What's Happening at Camp: 2018 Week One!

Dear Friends,

Like many of our campers (and parents!), we have been anxiously awaiting the start of camp for the 2018 season. Once again, the sounds of cheering and laughter have replaced the calls of nature, and we are delighted to welcome back old and new friends alike!

Camp got off to a great start with an Open House that stayed sunny and dry (thank you to the camp gods!), and the campers and counselors were all equally excited to meet each other, find their tent, and for some, check out the campground for the first time. Throughout the week, campers were busy learning the camp routine, bonding with their tribemates, and trying a whole host of new activities!

Tuesday’s closing exercises brought our first Gizmo Service. For those new to camp, the “Gizmo” is a painted green washer passed from counselor to counselor, surreptitiously throughout the camp day. At the end of the day, the counselors track the path of the Gizmo – to the delight of the campers – ending with whoever hadn’t found it in time to pass it along! On Tuesday, that person was our Creative Arts maestress Jenny Silverberg, after just one pass from Josh Podolsky. Jenny answered her question incorrectly and recruited Wendy Perry and Mary Callahan for a “Veggie Off.”

On Wednesday morning, camp gathered for the weekly Wacky Wheel of Wednesday. Emceed by none other than our very own Wacky Wizard, three counselors are chosen, one per section, to answer a Sewataro trivia question. This week’s contestants were Sarah Hoover (Fox), Benji Lyman (Bear), and Andrea (Andy) Bresnahan (Eagle). Their question? What is the temperature of the pool water at Sewataro? A balmy 84 degrees! Former swim counselor Andy earned the chance to spin the wheel with a guess of 85. The Wacky Wheel is full of much coveted prizes such as Red Sox tickets, double lunch break, and camper favorite, a Cannon! This week Andy earned a pair of Sewataro flannel pants, which will surely be appreciated on some of our colder mornings.

Thursday’s rain didn’t dampen our spirits! Students rotated through the camp’s shelters and spent the day playing games, dancing and singing songs, doing trivia, and more! Some activities even managed to do their regularly scheduled program during the periods when we had a break in the rain. Although we’d much rather have sun, campers have just as much fun on our rainy days!

On Friday, although we ran a Wednesday schedule to accommodate the Fourth of July holiday next week, we still held Friday’s special event during lunchtime. The first ever Sewataro Family Feud was hosted by emcee extraordinaire Josh Podolsky. Our three section “families” battled against one another ending in a round of Fast Money for the Fox section!

All in all, it was a great first week at camp! Since our inception nearly sixty years ago, Camp Sewataro has focused on providing campers with an experience both diverse and structured. Campers have the opportunity to learn new skills and experience unique activities (Zip line! Archery! Even gardening and cooking!), while unplugging, connecting with nature, and expanding their social skills.

Noted educator, author, and psychologist Dr. Peter Scales says, “Camp is one of the few institutions where young people can experience and satisfy their need for physical activity, creative expression and true participation in a community environment. Most schools don’t satisfy all these needs.” Parents have often commented that campers grow more over eight weeks of camp than in an entire school year! Our goal at Sewataro is for campers leave with increased confidence, independence, resilience…and new friends!!

We hope this first week of camp has been all you hoped for, and more! Thank you for sharing your children with us, and as always, please let us know if there is anything we can do to help make your experience even better.

Warmly,

The Taylors, Monica, and Emmy