September 2009
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September 28, 2009

Final Weekend of September

Our weekend started early as Jeremy, Vanessa, Stu and I traveled down to Metuchen for Teri and Jim's wedding on Friday afternoon.  Teri, as most everyone reading this knows, has been a counselor, head counselor and now one of our assistant directors at CK-NJ.  She wanted to invite a great big group of camp people, but given that family and relatives have to take priority, just a few of us got to represent the CK-NJ community.  I'm sure many of you have already seen lots of wedding photos on Facebook, but I'll share a few of our pics here.  Note: going to a wedding is one of the few ways to get this camp director into a jacket and tie.

We saw Devon!  She came up from Mississippi to be part of the wedding ceremony and was flying back very early the next morning to finish up rehearsals for the next play that she's in.  Chris England was the best man.  Some of you might remember that Chris was a CK-NJ counselor in 2004.  He, Teri and Jim grew up together in Metuchen.

On behalf of the entire CK-NJ community, we wish Teri and Jim much happiness and a long life together. 

AND . . . we're very excited that Teri is becoming a member of our year-round staff in mid-October!  More about that in later blogs.

The rest of the weekend included . . . what else? . . . TOURS!  We had gorgeous autumn weather on Saturday, sharing the performing arts center with the Warren County Poetry Festival (not as exciting as one of our talent shows, but very interesting).  Sunday's weather was pretty rainy, but the Blair campus looks great in all kinds of weather, so that didn't cause any problem for tours.

Back to Saturday . . . the Blair architecture class was learning some concepts by building walls with cardboard boxes.  I snapped a photo of one of their creations built right where we do our tie dyeing.

Oh, and remember how much fun we all had with the headmaster's dog this summer, playing games in the bowl?  Well, if you look carefully in this photo, you'll see them taking a walk on the far side of the bowl.



I caught up with the headmaster later that day and he said, once again, how much he enjoyed meeting everyone from Campus Kids this past summer.

I hope your weekend was fun.  Have a great week and we'll talk again soon.

Tom

September 24, 2009

The seasons change

At camp this past weekend there were many signs of the changing season and, yes campers, this was the week that summer officially ended and autumn took its place.  Now we have to refer to our wonderful 2009 camp season as "last summer".  Oh well.  It had to happen.

But it was really beautiful at camp with a summer-like warmth (at least while the sun was out).  I took a bunch of pictures to remind me of this beautiful almost-fall day and I think I'll go back to those same spots during the year to photograph the changing seasons on the beautiful Blair campus.

Another big change takes place this week also.  Teri gets married tomorrow afternoon!  A few of us will be there (she apologizes for not being able to invite the entire camp) and we'll be sure to take some pics to share with you.

We've been getting lots of camp registrations for next summer.  We have tours this weekend.  We've been updating the photos and the online tour on our website.  The beat goes on.  See you next week.

Tom

September 18, 2009

Charlie Makes Level 1

After camp Stu traveled out to L.A. to visit his son Mike, daughter-in-law Paula, but really to visit his grandson Charlie.  Thanks to Skype, Stu and Charlie keep in touch during the year, but I know Stu is one grandpa who would like to live closer to his grandson.  So visits are always special and they result in a great many photos.  Along with the pics from this trip was the report that Charlie is swimming!  Wow, and we thought he'd have to come to CK-NJ to learn how to do that.  He's at Level 1 now, so by the time he can come to camp he'll probably be pushing Level 5 or 6!  I guess those California kids are precocious when it comes to swimming.  Charlie is also learning how to throw, catch and swing the bat, so he's not leaving much for us to teach him at camp!  Maybe he can hold off on being such a wiz and let us teach him something like squash or Frisbee golf.

Charlie and his folks didn't make it to Blairstown for a camp visit this summer, so here's a gentle reminder that we -- the CK-NJ community -- need to see Charlie and we really hope he'll be running and laughing with us in The Bowl next summer, at least for one day.

Speaking of family, sundown and the start of Rosh Hashanah are just a few hours away.  We wish everyone celebrating this holiday a sweet new year and and a wonderful time with family and friends.  And, for all of us, a peaceful year ahead.

Sunday is another tour day in Blairstown.  I'll be at camp to show some folks our beautiful campus and talk about how much fun camp is.  What an amazing time we had together this summer!  And we get to do it again in just over nine months.  Isn't camp great?

