Weekly Update: July 12th, 2026

It rained hard this afternoon. After a warm, sunshine and bluebird sky-filled morning, the clouds built and it rained more today than it has all summer. The air cooled, the sky rumbled and campers and staff had a few extra moments to pull out new card games, write a letter home and listen to the rain fall.

It was refreshing, cleansing and renewing…a perfect addition to the busy first full day of camp that we had today! From rounds of Gagaball to 9-Square in the Air, to leadership All Days for the Outbackers and Junior Counselors, to trip sign ups, to ridge/unit activities, and to our Basic Equestrian Training, your campers have been eager and ready to get Summer 2026 underway. They are making new friends, trying new food, sleeping in new spaces and pushing themselves in new ways.

Camp is different from life at home–and the seasonal staff and the year-round team provide additional supportive adult relationships outside of the family of origin. At camp, there is often more asked of campers like remembering to pack a daypack (and what should go in it) or helping with daily chores and unit cleaning, choosing their own trips and activities and more. There is a collective recognition from the campers of the new independence they have and the responsibility and teamwork that independence–and interdependence–requires.

Over the days and weeks, as individuals increase their own competence in the outdoors, their confidence will increase. As they make new friends and deepen connections, their character–in how they show up for the people around them–will grow as well. As they contribute to their living unit or trips–through helping with washhouse cleaning or setting up the tents–they will find a sense of pride and accomplishment, which will provide them with positive ways to cope with challenges and find opportunities to control and to own their impact on–and by–the experience.

And the most positive contribution? Simply being here to try it out.

It feels risky coming into a new community where you may only know one or two people (or none at all) and to know that you will need to build/rebuild a new experience together. On Friday, we did a “late onboarding” training for some of our new staff and we talked about how important it is to make “one good friend” to establish the sense of connectedness and belonging while at camp. But making friends and finding shared connections can take time and can feel hard–and doing hard things requires resilience…and resilience is foster through the 7 Cs: Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, Contribution, Coping, and Control.

We know we do hard things here, and defining yourself and finding a group of like-minded friends is an important part of that first week of camp. This is also the week where you may receive a Sad Letter from your camper, and–if you do–know that is normal. As campers transition into camp, they sometimes miss the simplicity and ease of Life At Home–but, for the majority of them, they start really finding their groove at the exact moment the Sad Letter arrives in your mailbox. AND, if you are concerned, please do not hesitate to write us an email or give us a call. Check out this blog post to find out why getting a Sad Letter might actually make you feel good.

We post photos every Sunday evening so we can try and capture and collect as many experiences as we can both on and off of the property during our very busy weeks. This week, we posted photos on Opening Day and will post a mid-week update on Tuesday that captures these first few days of camp. These photos can be accessed and downloaded for free via the Campanion app (download via the app store or Google Play) or on your computer via your Camp InTouch account. As we shared a few days ago, when you upload a recent image of your camper(s), the Campanion app does a better-than-average job of finding photos that include your camper and the app will push those images directly to your phone for viewing, downloading and sharing.

This week, campers will embark on their “Unit/Cabinside” overnight providing them with important LNT skills and a focused time to learn and practice these skills prior to using them on trips for the rest of the session. We will wrap up the week with All Day trips for many of the HT and BS campers, as well as trips to the River and to the Bat Caves & Fossil Beds for our Sanborn Junior Campers. This weekend, we will have our first theme dance and the ever-popular “ice cream social” as well as time to just relax and listen to the wind.

So thank you for providing your child with opportunities to push themselves in the outdoors and also socio-emotionally as they use the skills, knowledge and modeling provided to them to comfort a friend who is missing home, to include someone new in a conversation, to share clothes or equipment with someone whose luggage is still missing, to squeeze together so everyone can read the lyrics of “Paradise” in the songbook and to provide each other with new perspectives about ourselves, our community and the natural world through a lens of adventure, wonder and possibility.

We are so glad they are here.