did anyone here go to summer camp?

[kylerexpop]

man, now i wish i had gone! in movies like "the parent trap" and "meatballs" summer camp always looked like fun, but i'm working my way through the friday the 13th ultimate edition box set, and man oh man does getting killed at a remote summer camp look SUPER AWESOME. i've stayed at cabins with friends, to be sure, but we were never slaughtered or forced to run from slashers. if only, you know?

but have you gone to summer camp? i must live vicariously through you now. did you have slasher-esque experiences, or just the standard make-junk-out-of-wood-and-play-tricks-on-other-cabins-with-shaving-cream occurrences? maybe i'll be a counselor next summer. where's my hockey mask?

[DocD83]

All sixth graders where I come from go to a weeklong camp at the county's expense, presumably to teach us about ecology and nature appreciation or some crap like that.

Aside from that I never went to camp. It wasn't really my thing--I considered Comfort Inn "roughing it."

In high school though I started going to a music festival in the summers (didn't care about the music but all my friends were going and it was a good way to ignore my parents for a week).

I probably have a couple good stories but none come to mind right now...I really should be doing my homework....

[dajaymann]

Closest I've ever come to summer camp is Boy's State in North Carolina back when I was 17. You see, Boy's State is supposed to be this real prestigious deal where select boys from the schools in the state get together, form a fake state government, elect officials out of the student body and learn all about leadership, responsibility, government, and the republican way.

My group, however, plotted to kidnap our elected governor and hold him for ransom, replacing the elected government with pure anarchy.

I so wish I was making this up.

[Head Mutant]

I've gone to summer camp as a kid, and been a counselor as an adult... it's a blast. It's actually very relaxing, to just get away for a week, even though you sometimes have to deal with 8th graders who run full-tilt into a ladder in the dark and cut their cheek open.

The one I help out with each summer now (for no pay, but I consider it ministry, and it's even sort of a vacation) is a terrific time to get to know people, to disconnect from the electonic/media world, and to do fun, stupid things like throw 1am pizza parties without the camp director's permission.

I get very nostalgic while watching summer camp movies. Probably will do some sort of article on it some day.

[DocD83]

a terrific time to get to know people, to disconnect from the electonic/media world, and to do fun, stupid things like throw 1am pizza parties without the camp director's permission.

I remember an all-night lock-in I went to with my church's teen group. I talked the youth pastor into showing UHF (which he followed up with "The Stupids"...you can't win 'em all), but he made me mute out my favorite line: "Lesbian Nazi hookers abducted by UFOs and forced into weight loss programs."

[pfrsue]

My parents shuffled me off to a Christian camp in Maryland when I was eight years old and I loved it enough to go back for two weeks every summer until I was old enough to become a CIT and then a counselor/activities specialist. I think the most I ever made was the princely sum of $55 a week, but it was great fun and the source of some of my coolest adventures as a kid/teen. Really fond memories. (And yeah, I watch Meatballs with tears of nostalgia in my eyes.)
Only horror movie-esque episode I had though was a four foot long snake dropping on me when I was in the shower. As I recall, neither of us were too happy about that!

Sue

[pythianlegume]

I went to Girl Scout camp for a couple of years... I learned to kayak, tie-dye, and live in a cramped cabin out in the woods with girls I hated.

This past summer, though, I went to the Sewanee Young Writers' Conference in Tennessee, which was WAY better because A) there were fewer mosquitos, B) we slept in dorms, and C) the people were relatively smart and didn't play rap music really loudly at two in the morning.

[DocD83]

Sue, what was the name of that camp in Maryland?

[pfrsue]

DocD83 said:

Sue, what was the name of that camp in Maryland?

Sandy Hill. (Originally Sandy Cove.) It was near the town of Northeast, but I think they've since moved to W. Va.... although there is a camp still at the original site under different ownership. Why'd ya ask?

[DocD83]

There was a Christian camp of some sort about 10 min from where I used to live in MD (I never went to it but some of my friends did). I don't recall the name, but the names you gave don't ring a bell so I don't think it was the same one.

In fact I'm sure it's not the right one (Northeast is up near Havre de Grace according to Mapquest and the place I'm thinking of was near Sykesville).

[Ms. Jellybean]

Meh. I already had a thread on here about Smart-People camp...

In fact, I just got an e-mail from one of my good buddies from SVSM and she just returned from a ten-day vacation in Australia. Rich people get on my nerves sometimes.

I'm going on vacation along the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend. But I digress...

My only camp experiences have been UGA Drum Major camp and Summer Ventures in Science and Math. UGA was horrible, except for the dining hall. Ice cream bar... every topping imaginable... I was in heaven.

[TheLuckyOne]

Not actually during the summer, but my middle school had a program where every 7th grade class would take a 3 or 4 day trip to a camp during the spring, to help us bond or whatever. I think it says a lot about my complete media whoredom when most of the things I remember from the trip are pop culture related. For instance:

-I know Benny & Joon had just come out in theaters, because a friend of mine was singing "500 Miles" incessantly the entire time.
-On one memorable nature hike, conversation revolved around which of the 4 new Supermen, if any, was the "real" one. (A: none.)
-Another friend was finally getting around to reading Jurassic Park, which I had already read about 4 times by that point.

Plus my history teacher's campfire tale finally explained the bloody teddy bear we'd seen on a shelf in class all year. But that's another story.


-D

[duckie]

Ms. said:

I'm going on vacation along the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend. But I digress...

So, which part of the Blue Ridge Parkway are you visiting? I've been along much of it, thought it was excellent during the fall. You've picked a good time of year to check it out...

[duckie]

I've been to summer camp many, many times... either through school, or through scouts.

scout camp was really cool, especially since we got to do stuff like canoeing in the ocean, hiking, orienteering. And, then we were also allowed to shoot guns, bows and arrows, etc... something most boys love to do. plus, i usually went there with a dozen close friends, which made the experience great.

But, I didn't enjoy school camp as much, probably because the kids made fun of me I inherited the nicknames "pops" and "spaz" (all those who have seen Meatballs and have seen pix of me as a kid would understand the second one). But, I did win an award for my softball pitching talents; however, I wasn't able to parlay it into a MLB contract

i think every kid should spend a bit of time at summer camp... if nothing else, it allows the parents to have a week of solitude

[DocD83]

if nothing else, it allows the parents to have a week of solitude

I didn't even think of this till now, but my parents used to do the cheap option: bundle me and my brother off to granma's house for a week every summer.

My grandma always kicked our asses at bowling and putt putt...it was getting embarassing....