Tom 
 

September 10, 2009

Our Camp Profession

One of the things we do between summers is participate actively in the American Camp Association, the national association for camp professionals with a local chapter ("section") in New Jersey.  I am currently the president of the ACA-New Jersey Section, midway in my three-year term.  This is a volunteer position (we have a paid, full-time executive), but keeps me busy at certain times of the year.  On Tuesday I traveled out to Allentown, PA with our section executive and vice president to meet with the leaders of our neighboring ACA sections: New York and Keystone (PA & DE).  We've been meeting periodically over the last two years to design ways our sections can share programs and provide even better services to our members and the public.  The purpose of ACA is to help make camps the best they can be, which is done through accreditation and professional development.  We also do everything we can to get the word out to the public about the benefits of camp for kids and families.

Speaking of accreditation, one of my other volunteer roles with ACA is serving as one of eight members of the National Standards Commission, a national body that is charged with overseeing the camp accreditation program.  We meet together twice a year and by conference calls in between meetings.  In a few hours I fly to Denver for our 3-day fall meeting where we will be reviewing new proposals to enhance the accreditation program over the coming years and expand it to even more camps than it serves now.

CK-NJ is, as I hope you know, an ACA-Accredited camp, a distinction we earned our very first summer (20 years ago!) and have maintained since.  This past summer, in fact, we received one of our periodic reviews and we are awaiting the official results now (don't worry, I'm sure we passed!).  Camp accreditation examines such areas of camp operations as health & safety, personnel, site & facilities, administrative management, transportation, program operations and all the areas of camp that require extra safety precautions such as aquatics, archery, gymnastics, etc.  Going through the accreditation process makes our camp better because it helps us learn and apply the very latest knowledge in camp operations and safety.  I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't sent their child to an accredited camp!

One reason we are so active in ACA is that it helps make our camp the best possible.  Another is that it gives us a chance to give back in service to others, helping make all camps better and safer for kids.  A third reason is that it helps us meet lots of other camp professionals who become our friends and serve as a support network.  We are always talking with our friends at other camps to share ideas and answer questions for each other.  During the next three days, I'll be enjoying the work of our accreditation commission, but I'll also be learning a lot from my colleagues and sharing some of my experiences from Campus Kids the New Jersey camp community.  It's great to be connected like this.

Tom
 

September 2, 2009

From the Sublime to the Ordinary

Camp was sublime.  The glow of the summer still shines and there’s no tiring of looking at the photos and telling the stories.

Working at the camp office right now is pretty ordinary compared to that.  These few weeks after camp are the quietest of the whole year.   A week or two after the start of September, things pick up quite a bit and it’s very busy here (which surprises many people), but right now, even though there’s lots to do, it’s very ordinary.  What happens at this time of year?  Things like website maintenance (backups and lots of photo editing), putting away everything from camp and cleaning out and reorganizing our office and storage lockers, bookkeeping, getting all the laundry done (fencing uniforms, sleeping bags, and health center linens) and storing it away.  Stuff like that.  Sounds like fun, right?

Well, it’s not too bad, but in comparison to the exciting days of summer, it’s nothing to write home about.  HOWEVER, pretty soon the pace will pick up as we start planning for next summer!  “Already, you ask”?  Yes, of course!  One of the first things we do is read all the evaluations and feedback we’ve received from staff, campers and parents and go over all our notes from the summer.  Then we take everyone’s ideas and work them into our plans for next summer.  We’ll be working on program ideas, new evening program and special events, deciding about staff and starting the recruiting, hiring/re-hiring process.  And we’ll be talking to lots of camper families about next summer and giving tours for the new families.  We’ll be planning the reunion, interviewing staff assistant applicants, going to professional development meetings for camp directors.  We’ll be meeting with people at Blair to share ideas for next summer.  We’ll be writing “Sundials”, updating our video and brochure.  We’ll start working on the details of our staff orientation, revising our health forms, reviewing summer camp menus, planning Weekend Adventures and revising the summer bus routes.

So even though these days, right now, are a bit dull and ordinary, we’re about to launch our new Camp Year.  And there’s nothing ordinary about that.  If you’re ever around the Madison area, come on over and visit.  You’ll know you’ve found us when you see the camp sundial on the front stoop, waiting until we can return it to Blairstown next June for the start of our 20^th summer camp season.

Tom
  

September 2009
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