PLEASE NOTE: The city’s biggest Camp Fairs are coming up on March 25-26 on the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side. The fairs are informative, free, and fun for the whole family. The Camp Fairs (the largest in NYC) offer families the unprecedented opportunity to speak with a big host of camp directors and get essential questions answered. CLICK HERE for details and to register.
A large part of what keeps kids returning to camp year after year are the special traditions that make campers feel part of something larger than themselves, connecting them to the campers who have come before them and those who will follow. We asked several day and sleepaway camps to share some of the traditions that they feel make their camps special.
“Bank Street Summer Camp traditions vary between daily traditions, like morning and afternoon meetings, and less frequent traditions, like our end-of-summer slideshows and the maker fair for our STEM program. However, the most infamous tradition at Bank Street is our trips to Big Rock in Riverside Park. As many Upper West Side families know, the big rock at 115th Street in Riverside Park has been the setting of birthday parties, school gatherings and play dates for decades. At Bank Street Summer Camp, Big Rock and the space surrounding it is a setting for communal events, including carnivals, parties, classes and picnics. For kids, the rock is a mountain begging to be conquered. But, more importantly, at Bank Street Summer Camp, campers feel a strong connection to the Upper West Side and the Bank Street community.”
-Dylan Morgan, Bank Street Summer Camp
“Saturday mornings at Berkshire Hills are special. We sleep an hour later, and after breakfast, instead of heading off into normal camp activities, every camper and every staff member takes part in a community service project. There is great energy having everyone in camp focused on doing something to make the world a better place. On a given Saturday, older campers might head out to a special needs camp down the road to assist their campers or help with trail clearing at a local state park. Younger campers might be planting flowers in camp, visiting with senior citizens, or writing cards and making bracelets for a patient at a local hospital. By the afternoon, campers are back to zip-lining across the lake, making movies, and climbing on the waterfront inflatables, but the morning thinking about others frames the upcoming week in a way that helps everyone appreciate how lucky they are to be together, having a summer of fun in a beautiful space.”
-Adam Weinstein, Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Camp
“We have many camp traditions, but the one that sticks out the most and is the most meaningful to our campers and families is Breezemont’s annual “Give Back Day.” We choose a day during the camp season where we make major donations to two of our favorite charities, Friends of Karen and Project Morry. Friends of Karen provides emotional, financial, and advocacy support for children with life-threatening illnesses. Project Morry is an organization dedicated to giving youth from underserved communities, in and around the New York City metropolitan area, enriching learning opportunities through a curriculum based on school gatherings and an intensive summer camp program. The leadership team conveys the meaning and importance of “giving back” to the counselors, who in turn explain to the children what is happening. It’s a tradition that will continue for years to come!”
-Matt Pritikin, Breezemont Day Camp
“One of the rituals that we perform at Camp Ramaquois is our moving up ceremonies. This is somewhat like a graduation ceremony for our 6-year-old boys and girls in which they cross over a bridge onto another side of our campus and join our upper camps on either the boys’ or girls’ side. As they walk over this bridge, the 7-year-old campers, known as our Rangers (boys) or Middies (girls), make two lines on either side for the incoming campers to walk through onto a larger field. After the last camper completes the journey, there are a number of short speeches and then the handing over of a different colored shirt to selected campers as a representation of the new campers moving along. The 7-year-old division leaders welcome the campers and our Friendship Song is played as well. I love this ceremony because it shows a passing of the torch to a new group of campers to represent a new side of camp, and it also shows a growing up of these campers on our campus. The boys and girls aren’t ‘babies’ anymore, and they will get to experience camp in a whole new light. I got to watch this ceremony twice as a parent, being in the position that I have at camp. Both times, it brought tears to my eyes knowing that my boys were growing up and were going on to the ‘big campus.’”
