Camp News

Happy New Year!

As this blog goes to press, 2024 is history (so yesterday), 2025 is here (get used to it), and camp begins in just about 170 days (less than half a year away!). Faster than you can say “packing list,” you’ll find yourself boarding the big coach bus bound for Greeley.

Arriving at camp on day one is a lot like starting a new year: a little bit intimidating, a whole lot unknown, yet filled with limitless possibilities.

Saying goodbye to your parents on the first day of camp is like bidding adieu to a year gone by. You remember the good times and you’re sad to see your family retreating in the rearview mirror, but you’re ready for a change in routine. There are new memories to be made. Cherish the familiar, but embrace the unknown. Every new summer at camp is like the start of a new year: a clean slate.

When camp begins in June, you’ve just finished a long school year. Similar to the whirlwind of the winter holiday season leading up to the New Year, the final weeks of school are a maelstrom of tests and projects, parties, and other pomp and circumstance. School ends and camp begins. Voila! You arrive at camp, and you can breathe. No matter what has happened from September through June, you can reset and move forward. And there’s no better place to move forward than at camp.

Similarly, the clock strikes midnight on December 31st and you get to “restart” the calendar. Let’s say you chose a desk calendar with a nature theme for 2024. Once that final page is turned, there’s nowhere to go but onwards and upwards. You can select a completely new calendar for 2025, especially if your interests have changed over the course of the year. Maybe you’ll opt for a wall calendar filled with photos of dogs in yoga poses. Go for it. It’s your call.

The first day of camp evokes the same potential for reinvention. Whether you are completely new to Owego or a seasoned Old-Timer, you have the unique opportunity to reintroduce yourself on day one. Although you don’t necessarily know what the summer has in store for you, you are hopeful and optimistic. This could be your best summer yet. You are setting goals and aspiring to accomplish things you’ve never done before.

As you venture into 2025 and look forward to all of the memorable moments and monumental changes that will occur, think about Summer 2025 and what goals and desires you’ll bring with you on the first day. You’ll have 7 weeks laid out before you, during which you can become the best version of yourself. For better or for worse, last summer is history. All that matters is what is here and now.

Though we can never be sure what lies ahead, we can speculate on all of the wonderful things we will get to experience. New friends, new activities, new achievements, new awards. It’s YOUR blank page. How will YOU fill it?

At the strike of midnight on December 31st, Owegans everywhere will usher in the year 2025. Some will celebrate with family, some with friends, and some may actually be asleep before the ball drops in Times Square. Though our camp family will be spread out across the globe on New Year’s Eve, we can all look forward to a time (about 200 days from now) when we will once again be together.

As the holiday season quickly approaches and goals are set for the year ahead, we reflect on the past year and determine what changes we will make as we venture into the uncertainty of tomorrow. These New Year’s “Resolutions” hold us accountable for our behaviors, allow us to strive for great things, and remind us that there is still so much left to do. Our time at camp is no exception.

And so, it is with great fanfare and a little tongue-in-cheek humor that the Owego Blog presents its “Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Summer 2025.” Adapt them to your particular experience, as needed.

10. Try some new foods! — Fruit Loops are tasty, and dry pasta is a reliable staple, but why not dip your toes into the culinary waters with some baked ziti or Greek falafel? Even Juniors should aspire to expand their dietary horizons this summer by resolving to make French fries a side dish and try some new (gasp!) vegetables. P.S. The Tzatziki and guacamole are DELICIOUS!

9. Go for a hike! — Or a bike ride, or a canoe trip. Get out of camp! Take advantage of one of the many opportunities you have to see the world beyond 1687 Route 6. Never been on a bike trip with Freedo? Give it a try! Sign up for a waterskiing trip on Lake Wally. Canoe down the Delaware River with our amazing Tripping staff. Resolve to do something different instead of being confined by the boundaries of camp.

8. Audition for Scotty’s Show! — From the youngest Junior campers up through Key Staff, everyone who participates in the Show has a blast! Check your ego at the door and take a chance by appearing on stage in front of an audience of your peers. You’ll sing, you’ll dance, you’ll make friends. Everyone is welcome — the more, the merrier!

7. Go all-in for Frontier Week! — It doesn’t matter if you’re not chosen to be Chief, Warrior, or Med Man. You can bring the spirit and inspire your Tribe with your positive attitude and impressive effort. Gather wood without being asked, encourage the Juniors to get involved, and cheer loudly for your friends, no matter what Tribe they belong to.

