One month ago today, we were tearfully saying goodbye to our camp friends, waving wistfully as the buses disappeared down the gravel road and turned onto Route 6.

Boom. It’s one month later.

By now, the camp laundry is clean, the sleeping bags are stored, and the random detritus of a summer at camp has been (secretly) thrown in the trash. Anyone else pull a broken frisbee out of his or her kid’s trunk? Just me?

The thing that lingers — the thing that cannot be shelved or tossed aside — is the bond we share with our Owego brothers. We start the month of September full of pride for our schools and colleges, but there is a piece of us that remains in Greeley. We cheer for our hometown Cougars or Wolverines, but we are true blue Owegans at heart. Olympics, Frontier Week, Intercamp games…these are the memorable moments that stay with us long after the bunks empty out and the leaves begin to fall. There is simply nothing like gathering at Henry’s Hideout and lashing branches together to build a table for Tribe meal. It’s one of the many reasons we say we live “10 for 2.”

In the month since camp ended, we truthfully may not have had much contact with our fellow Owegans. Family vacations, school supply shopping, and fall sports have taken up most of our time. Sure, some of us arranged to meet up at the Jersey Shore for ice cream. Others crossed paths during their travels through cities and college campuses. The lucky ones who managed to squeeze in a little more time with camp friends before the onslaught of the school year know that Owego exists not on a piece of land in Greeley, Pennsylvania, but inside each and every one of us. You can take it anywhere.

If you find yourself thinking about your camp friends and missing the feeling of playing Magic on your bunk porch or swinging in the hammocks, talking about all things big and small, don’t fret. Reach out. Text your bunkmates. Reminisce about how great this summer turned out. Bask in the memories for as long as you can. The amazing thing about memories is that you can access them from anywhere — and share them with whomever you choose.

Browse the Owego Instagram and see our smiles on the hottest days of the summer and also in the torrential rain of Frontier Week. Read previous Blog posts and be transported back to that moment, on that particular day. Laugh at the silliness of it all. Summer 2024 was light. It was carefree. It was ours. And it will always be with us.

After all…you can take the camper out of Owego, but you can’t take the Owego out of the camper.