Here is the latest blog update with details regarding preparations for camp. These details are taken right from our Pre-Camp Bulletin for Parents featured on our website. I hope you find this information useful and informative. Please be in touch with any questions!

THINGS NOT TO PACK

Chewonki campers learn that many of the material things that they feel are essential parts of their life are perhaps unnecessary. Television is not a part of the camper’s experience at Chewonki.  Smart phones, i-Pods, cell phones, computer games, and all similar devices are not allowed along with comic books.  We request that all “Pokemon” or “Magic: The Gathering” – type game cards and accessories remain at home.  Other valuables such as jewelry, watches, money, etc. are unnecessary.  Chewonki cannot be responsible for the storage of these items during the summer.

Please do not send candy, cookies, gum or any other food with your child or to them through the mail during the summer.  These package won’t be delivered.  We are asking you to support us by resisting appeals of campers for such “goodies”.  It is our policy not to deliver them to the campers for many reasons. Sweet things draw flies and rodents; we like to have ants and small mammals close to the living quarters but not in them.  Boxes of “goodies” can also cause hard feelings among campers.  Our meals are planned to be nourishing and substantial and there is no need for supplements.  We encourage campers to eat something of everything that is provided for them.  The food is simple but abundant and well prepared.  We are interested in nutrition and want campers to learn about food and its importance.  A package of sweets in the mail is working against us.  We will trust that we have your support and understanding.  Hopefully, all parents will read and honor this policy, but sometimes grandparents and other relatives may not be aware of our policy.  Please let them know about our policy and explain the reasons behind it.  On birthdays in camp, a camper will be honored with a small treat.

BAGGAGE

A camp trunk is not required, but may be useful for packing and shipping.  Campers will unpack their belongings onto cabin shelves.  Campers arriving by car may bring all baggage with them.  Otherwise, we recommend parcel post (Post Office), United Parcel Service (UPS), or FedEx.  Baggage should be sent unlocked or with keys mailed to us before camp.  For those in camp traveling long distances and shipping their luggage, we unpack their belongings before they arrive to help give them a settled-in feeling.  Because of limited space on the vans from New York, Logan Airport and Portland Jetport, a few items of hand luggage only may be brought with your camper.

Greetings! As we approach the start of Camp on June 26th, I will be updating our blog regularly with details regarding preparations for camp. These details are taken right from our Pre-Camp Bulletin for Parents featured on our website. I hope you find this information useful and informative. Please be in touch with any questions!

EQUIPMENT

We have posted the in-camp equipment list on our website containing links to order equipment. The only items that need to be purchased are the required Chewonki shirts (6 of any variety) if you don’t already have them, purchased from our new partner Summer Camp Supply.  Please note the ordering deadline of May 15 to avoid delays. Email info@summercampsupply.com or call Chris Riley @ 207-232-7174 to ask questions or to place an order. Please note that Summer Camp Supply will stitch your child’s name in each shirt that you purchase if you order by May 1. Shirts may not be purchased at Chewonki. Many of the other required items are available through Summer Camp Supply if you wish to purchase them, but hopefully you will have most of the clothing on hand, or can borrow equipment from family and friends. We expect campers to wear only Chewonki shirts- the white, natural or green t-shirts, the white or green polo shirts, or the wilderness trip tech-shirt. For 2012, we are pleased to offer high-quality organic t-shirts as one more way of promoting a sustainable planet.

Our campers come from many different backgrounds; having everyone wear the same shirt is one way to foster a feeling of unity and sense of community. Our active campers create many dirty shirts, and we have found that most parents would rather dirty up Chewonki shirts than shirts from home.

You will also find additional information on our website that enables you to purchase nametags or a name stamp from the Name Dropper Clothing Stamp Company for existing items that you have from home not purchased from Summer Camp Supply. PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL CLOTHES AND GEAR ARE CAREFULLY MARKED WITH THE CAMPER’S NAME. Unmarked items are easily lost. With this in mind, please do not send along valuable clothes and other expensive items that you do not want your child to lose or get ruined. Please help us return lost items to your child while they are still at camp by labeling everything! To help us send your child home with all that they arrived with, please be sure to complete the inventory list that is included with the packing list. Make three copies of this list- one for home and two for us at Chewonki. The inventory list will be tremendously beneficial to our counselors as they help your child pack at the end of the summer.

