Summer Camp Memories

While folks here at Nevada Outdoor School are spending a lot of time looking forward to summer camps in 2013, we also thought it might be fun to look back a few years at some of our most exciting, funny or otherwise memorable moments from our own childhood summer camps. Here's what a few of us had to say:


Seafoam (Brenna): I have countless fond memories from when I was young at summer camps. Some of my very best friends (that I still have today) are people that I met at summer camp. Not only did I enjoy making new friends, I also reflect back on the opportunities I had to explore, get dirty, swim in the lake, learn valuable outdoor skills, sing songs constantly, and much more! However, most of all I looked forward to the campfire program. Campfire was a time where I laughed so hard I cried and often times my fellow campers were having the same reaction. It's a time that you can let loose through song, skits, and stories while feeling powerful camaraderie and togetherness. The best campfires are the ones where the counselors act silly and encourage everyone else to join them. I cherish these memories and can't wait to build new ones with NOS campers this summer!

NOS Staff and Campers Getting Silly at Campfire Program

Juice (Andy): A couple of things really stick in my mind when it comes to the summer camps of my childhood. For one, I had always had a fascination with sailboats as a child and I was really excited to finally get the opportunity at Boy Scout camp one summer to earn my sailing merit badge. Most of the course was on land: knots, vocabulary, concepts. But we finally got the boats out briefly one day and it was fantastic. The final day that week was to be the regatta, a short out and back race against other campers to crown the best sailors. Teams of two took to the boats and mine was near the front on the outward leg, some confusion on the turn however led our boat astray. To this day, I am still not sure how, but we ended up in some sort of doldrums in a small cove of the lake unable to gain any momentum, watching, dejectedly as all of the other boats rounded the buoy and headed back to the finish. After about 30 minutes, we were finally rescued by the motor boat. I did not remain discouraged from sailing for long however and went on to earn my RYA Day Skipper Certification a few years ago.

Another memory I have is of a game. I don't know if it even had a name, but we concluded camp one year with an epic battle in which two teams competed in a roped off rectangle in the deep swimming area of the lake. The goal was to get a greased watermelon into a goal at either end of the rectangle. There were no other rules.

Our Executive Director Getting His Silly On

Wildrose (Cathy): My childhood camp memories are of sitting around the campfire and toasting marshmallows to make smores and singing camp songs. My favorite song was Going on a Bear Hunt.

A slightly more recent camp memory I have is when I was a Girl Scout leader for my then 7, now 23 year old’s Brownie troop. We took our troop on an overnight camping trip to the beach in San Pedro, California. We camped in tents (a first for many girls, including my own daughter) and roasted marshmallows for smores and the really neat unplanned part of the trip was that someone was on the beach with a powerful telescope and all the girls got to look at Jupiter through the telescope. This was a neat experience for a bunch of city girls who rarely see many stars due to all of the city lights.

Jive (Jessie): One of my memories from summer camp is from girl scout camp when I was little. It was a mother/daughter camp out in cabins over Mother's Day weekend. Someone had taken a Polaroid picture of my mom and I standing in front of this HUGE tree. Later in the day, during craft time I made a picture frame and put the picture inside. It felt like such a special present to give my mom (which, of course, she loved) because it was not just a present but a shared experience.

 
What are your favorite memories from camp? Feel free to share!