6. Don’t lose all of your stuff! — Instead of shoving sports equipment, pieces of mail, and dirty socks under your bed, try your best to stay organized throughout the summer. Need an Official for an out-of-camp trip? You should know where to find one. If you came to camp with four bathing suits, you should leave camp with four bathing suits. Making a conscious effort to keep track of your belongings will make your unit leaders less stressed and your parents very proud!

5. Take a new camper “under your wing!” — Remember when you first arrived at Owego and didn’t know anyone? It’s an intimidating feeling to be the “new camper.” You don’t understand the inside jokes, you are clueless about Owego traditions (Little Red Wagon???), and you have no idea how to play Bombardment. Veteran campers have the unique ability to help ease a new camper’s anxiety by befriending him and showing him the ropes. Everyone wins!

4. Write more letters to family and friends! — While your ultimate motivation for letter-writing may be the promise of Canteen, your Mom or Grandfather or best friend is sitting at home eagerly waiting to hear from you. You came to camp with stationary, envelopes, and stamps (Please!!!). Now you have to write! If you can’t think of anything to write, just make a list of the activities you did that day, or even the food you ate. Anything is better than nothing! Don’t hesitate to ask for help — those envelopes aren’t going to address themselves!

3. Join an Intercamp team for a sport at which you DON’T excel! — Campers are chomping at the bit to sign up for Intercamp soccer, basketball, and baseball. But have you ever considered entering a swim meet or participating in an art competition? Camp is for trying EVERYTHING. Flag football, fencing, archery — don’t be afraid to compete at something new. You might surprise yourself!

2. Start Summer 2025 with an Open Mind! — What you accomplished last summer is great and all, but starting fresh with no expectations allows you to make the most of your time at camp. It doesn’t matter who your closest friends were or what activities you’ve already tried. There is always room for change and growth. You can be the best version of yourself at camp, but you have to be willing to take risks and move beyond your comfort zone. Hence, the real purpose of this list of resolutions!

And, perhaps the most important New Year’s “Camp” Resolution of all:

1. ???????????

Only YOU can decide. What do YOU resolve to accomplish at camp this coming summer? The possibilities are endless, even though the summer is not.

Happy New Year!!!

“Look around! Look around! At how lucky we are to be alive right now.”

— The Schuyler Sisters

We are three months closer to the start of a new camp session, and camp itself is fully swathed in the colors of Fall. November is upon us, and we are busy thinking about Thanksgiving break, Thanksgiving football games, and Thanksgiving food. During the month of November, you may be asked, “What are you grateful for?” Typical answers include family, friends, and good health (aka The Big Three)  but we shouldn’t discount the smaller moments sprinkled throughout our day when it’s time for us to give thanks.

The thing about gratitude is that it sneaks up on you. It’s not something you search for. Rather than seeking it out, you simply FEEL it. On a sunny Friday afternoon, attending your favorite team’s playoff game, snuggling with your dog on the sofa — gratitude makes your senses tingle and sometimes takes your breath away. When you’re at camp, gratitude is everywhere. No need to look for it; it will find you.

Gratitude surprises you during Frontier Week breakout, while you are running toward the bonfire on the Upper Field. It appears on the Ropes course, as you reach the top of the rock wall for the very first time. It catches you in the Dining Hall, when Dave announces that it’s a Canteen Day. It materializes in the HBC, as you cheer on your friends to a decisive Intercamp victory. Gratitude isn’t always big and flashy and earth-shattering. Sometimes, it’s brief and quiet and yet still manages to rock your world.

Gratitude is found in the moments when you’re laughing with your bunkmates before bedtime. It pops out and yells “Peek-a-Boo!” when you are careening down a waterslide at Costas. Gratitude is there when you see the bus parked on the Lower Field and you know you’re about to visit with your sister at TimberTops. Whether you’ve just caught a fish in the lake, performed in Scotty’s show, or received a letter from home, gratitude slides in and fills your heart with warmth.

It is often said (mostly by wise parents of lucky campers) that camp IS the gift. How true this has proven to be. The opportunity to spend time away from home and live with your friends is undeniably a gift. To spend your mornings on the fields and courts, your afternoons in the pool and the lake, and your evenings by the campfire, is a privilege.

