So gather up your jackets

Move it to the exits

I hope you have found a friend…

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

Every summer has a beginning, a middle, and an end. By the time August rolls around, the light changes and the night air causes goose bumps. Fall is coming.

The 2023 camp season has come to a close. Early this morning, campers woke up, shuffled to the dining hall for a quick grab-and-go breakfast, and waited to be assembled for departure. Some sat on their bunk porches, enjoying one last hang-out with friends. Some lingered in the Village or on the Ridge, playing ping-pong, card games, or simply tossing a ball around. As cars pulled into camp and parents embraced their campers, bus riders gathered on the Lower Field and prepared for the journey home.

The coach buses arrived, loaded up, and departed – one at a time – to Rockville, Plymouth Meeting, New York City, Livingston, and White Plains. Florida campers boarded shuttles to the airport, and staff kids reunited with parents at each of the 3 camps. Camp slowly emptied out, leaving Key Staff and a handful of counselors to clean bunks, collect forgotten items, and pack up equipment securely for next summer.

An empty camp is quiet, melancholy, and still. No whistles, no bells, no chants, no laughter. The lake is like glass, reflecting the sky. The wildlife emerges – chipmunks, birds, other creatures – and scavenges for scraps left behind. The leaves in the trees rustle. The fields and courts are empty. Camp steels itself for the long winter ahead.

But next summer will come. In just 10 short months, the sun will shine and the gates will open and the campers will return. Bunks will reunite and new friends will be made. There will be line-ups and choice periods and campfires and Bombardment. Tents ‘24 will set the tone for the best summer yet. In the meantime, campers will hold tight to their memories from summer 2023. There will be new memories to make, but not just yet.

For now, we will relive the summer of 2023 with our amazing second session video, created by our supremely talented Melissa Nathan:

For more videos from this summer, be sure to check out our You Tube channel, “Lake Owego Camp.”

We will let summer linger a bit longer, holding on to every last bit of camp fun. For an Owegan, summer is never too far off.