Word From Wildwood

Fun But Rainy Days at Camp

Hello everyone! We certainly have been getting our share of rain this summer! Yesterday was a mixed bag of some sun, but intermittent showers, and today was a full blown washout! Heavy rain throughout the morning and the first half of the afternoon, then some breaks and finally a bit of clearing as the sun set tonight.

Even though the weather has been on the damp side, the spirit of camp has been anything but. We redirected some morning programs today to stay dry and warm, but still were able to do some outdoor cooking (via the fireplace in the dining hall), build some birdfeeders in arts and crafts, and the morning herp hunt broke the all time Wildwood record for greatest number of reptiles and amphibians spotted with well over 100 individual animals seen!

After lunch, featuring some nice hot chocolate, we enjoyed some dry DGs including circle games under the arts and crafts roof, friendship bracelets, card games in the dining hall, edible dirt, nature study, nature writing, and more. Just in time for oats, the rain let up and we were able to open up the waterfront and enjoy some swimming, time on the iceberg, and canoeing and kayaking too. There were also chess games, other arts and crafts, discovery in the nature center, and the camp store was open.

After dinner, we were visited by those pesky heffalumps again! This strange and somewhat annoying critters appear sporadically throughout the summer, and groups of campers helped us tonight to keep them at bay and under control. This is a favored evening program and this games was invented by a Wildwood staff person many years ago - it's a lot of fun! Here's some picture of some of these 'lumps.

All in all it was a wonderful day despite the weather.

Have a great night!

Bob

Session Four Begins!

We are off to a great start with our Wildwood Session Four campers. After a smooth check-in, dodging local showers and thundershowers, everyone got set-up, had a nice dinner, and headed to the amphitheater for a rockin opening campfire. Everyone had a terrific time.

Today was busy with camp tours, health checks, swim checks and a visit from Drumlin Farm's ARK program. They brought along a corn snake and a great-horned owl to show off up close and personal. And then, for lunch it was Pizza Day!

Right now we are all enjoying a beautiful afternoon of sunshine a cool breezes while we zoom around during OATS. Right now, campers are enjoying Beach Games, Volleyball, Arts and Crafts, Drum Circle, Ponding, and more! Tonight, we are all set for an amazing game of Predator-Prey a first night special!

We hope you are enjoying your week half as much as we are, and keep those emails and letters coming!

BTW- We found a Honda key in the parking lot after all the dust settled yesterday, so if you are missing one, let us know.

See you again soon!

Bob

Amazing Finish to Session Three

These have been three amazing days - very busy, but really great.

Pirate Day was something special, complete with all kinds of pirate fun. The day began pretty normally, having a nice breakfast in the dining hall. Then, pretty much out of nowhere, a group of nasty pirates paddled across the pond and made a landing on the waterfront. Of course I ran out to stop them from entering the property, but I was quickly over-powered and they made their way into the dining hall. Caroline and I attempted to regain order, but we were both carried out and forced to walk the plank (which magically appeared on the dock). Then we were both banned from camp for the rest of the day, so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures!!! I think some counselors did though, so stay tuned in case they show up.

The day ended with a movie in the dining hall and root beer floats for all the campers who helped to restore order at camp!

Both Thursday and Friday were really beautiful days at camp and we were able to finish up very strong with all of our activities. Tonight's campfire was really creative and filled with great songs and skits. The second year LITs ran the show, which was themed to the Wizard of OZ. It was certainly a site to see.

The White Mountains Trekkers returned just before dinner, pretty tired from all their adventures but all reporting a really good time. They relived a bit of their trip in the form of a skit at the closing campfire too, which was really funny. They had two beautiful days of rock climbing, but saw some rain for their hike into the Ethan Pond campsite. They were all smiling as they spoke about it.

The management team here at Wildwood had a very busy week preparing for the day-long inspection (called a "visit") from the American Camp Association. This process considers all aspects of our property and program, from the dining hall to the campsites, program areas, staffing, etc. On Thursday we began a little before 9:00 am and completed just before 6:00 pm. We certainly came through it with flying colors, and this proves to us and them, that we are really on track for a safe and strong program.