-Scott Kaplan, Camp Ramaquois
“At Camp Stonewall, color wars is the highlight of the summer. Every week, we have competitions among the White Knights, Crimson Knights, and Golden Knights. Once you come to camp, you’re on the same color team for life. In 2012, the White Knights were crushing everyone. They were led by head counselor Cody, and the last event of the summer was Newcomb—his specialty. Play began right after dinner, but there were multiple rounds to ensure it was fair, and soon enough, it got dark. We drove camp vehicles over to illuminate the court with headlights.” During the final match of the night, last-place Gold took on White. Play ensued, and an 11-year-old camper, John, found himself the only one left on Gold to face several White opponents. He got one out, then another, and another. Golden Knight teammates lost their minds jumping and cheering for him; John quickly found himself 1:1 versus the Newcomb legend: Cody. John threw it past him. For a split second, we thought maybe Cody let him, but no; it was a legitimate, unbelievable win. The Golden Knights rushed the court and hoisted John up onto their shoulders, parading him around, screaming his name. With fast-moving shadows from the car lights, it looked like he was surrounded by a thousand people. White still had their win overall. But Gold took home a little victory, too. Can you imagine that feeling? At age 11? That’s it, that feeling—the heart of camp tradition for us.”
-Emily Schäfer, Camp Stonewall
“The Deer Mountain tradition that stands out most in my mind and one that makes us feel very proud is one that combines history, fun, and sharing as well as giving back: Carnival. Deer Mountain will celebrate its 60th birthday this summer, and as far back as I can remember, our Carnival has always been amazing. When I was little, close to 40 years ago, each camper group would think of a game booth to design and construct to contribute to the day’s event… The greatest part of Carnival, however, was that we shared the day with Venture and Jawonio, camps that serve children with developmental disabilities. Carnival was not only a fundraiser (camper families contributed and then we matched all of the funds raised), but it was also a day when we all had fun together. Today, our Carnival is quite over-the-top as our main three ball fields are filled with huge rides and inflatables. We have so many amusements that they overflow onto our office lawn. Each division still contributes a game, which is still one of my favorite parts of the day as well. Nothing creates a bigger ‘wow,’ however, than the sight of our campers having fun alongside campers from Venture and Jawonio. Everyone loves it—but most all, of course, the campers themselves.”
-Roberta Katz, Deer Mountain Day Camp
“One of my favorite camp traditions at Elmwood Day Camp is an annual event called Tarplin Games, named after one of our longtime staff members. This two-day Olympic style event includes soccer, trivia, swimming and relays. Teams receive two scores at every activity: One for winning and one for sportsmanship. We actively teach campers that how one plays is more important than winning. During closing ceremonies, a winner is announced and their group name is displayed on the Tarplin Games plaque. The real magic of Tarplin Games is to see how much closer the groups become and how campers celebrate each other. One of my favorite memories from Tarplin Games was when we had two counselors spend the entire weekend preparing for the games. They came to camp with custom-made shirts, hats, and shoes for their team, which of course got their campers more than excited for the event.”
-Dani Ackerman, Elmwood Day Camp
“Each camper is given a patch to recognize their time at Frost Valley. The patch has the symbol of the camp program on it and a number. The number is to represent what year it is at camp for them. Numbers range from 1-9. When it is your 10th year, you receive a star. I’ve watched campers and staff hold these badges of honor close to their heart. Another one of my favorite Frost Valley traditions is celebrating our values. Our camp is founded on eight values: Honesty, respect, responsibility, caring, inclusiveness, diversity, stewardship, and community. We integrate these values into everything we do. For example, we talk about responsibility and respect when teaching archery. We open every day with flag-raising celebrating these values. We end every day with talking about them with our campers.”
-Dan Weir, Frost Valley YMCA
“At Gate Hill, the whole camp community comes together every morning at ‘The Gathering’ to introduce the day, celebrate our camper’s achievements, and share some wacky experiences. Birthdays are cheered, silly games are played, and good deeds are recognized. Anyone in our community can talk about what happened at the Gathering that morning, and that keeps our family of campers and counselors connected. Whether it’s a ridiculous counselor dress-up race, or cheering on how someone was a good friend, what’s important is that we did it together.”
