as I am sure he will want to show you his cabin, the waterfront, and his favorite activity locations, as well as introduce you to his counselors and fellow cabin mates.

From the Farm:

The wettest June in Maine history; weeks between sunny days; very hungry deer. It hasn’t been the easiest summer to be a farmer. Despite these setbacks, we’ve explored—rain or shine— the plants, animals, and products that live or come from our farm her at Camp Chewonki. It’s always a bummer when we have to go inside, but this allows us to cook kale omelets, spin wool into yarn, or even go see a movie, Food Inc. When the weather cooperates (and it has, for the most part, Session II), we go strawberry picking, drive the draft horse, Sal, or collect eggs from our flock of laying hens.
We’ve also managed to link up with other activities and do some interdisciplinary learning. Art and farm morphed into ‘fart’ where we wrote and illustrated a farm-themed book, among other things. Additionally, farm activity extends beyond the regular day through farm dinners, where cabins can have a meal predominately produced on our farm. The rhubarb crisp was definitely a crowd-pleaser.
The most exciting news to come off the farm in awhile came to us just this week, when we had a baby calf born, Gus. Along with Gus came his mother, Lola’s, milk. For the first time all summer, we got to enjoy ‘farm ice cream’, a camper (and counselor) favorite. It was a hot, humid day, and thanks to the hard work of our animals, farmers, and a bit of elbow grease from the campers, we devoured the cool, creamy treat.
It’s truly been a blessing teaching the campers about the wonders of farming and rural living and I hope that their curiosity and passion only grows when they return home.

Robin Lewis, Farm Activity


Thanks again for sharing your son with us! It has been a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

Tent Day!

We enjoyed the last Tent Day of the season today. In addition to the traditional trip to Popham Beach, we also offered a blueberry picking trip, a day sail in Hockomock Bay, and a nature activity outing the Boothbay aquarium and the Rachel Carson tidepools. I had the pleasure of joining in with the trip to the beach. While it was sunny less than a mile or so inland, it remained foggy at the beach. The fog didn't stop our enthusiasm for swimming, body surfing, building sandcastles and playing soccer and frisbee. Fortunately, it was a very warm day and the sun was still powerful enough through the fog to keep us warm. By all accounts, the other trips had a good tent day as well.
We are also pleased to welcome back Xanadu from their backpacking trip to the Barren-Chairback range on the Appalachian Trail. Word has it that it was a challenging but fun trip for the group as backpacking trips can often be.

We look forward to Talent Show tomorrow evening!

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

2009 Senior Staff Team

Camp in Full Swing!

With the arrival of our new ten day cabins, Fo’c’s’le and Stockade, Camp Chewonki for boys is once again full and going strong. It is amazing and a testament to their dedication, how counselors and activity heads are maintaining their enthusiasm and creativity as we approach the end of camp. The last several days, today included, have been gorgeous here weather wise. As a result, the waterfront has been very popular with swimming, kayaking, canoeing and sailing. It is so evident that campers are enjoying their time here, and pushing themselves to try out new experiences. There are so many opportunities for growth and sharing at Chewonki, and my conversations and observations tell me that the boys are taking full advantage. Chewonki is truly an amazing community and thanks to anyone out there who is helping to provide this experience to these lucky young lads.

Brian Cushing
Assistant Camp Director

From the Art Activity:

In so many of the art projects the kids here at Chewonki are crafting, I see the limitlessness of imagination and the practicality of a tangible skill merging. Whether it’s sewing a monster creature, creating an intricately patterned bracelet, or making a ‘claymation’ stop-motion film, the kids have expanded their minds and harnessed skills for future use. Expression is key in the art room and we’ve worked hard to cultivate a space where this can thrive. In addition to a set activity available each period, the art room stays open for general swim so that it may to be explored by campers less familiar with or inclined to the arts as well as to those deeply invested in learning beyond the set day. Just the other week, a camper named Jack asked me, “Will you teach me how to make a stuffed animal so that I can go home and do it all by myself?”
In an all boys camp, which focuses so intently upon physical activity and outdoor experiences, I am greatly pleased by how active the art room remains. It is constantly full of incredible energy, creativity and originality. The art room serves as a haven for campers to let their imaginations run wild and I am constantly entertained by the wacky ideas and concepts that campers generate. “I painted a blue duck, ducks aren’t usually blue, but I felt like I should make a blue one”, said one Puffin upon completing a tapestry. Tapestries and block prints allow campers to draw what’s in their mind’s eye while papier-mâché and sewing stuffed animals allow the campers to give the dragons, aliens and dinosaurs of their imaginations three-dimensional form. The act of creation, whether it’s as seemingly simple as a stuffed animal, provides concrete proof of summertime accomplishments for campers. Art provides children with the opportunity to go home with proof of their hard work as well as solid skills that, though not as tangible, will long outlive their tie-dye t-shirts.

-Katie Stout, Art Activity Instructor

Big Camp, Small Camp, Big Camp!

This week has seen the departure and return of Quarter Deck, Binnacle, Jungle, South Hall, and Juniper for their cabin wilderness trips. Additionally, all of the Osprey cabins with the exception of Shang-Tu are currently out on their wilderness trips, with Shang-Tu departing tomorrow. On Tuesday we also saw the departure of our five-week cabin F0'c's'le and our ten-day cabin Stockade. Throw in a few cabin overnights during the week, and it was a very small camp on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Now at the end of the week we are starting to see camp return to a relatively normal size, especially with the arrival our the ten-day cabins Fo'c's'le and Stockade today.
The reports from the cabin trips have been overwhelmingly positive. I am always jealous of the opportunities our campers and counselors have on their cabin trips, especially when I am stuck in the office! Some of my best memories from my years as a participant and counselor come from the time I was on my cabin wilderness trips. Of course, there are always inherent challenges on a wilderness trip such as inclement weather and adapting to the camping way of life and travel, but on the whole our campers really take to the trip experience. Here is a brief write up from counselor Evan Feinberg from Juniper regarding their trip to the Bigelow range on the Appalachian Trail:
"After 4 days of fierce hiking on the Appalachian Trail, Juniper has returned to Chewonki mentally and physically stronger from our brush with the back-country. Our second day on the trail was particularly difficult with low spirits but we made it to our campsite after a rigorous 5.6 miles. We established a base camp at Stafford Pond and set out early on a day-hike of Avery Peak with high spirits. Our amazing attitude allowed Juniper to conquer the steep terrain of Avery Peak. At 4,080 ft. we had lunch with an incredible view for miles in every direction of the entire valley. Every night we played great games and worked together to purify water and prepare dinner for the cabin with a new appreciation of what it takes to make our own food over the fire. At the end Jack, Henry, Louis, Walter, Davis, and Isaac triumphed over the Bigelow Mountain range with over 30 pounds on their backs in only 4 days ... of course with the help of their fearless counselors and trip leader!
Cheers, Evan, Kyle, and Ted"

I hope you will be able to hear more stories firsthand in the weeks ahead about your son's time with us, be it his cabin wilderness trip, his success at the archery range, the birds he has learned to identify, or the new friends he has made.

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

The sun is shining!

What a gift we are enjoying this afternoon. This is such a welcome break for all of us. I was so impressed with the way spirits remained high yesterday despite the more than two inches of rain that fell. Today is the perfect reward for putting up with all that rain! The sun is out, it's warm, and the cliff was open this afternoon for cliff jumping due to the lunar high tide. The waterfront was alive with activity- sailors, canoeists, cliff jumpers, and kayakers. Tonight is the always popular campfire, so the special day we are enjoying will only get better.
Check out the flickr photos for images of all the fun at the waterfront today.

-Garth Altenburg

FIRST DAY OF ACTIVITIES, WELCOME BACK GORDY HALL!