Well, it's a beautiful, quiet night here and we are eagerly awaiting the chance to see our parents and friends again - well, most of us.

Thanks to all the parents for helping us to make this session such a wonderful success. We'll see you in the morning!

Good Night! Bob

Beautiful Days at Camp

Well, we had some rainy days last week, but so far we are really making up for it this week - and it feels really nice! Except for a brief (but heavy) rain storm that moved through camp yesterday afternoon, it has been sunny and warm. Today is absolutely delightful, with clear skies and pleasant breezes.

Our programs are back on in full force as we head toward the middle of this second week. From archery and sailing to ponding, wild edibles and tree identification, our campers are getting a full dose of the outdoors! Tonight is another bring a letter to dinner night, so you'll be getting another letter soon!

Tomorrow is going to be a really special day - shhh, it's going to be Pirate Day, with all kinds of fun pirate-appropriate activities, games and challenges. Brought to you by the letter arrrrr (get it?)

Anyway, we'll have lots to talk about after this day for sure. Here's a few pictures from today taken by our Marketing Coordinator Mia - Thanks Mia! (as always, click on an image to make it larger)

Hope you're having a wonderful week too!

Bob

Session 3 - Back from Camp outs

Wow, what a fun weekend we all had. It was busy moving all the groups to their various destinations. Here's how it went for those of you keeping score at home;

On Friday, just after lunch, the Fossey Unit took a bus to Greenfield State Park for their overnight. At the same time, the Dillard Unit piled into two of our camp vans and headed up to Mt. Monadnock. Upon the return of those two vans, the Abbey Unit jumped in and also headed up to Mt. Monadnock. Carson packed up all their gear and hoofed it over to first point for their night away from camp. Leopold and Thoreau took over Wildwood and had the place all to themselves.

On Saturday, three vans headed to Greenfield to collect the Fossey Unit and upon arrival back at camp, the vans took the Thoreau Unit back to Greenfield for their overnight. Carson also returned to camp and the Leopold Unit headed out to First Point for their time away. Saturday night is girls night in, and they had quite a party in the Dining Hall.

Then, this morning, two vans went back to Greenfield to collect Thoreau, and Abbey and Dillard returned by bus, and Leopold returned from First Point. Whew! So now, it looks like we got everyone back in their proper places. Thank you Kevin for coordinating all these maneuvers!

The weekend went very well, with lots of great stories. Saturday night was a bit wet up at Mt. Monadnock and many of the tents were pretty soggy by the morning, but I'm sure you'll be hearing more about that...

Our teen trip to Vermont's Green Mountains and Lake Champlain also returned and had a fantastic time with their hiking and boating adventures. Today, the White Mountains group arrived and will be heading out for a week of rock climbing, hiking, and a hike into the wilderness for an overnight there too.

Meanwhile our second-year LIT group is packing for their three-day trip along the Batten Kill River in Vermont and New York. That should be a great thrill!

We are looking forward to this second week of the session, with some special things planned for mid-week. A busy day tomorrow including choosing our new IGs for the week and getting back to discovering all the cool stuff at this wonderful site!

Some good t-storms rolled through the area this afternoon, and hopefully cleared out for a few days, but the internet is still a bit bumpy, so I'll have some photos for you the next time.

Keep those letters and emails coming 'cause we really love them!

We'll be back again very soon! Good night!

Bob

Rainy Days? So What!

Sure, we've had a couple rainy days, but that doesn't stop these campers at Wildwood!

We've been out on the property and the waterfront discovering tons of great things while having a great time. The sailboats have been out each day, the ropes course has been very busy and two groups of campers got time at the archery range this afternoon too. We've also been canoeing and kayaking, hunting for herps, building kites, hiking around the entire Hubbard Pond and so much more!

Today during OATS, there was a variety of activities going on around camp including cards games, arts and crafts, boating and even swimming and iceberg time. I'm telling you, there's no stopping this group!