-Josh Male, Gate Hill Day Camp
“Twenty years ago, an unexpected and powerful thunderstorm poured down over Independent Lake Camp during lunchtime. The campers and staff had finished eating and were getting restless at their tables. In order to entertain the masses in the dining hall while the storm persisted, the director decided to create an impromptu dance party. On that day, the tradition of Songfest after lunch was born. For the past two decades, ILC lunch time has concluded with a whole camp Songfest dance. Campers and staff sing, dance, clap, Congo, and participate to conclude lunch and head off to their afternoon activities. Each summer, a new song and line dance is introduced. Some songfest dances include ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe,’ Michael Jackson, ‘Happy,’ ‘Cha Cha Slide,’ the Wobble, ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane,’ ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ ‘Boom Boom,’ and ‘Vitamin L.’ It’s a tradition that has existed for over two decades, incorporates new and returning campers, brings energy to the afternoon, and evolves each summer as new songs and dances are introduced. Stay tuned for the song of the summer for 2016!”
-Jeff Gould, Independent Lake Camp
“At Lavner Camps, we offer a variety of very popular sports camps, technology camps, and creative arts camps. Because we offer specialty camps, we tend to develop traditions for each camp. At Robotics Camp, Robowars has become a very exciting and popular tradition. Our campers participate in our Robowars event on the Friday of each camp week. In Robowars, campers are placed in teams and ‘free-build’ robots that compete in a ‘battle-bot’ competition. The competition features a scoring system, our instructors become referees, and campers can even build an arena. During the week, campers are building and programming robots, and completing challenges to advance within our curriculum. Towards the end of the week, campers begin to build robots (typically without instructions) to prepare for Robowars. During one week of Robotics Camp a few years ago, we had a new (and very bright) camper who arrived at camp. Prior to the camp week, our camp office received a call from this camper’s mother, who spoke with one of our staff members to let us know that her son is very shy, had difficulty fitting in at school, and was hesitant to attend camp. Our camp office provided our Robotics instructors with this information, and preparations were made to make sure that this camper felt welcomed and included at camp. During the camp week, our new and somewhat shy camper was placed on a Robotics team, building and programming robots, participating in group activities, and truly having a blast. In the middle of the week, we received a wonderful phone call from a very happy parent! On the Friday of this camp week, I had the pleasure of attending Robowars, which has become a ‘must-see event’ and popular tradition at camp. We had a lot of excited campers who worked very hard on their robots ready to participate, instructors explaining the rules and organizing the order of play, lots of cheering, coaching, and friendly competition. While I observed, I couldn’t help but notice one camper who was leading his team throughout the competition, and was even providing helpful advice to some of his competitors between rounds! His team won Robowars, and he even conducted a demonstration of his Robot and the utilization of motors and gears in front of the entire camp. This camper was confident, engaged, and inspired all of us at camp. As you may have predicted, this camper was the ‘shy’ child whose mom called our office prior to the start of camp.”
-Justin Lavner, Lavner Camps
“I got my first summer camp job when I was just 15. Lobo was the camp dog there in Idyllwild, CA, and he made everyone’s day a little brighter. I kept working at summer camps, and when I got my own dog, I knew she’d be a part of camp too. Rayne, an 11-year-old Weimaraner, has been coming to camp with me for nearly as many years. She lives to see the kids and loves their affection. The kids get a kick out of seeing a dog at camp, especially in New York City. Rayne is a service dog and a therapy animal. So coming to camp is more than just fun, it’s her job. Every year at camp we spend a full week celebrating the kids’ birthdays and making sure everyone has a very merry birthday or un-birthday. There’s cake, treats, streamers, balloons, hats, and tons of fun. The biggest day of celebration falls on August 11, Rayne’s birthday. The kids go wild singing Happy Birthday to the unofficial mascot of Steve & Kate’s Camp in New York. Rayne gets a month’s supply of dog biscuits and jerky and the kids have a memory to last until the next summer!”
-Nathaniel Eggleston, Steve & Kate’s Camp