Gratitude can strike anytime, anywhere. You may find yourself on the Junior Gathering Deck, playing a game of Magic with your bunkmates or challenging Freedo to a game of Ping-Pong. You look around at the scene and feel a sense of clarity. There’s simply no place you’d rather be at this moment. You are lucky. You are grateful.

Gratitude sneaks up on you as you’re marching arm-in-arm with your teammates to the Olympics Closing Ceremony on the Lower Field, U2’s “Walk On” blasting from the speakers. You feel part of something special, something bigger than you. Many campers have come before you and many will come after you. And your name will forever be etched into the Owego Brotherhood.

Lucky you.

Autumn is here, the trees are looking magnificent, and a cool breeze has begun to blow across camp. Two months after the end of Summer 2024, we find ourselves knee-deep in school work, sports, and extracurricular activities. Throw in a couple High Holidays (Shana Tova!) and camp seems like a distant memory. What you may not realize, however, is how the lessons learned at camp are relevant in your everyday life — making that inexplicable camp feeling accessible from anywhere and everywhere, all 12 months of the year.

At camp, the Unit Leaders wake you most mornings at 7:45, rousing you from your cozy slumber with alt-pop-rock blasting from the Pyle speakers. You are then required to roll (or climb) out of bed, brush your teeth, and make your first big decision of the day: What will you wear??? Although you may ultimately choose to remain in your pajama bottoms for line-up, you are still demonstrating independence by choosing a shirt from your cubby and (preferably, ahem) a new pair of socks and underwear. Many of you did it for 7 straight weeks this summer, so there’s no reason to believe you aren’t fully capable of selecting your daily fit once the school year is underway.

Morning line-up at camp gives you even more opportunities for decision-making. Will you sign up for Intercamp soccer? Will you go on a waterskiing trip? Do you need to remember to attend play practice during 2nd period? All of these choices you make at camp on a daily basis may seem insignificant at the time, but you are learning time management and prioritization. One of the most unique aspects of attending camp at Lake Owego is the abundance of choices you get to make for yourself. Sure, there are bunk periods and instructional swim built into the schedule, but sprinkled throughout the day are choice periods which allow you to advocate for yourself without an adult telling you where to go or what to do. And that’s pretty significant.

At camp, there’s no one asking what you would like to eat for dinner. There’s just dinner. When you’re at home and you don’t love what’s being served in your kitchen, remember that you survived all summer by learning to try new foods. And you didn’t starve! Maybe you tried your first green vegetable on Greek night. Maybe you started eating pasta with red sauce, or realized you really do like hamburgers — the point is, you learned to expand your palate and to respect that your bunkmates may not like the same foods as you.

Speaking of bunkmates, one of the most worthwhile lessons you learn at camp is how to coexist with a dozen or so “roommates.” You are sharing your personal space with your Owego brothers for an extended period of time — some for as long as 7 weeks! You sleep in the same room, share the bathroom, and learn to tolerate everyone’s quirks. There are good days and not-so-good days. You learn to sacrifice certain things for the benefit of the group. Is your flashlight keeping everyone awake? You will have to put down the book and go to sleep. Does your “upstairs” neighbor snore like a locomotive? You’ll have to accept it as a minor inconvenience and figure out a way to sleep despite the noise. All of these little compromises make you more flexible and more tolerant of others’ differences. This will serve you well as an adult, when the world refuses to stop turning just because you’re having a bad day.

While many of the lessons learned at camp come from positive experiences, like learning how to paddle a canoe or how to cook over an open flame, the most beneficial lessons are happening when you find yourself in more challenging situations. Whether you are missing home, struggling with a friendship, longing for your favorite foods, or stressing over a missing pair of sneakers, you are learning and growing. These are the life lessons that develop us into well-adjusted adults.

We return to camp year after year for the fun and excitement, for the lifelong friendships, and for the really big bonfires. In the midst of all this merriment, however, we are learning to become the best versions of ourselves. Camp gives us a safe space to make mistakes, get messy, and try again. We are learning to be good humans. And that is the most valuable lesson of all.

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.

Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go.

With apologies to Peter, Paul, and Mary, it’s closing time at Owego and today marks the official end of the 2024 season. We blinked, and the summer sprinted by us. School supplies are back on the shelves, the leaves are showing hints of color, and the evening light has dimmed. Though the calendar tells us that we have another 6 weeks of summer remaining, every Owegan knows that the last day of camp closes the chapter on summer for the next 316 days or so.