The Teen Trip group spent Tuesday hiking Mt Mansfield in Vermont, and today they headed off to Lake Champlain where they will spend the next couple of days. This afternoon they got out on the Pilot Gigs (long rowing boats) for the first time. They will be studying much of the lake's ecology from these over the next couple of days.

The 2nd Year LIT group met with folks from the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots program to learn about this interesting group and their involvement with us this summer. The LITs will pick up where the first group left off with the development of some projects in cooperation with Roots & Shoots

Our overnight session campers are just a day away from our overnight camping weekend, and we're getting geared up for that exciting adventure. I know we'll have some great stories from these trips and we'll be back again in just a couple days to let you know how all that went.

The Broad Meadow Brook day camp from Worcester is our guest over the next couple days and tomorrow, Moose Hill from Sharon also drops in for an overnight too. It's great to have the place alive with curious campers! 

Tonight, just after dinner, as a dense fog rolled in over Hubbard pond, all the campers headed up to the field to play a huge game of Capture the Flag, certainly one of the big favorites here for sure!

Except for the sound of the wind moving through the white pines, the camp is once again still as we dream of better weather over the next couple days. Hey we can dream, right?

Best Wishes,

Bob

Can it be Session 3 Already?

Believe it or not, we are in our middle session already! Yesterday we dodged the raindrops and got a quick but effective opening with campers and their families having just enough time to meet staff and get settled in. After a delicious dinner, the rain and thunder began, so we had our Session 3 Opening Evening Extravaganza in the Dining Hall instead of the Amphitheater. Still, we were treated to counselors and campers singing songs, telling jokes, putting on skits, playing guitars and more. Although it wasn't very pleasant outside, we had a really great time inside. The rain subsided nicely just as this event came to a close and all the campers were able to get to their cabins and tents without getting wet.

During the night, we got plenty of rain though and a few more cracks of thunder. Even though today had a few thundershowers here and there, we got all our camp tours and swim checks in successfully. We also chose out first set of IGs - that's Interest Group activities that campers will take part in for the next four days each morning from 9:00 - 11:00 am. We'll be sure to report on these very soon!

Our Teen Trip to the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain got off to a good start this morning too. Even though they ran into some rain as they reached the general area this afternoon, a stop at the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream facility brightened up their day quite a bit. They told me the flavor sample of the day was Brownie Cheesecake and the consensus was that one sample was better than two... They will begin some hiking in the region tomorrow before heading over to the Lake Champlain area for a few days later in the week.

Our 2nd year LITs are also here now and will be a part of this two-week session as well. I know their schedule is jam-packed and we'll be sure to report in on their adventures too.

Our afternoon got a little brighter and we were able to have our first Open Activity Time this afternoon as scheduled, so our campers got a chance to visit the Camp Store, Nature Center, Activity Field and more. After dinner tonight it was time for a good game of Predator-Prey a really fun game that simulates the food chain in an all camp tag-like game with teams of mosquitoes, frogs, snakes and hawks trying to grow their own populations while gathering specific resources from around camp.

Both the weather and my schedule prevented me from getting pictures today, but we'll be sure to catch up over the next couple of days. Tomorrow is "write a letter home day", and I hope you're planning on writing soon too!

Have a great day tomorrow and I'll be back soon!

Bob

Session 2 Amazing Last Days

As we wind down the final evening here with Session 2, we have so many wonderful memories from this past week.

The LIT group is completing their three-week session with a bang. They returned this morning from their 13 mile canoe trip down the Connecticut River where they saw lots of birds including a bald eagle, bank swallows and their nesting burrows, as well as a beaver (up close) and lots more. It was an amazing trip for this amazing group. Just after returning, they were ready to teach programs for all the campers this afternoon. We are REALLY going to miss this group!

Also pulling in early this evening, our Teen Trip to Acadia returned just in time to share some of their favorite moments in a great skit at our closing campfire. Between their biking, kayaking, beach combing, and camping, they have many great stories to share with their families. Be sure to ask them about their Maine blueberry addiction!

For our Session 2 overnight campers, the last couple days have been very exciting. After a busy day of fun activities yesterday, the Hefalumps returned to camp for our evening program (a camp favorite - for sure!). Among the many 'lumps we witnessed was Mama-Lump strangely enough looking a lot like Alex, one of our MALE counselors - hmmm...

