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Wow - What a year! Tonight's final campfire of this season is about both remembering and looking forward. We hope this fun "wrap up" conversation leaves you looking forward to more Campfire Conversations this fall. Have a safe and happy summer!  

Want to know what it’s like growing up at camp, leaving camp, and coming back? Want to know what it’s been like to be a camp director preparing for the most important summer of our lives? My friend Adam Baker, Director of Camps Equinunk and Blue Ridge, is around the campfire tonight and will give you all the details. Enjoy!

We are all coming out of a very tough time with Covid and political strife and so much more. However, it’s time to move from despair to HOPE. No one I know thinks more deeply about this move than John Hamilton, the Director of Camp Hope America. It’s hope-full people who change themselves and the world around them in positive ways. John will tell you how it gets done. Pull up a log and have a listen!

Summer‌ ‌Camp‌ ‌provides‌ ‌everyone‌ ‌involved‌ ‌a‌ ‌great‌ ‌deal‌ ‌of‌ ‌fun‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌surprising‌ ‌amount‌ ‌of‌ ‌ learning.‌ ‌Yes,‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌actually‌ ‌true‌ ‌–‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌blast‌ ‌while‌ ‌learning‌ ‌things‌ ‌that‌ ‌will‌ ‌help‌ ‌you‌ ‌ later‌ ‌in‌ ‌life.‌ ‌It‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌matter‌ ‌whether‌ ‌you‌ ‌are‌ ‌a‌ ‌seven-year-old‌ ‌first‌ ‌time‌ ‌camper,‌ ‌a‌ ‌16‌ ‌year-old‌ ‌ CIT,‌ ‌a‌ ‌college‌ ‌aged‌ ‌staff‌ ‌member‌ ‌or‌ ‌a‌ ‌year‌ ‌round‌ ‌professional‌ ‌with‌ ‌more‌ ‌than‌ ‌2‌ ‌decades‌ ‌under‌ ‌your‌ ‌belt.‌ ‌There‌ ‌is‌ ‌always‌ ‌a‌ ‌lot‌ ‌of‌ ‌learning‌ ‌going‌ ‌on. ‌

Health Care at summer camp is very much in the limelight these days. (Frankly, it always should be!) Tracey Gaslin, the Executive Director of the Association of Camp Nursing, is around the campfire talking about how parents, Health Center staff, and camp directors can best work together to make Summer 2021 a happy and healthy success.

Sometimes‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌easier‌ ‌to‌ ‌see‌ ‌the‌ ‌impact‌ ‌of‌ ‌something‌ ‌when‌ ‌you‌ ‌are‌ ‌further‌ ‌away.‌ ‌ We‌ ‌all‌ ‌know‌ ‌summer‌ ‌camp‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌gift‌ ‌for‌ ‌children.‌ ‌This‌ ‌is‌ ‌especially‌ ‌so‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌poorest,‌ ‌ most‌ ‌difficult‌ ‌situations.‌ ‌Global‌ ‌Camps‌ ‌Africa’s‌ ‌Executive‌ ‌Director,‌ ‌Emily‌ ‌Crowder,‌ ‌is‌ ‌around‌ ‌ the‌ ‌campfire‌ ‌talking‌ ‌about‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌good‌ ‌being‌ ‌done‌ ‌in‌ ‌South‌ ‌Africa‌ ‌by‌ ‌people‌ ‌who‌ ‌love‌ ‌summer‌ ‌ camp‌ ‌and‌ ‌kids.‌ ‌Make‌ ‌sure‌ ‌to‌ ‌check‌ ‌out‌ ‌their‌ ‌upcoming‌ ‌‌Global‌ ‌Gathering‌!‌ ‌

We’ve all lost a step in the ‘joy’ department. The lockdowns and the past year has been tough for everyone. It’s time to unclench our hands and open up. That’s the only way to give and receive any gift… and especially the gift of camp. Camp owner and director Kate Kelly is around the campfire to talk about the important lessons of joy camp can offer up.

What would five decades of summer camp experience teach? What if those (ongoing) fruitful years included learning from and visiting camps not only around your own but around the world? John (Jorgi) Jorgenson, Camp Director at Camp Tawingo and the Head of the International Camping Fellowship spends some time around the campfire to chat. Pull up a log and sit a while - it’ll be well worth your time!