Please follow these lists carefully. Special Note: For campers traveling long distances and those receiving financial aid, please see the online packing list regarding clothing rental or loans.

Please contact us if you have any questions on regarding the clothing or equipment lists!

Campers are asked to bring enough supplies – stationery, postage stamps, toilet articles, batteries, etc. – to last the summer.  Due to the humid summer weather, please pack only self-adhesive envelopes and stamps. Also, it is helpful to provide your child with pre-addressed envelopes of family members and friends who your child may want to write. Money is unnecessary at camp.  A bill will be sent at the end of the summer for any minor charges incurred.

If your camper is eager to take pictures, please note that we will process film only for those campers who are using film as part of our in-camp photography program. We recognize the widespread use of digital cameras but campers will not have access to power outlets for recharging. We are also concerned about expensive digital cameras becoming lost or damaged while at camp. Therefore, we recommend bringing a few inexpensive disposable cameras.

BATTERIES

We ask campers to bring only re-chargeable, AA size NI-CAD batteries to camp.  We have a number of re-charging stations around camp. Regular alkaline batteries (throw-aways) are hard on our environment and can be a health hazard when incinerated or buried in a landfill.  So, please help us help our environment, and make sure to bring a flashlight that takes this AA size, or consider purchasing a hand-cranked LED rechargeable flashlight.

KNIFE POLICY

Campers may bring jackknives or sheath knives to camp but to ensure safe and responsible use of knives, Chewonki’s policy is to have all knife use supervised by staff. When not in use, knives will be stored by the cabin counselor.  Knives will be available for appropriate use on overnights and trips.  Jackknives should have locking blades. Remember to pack these in checked luggage, if traveling by plane.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Music and singing are an integral part of Chewonki camp life. Campers love to perform at campfires and Sunday Service and there are many informal opportunities to play instruments and sing. If your child plays an instrument, we encourage them to bring it to camp. We will provide a safe place to store the instruments.

I hope the fall is treating everyone well. It’s been so much fun to reconnect with many of you as we plan for 2012. I’ve enjoyed sharing so many fun stories from the 2011 summer with you and been overwhelmed by our early enrollments thus far.

It seems like just yesterday...

After a few months of catching my breath and getting settled back into routines at home, it’s time to get out on the road and visit with my summer friends. I hope you can join us at one of the dates listed below, and bring along a friend or two that might be interested in a summer at Chewonki. These events are for prospective, new and returning Chewonki campers, trip participants, alumni and their families to gather, enjoy some pizza and other munchies, view slides of past summers and get excited for summer 2012. If our travels are not bringing us close to you, please share this schedule with friends who may live in the cities we’re visiting. And, if you feel that there is strong interest in Chewonki where you live, please be in touch and we might be able to arrange a reunion in your town.

I hope to see you over the next few months!

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg,
Director, Chewonki Camp for Boys

All times 7pm unless otherwise noted. Please RSVP to the hosts.

November 3- Manchester, MA
Hosted by Liesl & Andy Hawley
27 Old Neck Rd, Manchester MA
978-525-3211, a.hawley@comcast.net

November 7- Brooklyn, NY
Hosted by Ilisa and Steve Rissman
20 Pierrepont St #2C / 2D, Brooklyn, NY
718-246-4439, ilisalynn@nyc.rr.com

November 8^- New York, NY
Hosted by Keryn Kaplan and David Stallbaumer
Email kerynkaplan@gmail.com for location

November 9- Pelham Manor, NY
Hosted by Jill and Owen Glist
969 Pelhamdale Ave, Pelham Manor
RSVP Thomas Dillon 212.979.8700 or thomas@lambentservices.com

November 15- Washington, DC
Hosted by Lisa and Paul Maco
4400 Greenwich Pkwy NW, Washington, DC
202-625-1514, lisa.maco@me.com

November 16- Bethesda, MD
Hosted by Mittie and Curtis Rooney
5111 Wehawken Rd., Bethesda, MD
301-229-4483, mrooney@axcomgroup.com

November 21- Newton, MA
Hosted by Rachel Rock and Joshua Levy
60 Montvale Rd., Newton, MA
617-795-5985, rachelrock1@me.com