   

  Today, we completed our Interest Group activities  in the morning, and then enjoyed a cookout for lunch. After the LIT group taught some awesome Discovery Group programs, campers had their final OATS time, where we did a lot of waterfront activities and featured canoe slip-n-slide, a perfect activity for a hot afternoon.

  Following dinner, campers signed up for acts for our final campfire, which I think was the best one I ever attended. So many wonderful songs, jokes and skits in front of a gorgeous sunset over Hubbard Pond. A perfect ending to such a terrific session. It's really hard to believe that this session is almost complete, but we really did manage to have a wonderful time together here at Wildwood.

We'll see our camper families in the morning!

Good Night,

Bob

Beautiful Days at Camp

What a spectacular week we are having at camp! Sunny and warm, but not too hot - so far.

Our LIT group is in their third and final week of their session and have been especially busy. Yesterday, they spent a good part of the day in Dorchester working with Roots and Shoots planting trees, before coming back to pack for a three day canoe trip on the Connecticut River in Vermont. They left with the van loaded to the hilt and towing a trailer of canoes, but with huge smiles and excited anticipation of a wonderful time together.

The Teen Trip group has been enjoying great weather and the spectacular beauty of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine. I spoke with them late this afternoon, just as they landed back on the beach after a day of kayaking. Next they were headed out to Bar Island via the sand bar that intends out during low tide. This can produce some wonderful shells and other marine critter sightings. They told me they have been having a wonderful time biking, hiking, and being introduced to the unique geology of the area with an excellent guide from the National Park group. Leaders Jen and Glen have also had an excellent time with this group. Tomorrow they will work with the Acadia Wildlife Foundation for their service project - cool!

Here at camp, I've seen some really terrific things going on. This morning, sixteen campers joined Unit Leader Tim and myself on an early morning bird walk, and among the 15+ species we saw was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a first for the summer camp!

After breakfast the day was busy with groups heading in all directions around the camp fielding, herping, sailing, canoeing kayaking - it was awesome! After lunch, more fun activities and plenty of time at the waterfront. This evening is Unit Night, and some groups went for a dusk paddle, while others went for an evening swim, while still others played games in the field and watched a movie in the dining hall. Now its roasting marshmallows for everyone, so I better go!

We'll be back again soon!

Bob

Session Two Off to a Great Start!

After a beautiful opening day on Sunday to welcome the session 2 campers and their families, we woke up to a few showers that lasted on and off throughout the morning today. But the afternoon cleared up nicely, and I think the forecast is for nice days ahead!

Last night after dinner we had our opening campfire which was jam packed with some great camper-led songs and skits. It was a lot of laughs and fun.

The first Monday of each session is busy with getting to know the camp and choosing some of the programs that campers will take part in for the rest of the week. We were also visited by the Drumlin Farm ARK program, who brought along of couple of live friends, including a great-horned owl. Then we completed our health checks and swim checks too. Tomorrow, our IGs (Interest Groups) and DGs (Discovery Groups) begin.

After dinner tonight, we had an all-camp game of Predator - Prey. This game illustrates the food chain in action as some camper groups are mosquitoes, while others are various predators trying to eat them and each other. All the while the groups are also trying to locate pieces of food, water, and shelter, which have been placed here and there around camp.

Our LIT group helped out with our Adopt-a-Highway program by picking up roadside trash along a stretch of Route 119 in town this afternoon, and tomorrow, they head into Boston to assist with a Roots and Shoots campaign, planting trees. Then on Wednesday-Friday, they will embark on a three-day, two-night canoe trip along the Connecticut River.

Meanwhile our Teen Trip to Acadia National Park pulled out first thing this morning, and I spoke to them just as they were crossing into Maine. They'll be biking along the old carriage raods in the morning. I'm sure we'll have some great stories from them soon too.

Well here are a few shots from last night's campfire and todays activities for you to enjoy. Thanks for tuning in. Good Night!

Bob