I was so impressed with the quality of activity instruction that I observed today. All around me, campers were being taught by some very dedicated counselors. At the waterfront, Edward Yoo and his kayaking staff were introducing campers to the fundamentals of kayaking in a way that would make almost anyone feel comfortable to try kayaking for the first time. Zander Auerbach and the sailors were ferrying campers out to the sailboats for a morning sail, and Coleen Hamilton and the swimming staff were getting campers in the water and having fun despite the cloudy weather. At the archery range, campers were shooting arrows for the first time, but based on their comfort and success, you wouldn't have known it was their first time thanks to the skilled teaching of Will Korzennik and Nate Wierzbicki. At our renewable energy activity, campers were learning about our homemade biodiesel production, and they were really into it! I also had the pleasure of dropping by our tennis courts and watching the skilled instruction of James Saraidaridis, Ian Kuniholm, and Matt Weeks. Finally, I enjoyed stopping by the art room and watching Katie Stout and Harry Gingrich teach campers how to make stuffed animal bears.
Most of these activities will be represented on our flickr photo gallery with pictures, so be sure to check it out.

Also, our 7-week Osprey cabin Gordy Hall returned today from their canoe trip to the St. Croix River. They had one word to describe it: "Awesome!" And on Monday, our other 7-week Osprey cabin Orchard House returned from their week-long sailing trip in good spirits and health as well. It's great to have them back!

-Garth Altenburg

The First Day

Yesterday was a very good first full day of camp. The campers were involved with activity tours, swim checks and health checks. They traveled by cabin group to each activity to learn about the activities, as well as to orient them to the layout of the campus, and to help them make their activity selections. Activities begin in full today. The food certainly helped to keep the campers happy- breakfast was rice krispies, coffee cake and ham slices, lunch was a delicious chili, and dinner was barbecue chicken, rice, corn and blueberry cake. Yum!

Last night was an all camp game of kingdoms- a human three way game of chess. While it is overcast this morning, it looks like showers will hold off for most of the day today.

-Garth Altenburg

A PERFECT START!

Session II is off to a great start! As of 3:45, most of our campers are here and the weather is perfect! Campers have been involved with numerous mini-activities ranging from art, soccer, frisbee, nature, exploring Chewonki Neck and swimming. We'll gather in the barn tonight for an introductory sing-along before the campers head back to their cabins for an opening night candlelight where goals are set and community expectations are shared.

Thanks for sharing your children with us!

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

THE END OF SESSION I: Can it really be time?

The end of first session always seems to sneak up on us. We've gotten very close as a community, so it is hard to think about having our first session campers leave. Cabin groups have bonded during their wilderness trips, new friendships have been made, and everyone has discovered new things about themselves and their relationships with their peers and the natural world.

The weather of the last week has been a gift to all of us at Chewonki. After a soggy start to the season, we've enjoyed lots of sunshine. We've been able to go to the beach and hold cookouts outside- something unthinkable during the first part of the summer. Monday was a tent day and most of our campers went to Popham Beach for a day of swimming, sand castle building and beach games. A select group of our campers stayed behind to go to forage for wild edibles with our resident naturalist Fred Cichocki.

Fred writes, "Everyone is still raving about the last Nature Tent Day experience we call "Stalking Your Wilde Dinner". And was it ever and extravaganza! We stalked the elusive Horn of Plenty mushroom in the crags of Blueberry Hill. As we foraged for mushrooms in Chewonki Woods, we snacked like the Indians before us on refreshing Cucumber Root. We trapped crabs and fish in Montsweag Brook. Finally, despite a brief downpour that almost drowned our cooking fire, we prepared a gourmet feast wilderness-style, washed down with exotic wild sarsaparilla-wintergreen tea. And so, our boys learned that with a spirit of adventure, living off the land is not a matter of just surviving but living well!