December 1- Cambridge, MA
Hosted by Kim and Layne Ainsworth
7 Brown St., Cambridge, MA
617-497-5728, kainsw@yahoo.com

After some showers and clouds on Sunday and clearing skies on Monday, we are enjoy a perfect day today on Tuesday for our weekly Tent Day outings. The majority of the camp is off at Popham Beach, but we also have groups sailing, picking blue berries and making a dessert for the entire camp, a nature activity involving scavenging for the annual wild edible food fest, a day hike to the Camden Hills, a live-action role-playing adventure activity here on campus, a frisbee golf outing, and a special Woodcraft activity trip to the Big Eddy Campground and Baxter State Park. We have so many groups doing so many interesting things, it’s really hard to keep track!

The energy around here remains high and very positive. Our new 10-day campers have settled in nicely into Long Hall and Stockade, respectively. Long Hall went on their overnight camp out last night. Saturday night’s campfire remains memorable for all who have attended. On Sunday we gathered for our weekly Sunday Service meeting involving songs, readings, and a skit performance of the children’s book The Rainbow Fish which stimulated some good discussions on sharing, friendship, and the qualities that matter most in life such as compassion and kindness towards our neighbors. Sunday night’s Capture the Rocks game is always a highlight, and last night was the final group night of the session. Our Puffins and Owls were able to do some star gazing with the help of some local astronomers, while our Herons played the popular Wolves and Caribou game. Our Ospreys hiked south on our peninsula and then floated back on the incoming tide assisted by life jackets under the late evening skies. A “float” is a favorite Chewonki tradition.

Our cabin wilderness trips continue to go well. Pete Gillies, Ranch House, South Hall, and Gordy Hall have all returned in recent days with wonderful stories of their adventures. Outhaul, New Hall, Shang-Tu, Xanadu and Quarter Deck are currently out on their trips.

If this pace sounds hard to keep up with, the last few days of camp will be even more busy with special activities including a treasure hunt, waterfront regatta, closing campfire, and celebration banquet on Sunday evening. As a reminder, closing day is on Monday, August 15th. If you a picking your son up by car at Chewonki, please be here between 8:30 am and noon. There is no camp program that morning other than saying goodbye, so the earlier your arrival, the better. Please do take a few moments to stop by and say hello to me before you depart. More details can be found here.

I look forward to these final fun days of camp. Thanks for sharing your son with us.

Sincerely,

Garth Altenburg

“Polar Bears! Polar Bears!” Several times a week these words ring through Osprey Circle and the lower fields inviting all campers and counselors to take part in a pre-breakfast morning swim.  For some this might be a once a summer experience but others wouldn’t think of missing a polar bear swim. For the writer and many others a polar bear swim is simply a wonderful way to begin the day; in addition there is the incentive of receiving the highly sought after Polar Bear Patch for completing half or more of the swims in a session.

On Tuesday July 26th almost 30 campers and counselors came down for the first Polar Bear of Session II. It’s hard to imagine a better way to start the day; the tides were with us and the water was warm. Wednesday saw another beautiful swim and the prospect of many more.  – Henry Heyburn, Watefront Director

13 commonly occurring natural history items. 400 acres. A little more than one hour to find them all. Can you do it?

Welcome to Friday night’s camp activity, the Nature Scavenger Hunt! Our enthusiasm at Chewonki for the natural world makes this event possible, as well as the skilled teachings of Doc Fred and the rest of his nature staff. Cabins compete as teams against their neighboring cabins, scouring Chewonki Neck in as efficient a manner as possible with hopes of accurately collecting as many items on the list as possible. Last night, skies were overcast and the sun now sets just after 8 pm, so our campers were also competing against darkness with hopes of finding their items. Once the lists are distributed, campers scatter at  the word “Go!” to find the items on their list. Our library of field guides is available to our campers to help the campers identify the items.

I was very impressed with the amount of knowledge on display by our campers, much of it gained here at Chewonki. Even more impressive was the enthusiasm for the general activity and for finding all of the items. I feel it is part of what makes Chewonki a little different than most other summer experiences. Nature is cool here! We model a genuine enthusiasm for learning about the world around us. The winning teams will get to enjoy a special dessert tomorrow with their cabin as well!