The buses and cars pulled out of camp early this morning, leaving behind empty cabins, full trash cans, and a handful of staff tasked with “winterizing” camp. Nature will begin to reclaim this space, as the leaves change and then fall to the ground, the chipmunks and squirrels look elsewhere for food, the lake freezes, and Winter holds Owego in its icy grasp.

Through the next three seasons, the physical structures of camp will stay put in Greeley. But the heart of camp will have spread to all corners of the world.

Favorite counselors will return to Africa, Europe, and South America. Bunkmates will start school in California and Florida. Friends in the tri-state area, though accessible by car, will seem far away once the busy day-to-day routine of sports, activities, and homework takes hold. The one thing that will keep us all connected is our fond memories of Summer 2024.

You might remember this summer as the first experience you had at sleepaway camp. You might think about a particular canoe trip or bunk excursion. You might remember the excitement of being named Captain of an Olympic team. However you remember this summer, you can find comfort in knowing that your fellow Owegans share the same memories and past experiences. The stories and chants and inside jokes are only a phone call away. When you burst into “Little Red Wagon” randomly and your home friends just don’t get it, you can text your camp friends and share a laugh.

Owego is only a call away.

With that, this blog is signing off for the summer. It will re-emerge throughout the school year from time to time, reminding its readers of the awesomeness to come in 2025. For now, hold on to your memories, play your Frontier Week songs, and cry if you need to. Saying goodbye is hard.

Your Owego Brothers will always be a part of you.

So, goodbye. For now.

Time flies when you’re having fun and your campers will be home soon! The transition to “the real world” isn’t always easy for you and your campers. Here are some tips to help both of you make the transition as smooth as possible.

1. Don’t take it personally.

Yes, they’ll be SO happy to see you. They’re also very, very sad. They’re sad to leave camp! They’re sad to leave their friends! They’re sad to leave their counselors! They’re sad to leave their independence and camp persona! It’s okay (great actually)! It means you gave them the best gift ever!

2.Remember: They’re exhausted.

In the last week alone, they experience Frontier Week, final campfires, a video/slide show, banquet, packing and more. Over the past seven weeks they’ve been living with ten other people, hanging out with friends day and night, participating in activities from sun up to sun down. Enough said.

3.Be patient.

It might take a few hours or a few days to be entirely “on.” They might even seem a little numb. It doesn’t mean they don’t love you or didn’t miss you. It doesn’t mean that they won’t open up and start gushing in a few days. Nothing is wrong. They just need time! Things that are normal: wanting to talk to their camp friends immediately, all-day, every day for a few days (yes, they just spent seven weeks with them – we know). Wanting to spend some time alone before jumping into the deep end of home life (think family gatherings, sporting events, play dates). Any combination of the above. Normal. Normal. Normal.

4.Focus on small moments and questions.

Think about your two best friends who live far away.

Friend one: you pick up the phone no matter what, even if you only have a minute. Though it’s been months, you know they’ll cut right to the chase and start where things left off. Or not. Maybe you just answer a quick question, maybe you talk about who got the final rose- you can hang up when you need to. One word answers, longer answers, anything goes. No pressure.

Friend two: You love them. Really. You LOVE them as much as friend one. But you really only pick up when you have time to sit, totally focused, for an hour-long catch-up. So, no. You don’t always pick up. Because you’re at work, or you’re making dinner, or you’re about to get the kids ready for bed, or you just don’t feel like telling your life story. That. Sounds. Exhausting.

The moral? Be friend one. You’ll learn more!

Good questions:
What was this morning like?
Which activity was the best?
Who was the goofiest counselor in your bunk?

Less good questions/statements:
Tell me EVERYTHING about camp.
Can you explain your weekly schedule?
What were your counselors like?

Ask a few, manageable, lighthearted questions every hour on that first day. You’ll open up that can of worms without having to pry, without overwhelming your fresh-off-the-bus camper.

5.Give them wings.

At camp they were the most independent versions of themselves and they’re still basking in the glow of those camp freedoms. Advocating for themselves, making independent choices— it’s why you sent them to camp! Think about how you felt the first time you came home from college. It was a little weird! Think about small liberties you can introduce to reinforce your camper’s summer growth. If you have an eight-year-old who didn’t make his or her bed before camp, encourage him or her to make the bed at home (even if it isn’t as beautiful as you’d like). Though seemingly a “chore,” having your camper do things for him or herself at home will continue the summer’s momentum and make him or her feel happy and confident.

And isn’t that what this whole camp thing was about from the start?