What Are Your Summer Camp Memories?

I actually went to two summer camps between the ages of about 9 and 16. The first was more or less a traditional summer camp - hiking, crafts, swimming, capture the flag. It was run by Quakers and hippies, so there was a real back-to-the-earth ethos, but at the end of the day, we were still gluing macaroni onto paper plates, etc.

The second camp was a much more formative experience. It was called TIP for Talent Identification Program (which: barf), but as an adult, I usually just shorthand it as Nerd Camp.

Nerd Camp was held for three weeks every summer at Duke University. You had to take the SAT as a 7th grader and get a certain score just to be allowed to have your parents shell out a hefty sum to send you there. Then, instead of hiking or doing archery, like on TV camps, you would take a class from a college professor for 6 hours a day. During off hours, the campers (TIPsters, we called ourselves) would play Ultimate Frisbee, hang out at the canteen and most of all, find ways to make out with each other while avoiding the scrutiny of the counselors.

In retrospect, we Nerd Campers must have been a pretty unbearable bunch. The whole purpose of the program was to inculcate in us a sense of our own special genius and the great destiny that awaited us. But it's not like many of us were in need of such a boost. We were largely a bunch of straight-A, middle class, white kids, a group that, historically, hasn't needed to be reminded of its own specialness and entitlement. At the time, though, it felt pretty great to be a cool kid, which we all were, given the absence of any actual cool kids.

Growing up a latch-key kid in urban Northeast New Jersey, my parents figured it would cost less to send me to day camp than hire a babysitter. I did the YMCA camp for a couple of years, but fell in love with Camp Arrowhead in Totawa, NJ.

Each day had activities that ranged from nature walks, crafts, swimming (instruction and "free swim"), sports (a version of dodge ball called "killerball" was the most popular).

Too many great memories to list but a few that stand out...

Most campers would be driven to camp by a local late-teens to early twenties counselor. I owe my love for pop music to these drives, I learned every new pop song from 1976 until I stopped going around 1981. There was one counselor "Carmine" who was a counselor by day and Studio 54 dancer by night.

We were all placed into a group (or tribe or something like that). Each week we could earn points from contests to "inspection" where groups had to sit as still as possible as leaders would walk by and see which group moved the least. At the end of the week the boys and girls group with the most points won ice cream sodas... it seems like each year, every group won once.

Finally up until recently I have a spelling bee and knock hockey trophy that I won at camp.
It really made what could have been a drag of a summer in urban New Jersey a lot of fun.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, I went to day camp every summer and so did all my friends. There were all these kids whose parents had summer homes in our community and they always went to camp with us. The summer kids always made camp more fun. And they were somehow cooler than the rest of us, so if you got to be buddies with one of the summer kids, your coolness factor immediately increased. My first kiss was from a summer kid. Man, was I cool!!!

For the last two weeks of camp, the whole camp would split up into the Red Team and the Blue Team and we'd compete in all kinds of sports, arts & crafts and other activities and each team would rack up points for their performance. The very last day we'd have a huge event called The Sing where each team would put on a show with songs and choreography. The councellors wrote everything and we'd often rehearse at one of their houses, sometimes late into the night. Those are the times I remember most, those crazy competitions and The Sing.

I wasn't always the best athlete in summer camp, but I had a couple things I was good at like volley ball and floor hockey. Then one day I broke my wrist and had to get a cast. I was devasted and thought I'd have to sit out during our camp's color war. But it turned out that the cast made my volley ball serve so much better and was also the perfect tool for making saves in floor hockey. For a couple of weeks I felt like this grizzled but heroic athlete who had crawled back onto the field after being injured and made the winning shot. It was a great feeling and a memory I'll always carry with me.

I remember the summer camps I attended when I was little. They were a lot of fun. I learned how to ride a horse, make crafts, and rock climb. However, I remember the first time I climbed a huge rock (well, the rock was huge to me). When it was time to come down, the councelors wanted me to jump away from the rock and into their arms. Well I was scared and jumped, but not away from the rock. I slid all the way down this rock on my back. I remembered it hurt alot and the councelors made me lay on my back until it was time to leave. I liked all the special attention I got that day - extra ice cream and candy.

Back in the mid 70's I was a young counselor and one day brought some nasty but potent weed to camp. I got stoned with Kevin and we breached several tents looking for Hostess goodies. YUMMMY!
For fun,
Dipping in the lake, McDonalds Cookies, Ronald McDonald staring back at you after you just yacked him up in your tent due to excessive alcohol abuse, Pizza Barn on the nights off, Making $30.00 every 2 weeks.
My least favorite tasks were performing a varity of hygene on males and females from ages 10 to 70.

I wouldn't trade those years for anything.

Life was AWSOME!