Monday night we enjoyed three outstanding presentations; a series of presentations from our recently returned three week sailing, canoeing, sea kayaking and whitewater kayaking wilderness trips, sharing the joys of their experiences; a presentation by our Traveling Natural History staff on Scales and Tales, featuring numerous live reptiles. Phil Lilienthal, a friend who used to direct a camp in Maine, spoke to the campers about a camp he started in Africa to provide AIDS education and prevention for South African young people. Global Camps Africa is a non-profit that has provided a 9-day sleep away camp experience for nearly 4,000 children at 27 camp sessions over the past 5 years. To reinforce what is learned at camp and for ongoing support, former campers meet at Kids Clubs after camp for follow up activities for 6 hours every other Saturday. Both the camp and Kids Clubs are free of charge. I thought the campers and counselors responded very positively to Phil's message and some campers expressed some interest in getting involved in some way. Phil has a "Change for Kids" program that asks children here to support children there by collecting their own spare change (and, perhaps, having friends participate, too) and then having you send a tax-deductible check to Global Camps Africa in exchange for the money your child has collected. Please contact Phil if you are interested in support his camp at phil@globalcampsafrica.org. Thanks for your consideration.

Tuesday was our Chewonki-style carnival where each cabin made a booth. Booth offerings included bowling, card games, bean tosses, and popcorn. Campers used beans as a currency and then pooled all of their beans together to bid on a dessert. Adding to the fun was the fact that the desserts were boxed up, so the campers didn't know what they were bidding on. In the end, every cabin enjoyed a tasty dessert treat prepared by our staff.

Now we are preparing to end the session. The campers and counselors are busy packing up their belongings, having final showers and health checks at the health center, and preparing for departure tomorrow morning. Tonight will be a special evening dinner and campfire, providing us the opportunity to celebrate our time together and our many accomplishments.

Challenge Activity Update

This session Chewonki introduced the Challenge Activity to the camp program. During the academic year, school groups come for up to a week in the fall and the spring. Based at one of our campsites on our 400-acre campus, they spend their time here learning a series of natural history based lessons and developing group dynamics and community building. To facilitate this growth, students participate in group challenges and games, as well as a Tyrolian traverse across the Gulch, and the Barn Climb.

These activities had been offered to campers in past summers and scheduled throughout the summer as a special cabin activity, but we weren't always able to schedule every cabin for a barn climb. While team building is one of the our primary goals at camp, these activities are designed to be a "challenge by choice." After careful thought this year, we decided that offering Challenge as an activity would allow for maximum benefit and so far it has been a huge success. The activity is under the oversight of Challenge Coordinator, Helen Westcott, and Papa Osprey, Sam Hoyle.

Helen has spent the last several years at the Alton Jones Center in Rhode Island as a professional outdoor educator. She will be returning home to Britain this fall to pursue a higher degree in education. Sam Hoyle has been a counselor here for the past three summers and is finishing a full year here as one of our Outdoor Classroom instructors before heading to Gould Academy to teach Spanish this fall. It has been their insight, experience, energy, and character that has propelled the curriculum of this activity. We look forward to another exciting session!

- Sandy Bandhu, Program Director


FOR THOSE JUST RETURNING HOME:
I know our families will be anxious to learn all about their son's experience here. Campers have their own way of sharing their camp experience with you. Some will be eager to tell you all of the details within the first 24 hours. Others will prolong their stories, and want to fit right back into their home routines. Every once in a while throughout the school year, you will undoubtedly hear another camp story - "At Camp, we'd always.......!" Some campers may actually be "camp sick" for a few days, as they struggle with the separation of their close community and adjust back to their home lifestyles. One tool to help with these emotions is our camp newspaper, The Chronicle that contains camper addresses and emails.
"So how was Camp?" is so broad a question that it is too much for most campers. Most will be able to express not much more than "Fine. Fun." for a few days. Try asking questions about specific parts of their summer. "Who was your best friend in camp?" "What were your counselors like?" "What was your favorite activity?" "What was the most fun part of camp?" "Where did you go on your wilderness trip?" "What was the best day you had all summer?" "What did you accomplish that you did not think you would be able to?" "How was the food?" "What was your favorite special event?" "What kinds of songs and skits did you see at campfire?" Often times the more specific questions produce the most interesting responses.
Our full summer and five week session campers and trippers will receive notes written from their counselors and trip leaders in the mail over the next few days. We hope that they will be helpful to you in evaluating your camper's experience. In return, we hope you will help us by filling out the evaluation that we have provided a link for here.

