What's Happening at Camp: Heated Pools, Wildlife CIT Hike!

Summer is back, hooray! And it has welcomed all of you campers and parents to Sewataro’s 57th Season with sunny, warm days—perfect for our myriad array of fun and games. During the course of the summer, we will use this weekly newsletter to feature some of our many and varied activities from old standbys like Fishing (yes, Dan the Fisherman is back), Field Sports, and Archery to more recent additions like Pottery Making (2nd year), Gaga Ball (2nd year), and SOAR (Sewataro Outdoor Adventure Recreation, 4th year), spotlighting our incredible counselors who make it all work and who will be guiding our campers to what we hope will be an unforgettable summer of great memories and lasting friendships.

In the off season, we installed a heating system for our pools that keeps the temperature between 82 and 84 degrees for our swimmers. Just came up from the 9 am Free Swim period down at the pools, and the results are dramatic. Kids who were previously less inclined to brave the cool water are now eager to swim. This was evident this morning as every swim group saw all of their number in the water with no one sitting on the sidelines. We expect that this will not only result in more smiling faces but in increased swim prowess and improved stroke technique as well.

One of the great joys of being on a beautiful and unspoiled piece of land like ours is experiencing nature and its many inhabitants and visitors. There’s the Great Blue Heron who loves our fish-stocked second pond and has his seafood breakfast before making way for our boaters and fishers. Then there’s Gus the Woodchuck and his family of four who have made a cozy nest under Alba’s house and who had been feasting on the lettuce in the Sewataro Garden until Mark extended the fence around it to prevent their tunneling underneath. After all, we feel the garden is mainly for our campers and there are plenty other wild greens for Gus to munch on. And Gus is not alone in using the house’s shelter; on the other side of it, Fifi la Fleur has been seen and her distinctive eau de skunk has permeated the evening air. The most talked about wildlife, however, this summer is a family of owls—mom, dad, and baby—that have been observed by many campers and counselors in the heights above the Creative Arts tent on the back nature path. The first campers to spot them were the Cherokee tribe, and they gave momma owl the name of Cherokee. So far, no names have stuck for the other members of this distinguished looking family with their unique hoots.

Yesterday, Thursday, the CIT’s went for a hike up Mount Wachusett, the first of many off campus trips for our older campers. Let the summer begin! Welcome and enjoy! And please, please let us know if there is anything we can do to enable you to have a better camp season here at Sewataro.