Maya Angelou said “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” This is certainly true for summer camp as well as the rest of the world. Briana Mitchell, the  Director of AF Camp and co-founder of S’more Melanin (and a long time camper) describes how we can use summer camp to bring that strength of diversity to light.

Gina Greenlee said “Experience is a master teacher, even when it’s not our own.” Dayna Hardin, Owner/Director of Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods camps in Michigan welcomed campers and staff for Summer 2020. She’s around the campfire tonight to share what she learned and describe the very hopeful path forward to an amazing summer 2021 for us all.

After months of COVID lockdowns and social distancing, our kids (and parents!) need summer camp like no other time in recent memory. And, while we are all excited about heading to camp, we’ve got to be honest about the rise in anxiety and intentional on how we handle it. Mental Health Counselor and summer camp veteran Rikki Goldenberg is around the campfire to help.

The idea behind this podcast is to shine a light on those lessons learned at summer camp and figure out how we can apply them in our lives going forward. I hope you’ll enjoy what you hear and put these ideas to work in your life back home.    From the outside looking in, I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought summer camp was a pretty insular place. The camp spirit at each camp is very high. The traditions are unique. The staff are fully engaged with how we do it. In fact, you’ll often hear new staff members say ‘Well, at my camp, we used to….’    While each summer camp certainly has many reasons for their kids and staff to think only about themselves, every great camp I know helps to develop generosity, altruism and servant leadership among their campers and staff members.  During these hard times in the US and around the world, I thought it would be fun to explore how camp has helped one young person reach out and give back to his community.  JT Richman is a rising 8th grader from NY, a great big brother to Robbie and Viv, and a fantastic example of someone who, because of camp, wants to give back.

Cole spends some time around the campfire talking about what it's been like being a Camp Director in the time of a pandemic. 

We all know the power of camp: the fun, activities we have a hard time re-creating at home, and the joy of learning something new. While many camps have closed for this summer, Happy Camper Live has become a great way to keep the spirit of camp going for kids all across the country.  Join me, Allison Miller and Steve Slavkin to learn how we can literally bring camp home this summer.

After chatting with the moms last week, it's time for the dads to get into the action this week.  Tune in as we assemble the "Council of Dads" to talk about how summer camp makes better Dads.    

Camp teaches a lot of great lessons to kids and staff. And, it teaches us parents as well. I thought it would be fun and instructive to find out how camp has shaped the parenting styles of three great moms with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working for many years.

Summer camp serves as a launching point for so many people. Thankfully, it’s helped a large number of staff and campers alike become professional helpers as mentors and teachers. LaDarrius Calvin, Vice President of Boy II Men in Indianapolis, IN, spends some time talking about the magic of summer camp the power of mentorship. 

For the first time in my professional life, I have some concerns about summer camp opening. It’s not what I want to even think about. However, as Mr. Rogers used to say, if it’s human, it’s mentionable. And, if it’s mentionable, it’s manageable.  Like many other cultural institutions, summer camp has been greatly affected by Covid-19. Thankfully, there are a number of wonderful resources helping us learn more and devine a future forward. Whether it’s the actions of the American Camp Association national office, our local ACA offices, the Jewish Federation of Camps, our local Department of Health offices: they are doing their all to determine a safe path forward.  The other resource we have are those who have lived through something similar. When all this starting happening, one of the first people I thought of was Bobby Harris, the longtime camp director of URJ Camp Coleman. While Bobby has been in camping a little while longer than I have, we’ve got a lot of connections: time spent in Boston, experiences helping to lead multiple camps and the virus that brought originally together 12 years ago. Heck, he’s even got one of our former campers playing guitar on the welcome page of his website! This is a perfect time to learn from past and take inspiration for the future. Bobby Harris is the right camp director to provide both. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with my friend, Bobby Harris.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us we are all – everyone on earth – are neighbors dealing with the same situation. We get a perspective on camp and Covid-19 from China with my friends Marco Reyes and Mike Lewis of the YMCE Group. If you’d like a window into their experience, I hope you’ll take a few moments to listen.

Ever felt overwhelmed with too many things to do and not enough time? Ever have that organizational system you thought would fix everything simply add more work? We are all feeling this way now with our normal lives turned upside down. Diana Bloom, camp pro, twin-parent, and accountability consultant can help!