It has been a most memorable first session. I am grateful for you trust and support in all that we do here at Chewonki.

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

Tent Day Trip to Popham Beach
July 13, 2009

After a rainy start to the summer it was a treat to have a beautiful sunny day spent playing on the beach! We arrived to a low tide, which meant plenty of time for a walk out to Fox Island for some exploring. Campers scrambled over rocks, explored tide pools, and watched Cormorants fly by. The waves were the perfect size for body surfing, and the waterfront was in full swing all day. Campers spread down the beach to play soccer, Frisbee, and lacrosse with counselors. Three large-scale sand forts were built complete with moats, drawbridges, and driftwood accents. After a full day of fun in the sun, we piled our shovels, games, and bodies back onto the bus to head home to Chewonki. Campers were overheard saying the whole way home how great a day they had playing in the sand under a clear blue sky. What a fantastic way to wrap up our last tent day of Session I.

-Liz Reed, Waterfront Director

Garth on TV

Garth was featured this morning on WCSH6 NBC Portland. He talked about H1N1, and what camps are doing to prepare. Watch the video at: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=106950&catid=2

Heron Circle Update

Greetings from Heron Circle! The first half of session one has flown by with an abundance of smiling faces, several overnights, wilderness trips, epic games of Rocks, and ecstatic group night games. The weather has changed over for the better and many campers still are awaiting their cabin trips.

We look forward to seeing you next week!

Bob Smith-Petersen

Good morning!

As I walked up to the office this morning, I saw an enthusiastic group of campers participating in an early morning birdwalk using their binoculars. Look for the images on the flickr website. It is a perfect morning for a birdwalk as the skies are clear. With the help of our staff naturalist Lynne Flaccus, the boys spotted a Goldfinch, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Osprey, Barn Swallow, White Breasted Nuthatch, Phoebe, Morning Dove, and an Osprey with a fish its talons.

Yesterday's sunny weather was such a treat for all of us, and today promises to be even better. While nothing can hold back the spirit of camp, Tuesday and Wednesday were very wet and cold and the bright skies have lifted all spirits, as well as helped us dry out. I visited with the Outhaul cabin as they are preparing to head out on their wilderness trip to Nahmakanta Lake this morning, and they are so excited! Juniper cabin heads out for a backpacking trip to Evan's Notch on the Maine-New Hampshire border.

Last night's evening activities included group night for the Herons and Ospreys and cabin night for the Puffins and Owls. I saw the Herons participating in a game of Kingdoms on the lower field. Kingdoms is like a live action three-way chess game. The campers love it! The Ospreys are working on the Osprey project- creating napkin/salt and pepper holders for our dining room tables. These are being fabricated in our woodshop and will be a lasting gift for our community.

It's time to log off! Campers will be arriving up to the dining hall in just a few minutes. We are looking forward to a great day.

-Garth Altenburg

A sunny Thursday!

The sun is out this morning. Finally! What a treat for all of us. Today is a regular day of activities, with Crow's Nest, Pete Gillies, and Shang-Tu heading out on their trips. Keep on eye on our flickr photo site for more photos.

-Garth Altenburg

Chewonki Flickr Photos

Just a reminder to check out the Chewonki Flickr page. We have added over three hundred photos in the last few days. You can also view photos going back to 2006, and see a number of photos from the early years of the boys camp!

Chewonki Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chewonki/collections/

The First Week!

The Spirit of Camp!

What happens when 150 boys from all over the world converge for summer of fun, learning and growth? Only summer camps can provide this type of experience, and Chewonki has been offering its own unique camping experience for 95 summers. The past week has been filled with excitement, energy, and yes; rain. However, the wet weather has yet to put a major dent in our spirits. At times it has even energized our community and provided new opportunities to get really wet and dirty. What could be more fun?

We came together as a community last Tuesday evening and met in the barn to share songs, introductions and a few of our basic safety policies. After this brief meeting, campers returned to their cabin for a cabin candlelight, allowing them to get to know each and their counselors, as well as set some goals for the summer. Wednesday was a day for activity tours and previews as well as check-ins and screenings at the health center. Wednesday night was Cabin Night for the Herons and Ospreys, while the Puffins and Owls participated in their respective group night. Several of the Ospreys and Herons ventured out on their overnight campouts at the southern tip of our peninsula. Thursday was our first day of our activities and we were able to enjoy an afternoon of sunshine. Activities progressed through Friday and Saturday with more sunshine. The highlight had to be the beautiful Saturday afternoon down at our waterfront as the tide was high- a perfect afternoon for boating activities and cliff jumping! The tides set up perfectly, allowing us to swim across the creek and scamper up the rope to the top of the cliff. Shouts of joy were heard all over the waterfront as campers took the plunge for the first time in 2009, following in the footsteps and splashes of hundreds of campers through the years. I hope you have seen some of the photos up on our website.
Saturday night was our first Campfire of the season, and Sunday morning saw us gathering as a community for our first Sunday Service. I was impressed with the level of comfort our campers displayed at each event. Normally, our campers tend to be cautiously reserved at the first Campfire and Sunday Service. However, it was clear at these two events that our campers are comfortable with each other and feel that they can get up and speak or perform in front of the entire community. What a gift that we are able to share with each other!
 Sunday night was our first game of Capture the Rocks on our lower mud bowl, formerly our lower field. The heavy rains and mud only added to excitement and sense of adventure. Our teams of Sags and Hocs dashed around the field, slipping and sliding their way through the mud and creating an absolute challenge for our very capable laundry staff. Be prepared for some very dirty t-shirts at the end of the season! Needless to say, it was a joyous evening and a huge boost of enthusiasm during this rainy stretch.
We postponed our first trip to Popham Beach on Monday for later in the week due to cold and cloudy weather. Fortunately, we were able to fall back on our activity program. As I write on Tuesday, campers are once again engaged in their second block of activities. I must compliment our outstanding staff as their enthusiasm has carried the day. Thanks to their efforts, it could be sunny, snowy or wet. Our campers would still be having a blast!


A Few Administrative Details

Camp Photos on the Internet
We have started to place many photos on the internet. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/chewonki/collections/ to view the photos. Please visit frequently to see what is happening in camp, and be patient if we aren’t always able to put up new photos.

Mail & Packages
As you know, our campers do not have access to write to you by email. Hopefully you’ve received a first letter or two, and you have had a chance to send a letter. We still believe in the value of a hand written letter at camp and encourage parents and family to send letters through the mail as much as possible. There is something very special about holding a letter in hand written by family member when you are far from home. However, if a unique situation warrants an email, we are able to print your emails. Please send camper emails to dpalen@chewonki.org, and we’ll deliver it to their mailbox.
Please do not send any food or candy in camper care packages. Our campers enjoy a healthy and balanced diet that supports their busy schedules. Food and candy attract animals to our cabins, and can create unwanted jealousies between cabins. We will confiscate any food or candy that is sent as campers open their packages in the presence of their counselors.
Visits
Visitors for campers are welcome, but we do ask that you avoid visiting during the first and last five days of your child’s stay. Please call ahead to plan your visit so that we can be sure your child isn’t out of camp on a trip. We have a “Tent Day” (an all-camp field trip) almost every week, as well as cabin wilderness trips and other special events that may take your child away from camp. Once you visit camp, please be sure to check-in at the camp office, sign our visitor log, and stop by to say a quick hello if you have a chance. Tent days are scheduled for July 7, 13, 24, 29 and August 4.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. The next three weeks promise to be a time of tremendous fun, excitement and growth. We are thrilled to be providing a meaningful summer experience. Please be in touch with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg,
Director, Chewonki Camp for Boys