So, how would you do on this scavenger hunt? Here are the items: Non-insect arthropods; A female Eastern Hemlock cone; a non-native, invasive animal species;  a Moosewood leaf; an aquatic insect; the inflorescence of a wild plant; a non-gilled mushroom; physical evidence of the life activities of some wild mammal; a macroscopic marine alga; a land-living mollusk; galls formed by mites; and the seed of a White Ash tree. Bonus item: Exuviae.

On Wednesday we took campers on the third Puffin Watch of the summer, another fantastic time with great weather and wonderful bird sightings! We have been leaving from New Harbor Maine on the Hardy Boat Cruises; 12-18 campers with binoculars and books in hand. We travel out to Eastern Egg Rock, circle the island and check out the diversity of bird life out there before heading back to the harbor. The boat has a naturalist on board who shares plenty of information and experiences with everyone and is always willing to answer camper questions.
Over 100 Puffins nest on this island, along with various species of Gulls, Terns and Guillimots; we see Cormorants, Eiders, and Gannets as well. As one would imagine, the Puffins are the hit among the campers with their small round bodies and clown like faces. We have been lucky to see some good rafts floating on the water and flying with food as well. The chicks have hatched and the adults are bringing food to their burrows so there is plenty of activity.
The trip offers a wonderful opportunity for campers to get out on the water, experience a huge nesting colony of various loud and active birds, and see some of the Maine Coast beyond the tent day beach trips. For birding it can’t be beat because the campers have the chance to look at shapes, sizes, behavior and silhouettes’ to aid in identification. Sometimes the light isn’t quite right to see feather patterns so watching behavior and flight patterns are the next best tool for campers learning species.
Campers on these trips can add as many as 12 new birds to their lists, and for many this is their first sighting of a Puffin “in real life”!

Birding on the Neck

We have been having great fun with birding during the first session and during the first week of the second session. Several bird walks happen each week, 10-20 campers eagerly rising around 6:15 a.m., 7:00 on Sundays. 14 campers earned their binoculars during first session, many more received their “Birding Journals” and field guides, and still others worked on their various birding patches. The second session has campers ready to receive binoculars even before the first week is up!
I have been impressed with the early morning enthusiasm, and the willingness of everyone to share their own personal knowledge with those campers that may be just beginning to develop their skills. Everyone has been making great observations, picking up details in field marks and behavior that the book never seems to share.
Our summer bird list in the dining hall continues to grow with campers adding birds seen during activities and on their trips.
As summer winds down the birds are less vocal, but it just means better observation skills to see and hear what’s out there! The barn swallows have all fledged and we are watching to see when they will gather up and all leave. It may be before the end of camp!
Other activities have included early morning bird banding, several Puffin Cruises and a breakfast trip to the upper part of Montsweag Brook for some different birds. See more about our Puffin Watches in the next blog!
Lynne Flaccus, Staff Naturalist

I walked down to the waterfront after rest hour today with the hopes of trying standup paddleboarding. If you are not familiar with standup paddelboarding, it is a combination of canoeing and surfing. Basically, you are standing up on a large surfboard and paddling using paddle similar to a long canoe paddle. We were offering a special one-day clinic taught by Raf Adams who owns SoPoSup, a standup paddleboard company in South Portland, Maine. 

I knew it was a special day at our waterfront when I had a hard time finding a lifejacket. It seems like we have an endless supply of lifejackets, so it is always a good sign of lots of activity when there aren’t many left. Sure enough, there were campers in boats everywhere! I counted over ten kayaks in use, four sailboats, six or seven canoes, and of course the twelve or so campers that were there to try paddleboarding. The Chewonki waterfront is one of my favorite places on Earth and I love it when our campers are taking full advantage as they are on a day like today.

We opened our second session yesterday by welcoming 125 campers under crystal clear blue-skies and comfortable temperatures- a welcome relief after the stifling temperatures on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Twenty-four hours later, the skies have turned cloudy and it has even cooled off a bit more, but our campers are settling in perfectly and having a great time. After a pasta dinner on Sunday evening, we gathered up a Campfire circle for an opening campfire, sing-a-long and introductions, followed by first night candlelight discussions back at the cabins. Today our campers proceeded through a variety of orientation activities by touring and learning about the activities around campus, as well as visiting the health center for health check-ins and the waterfront for swim checks. This afternoon our campers engaged in a “choice afternoon” where they got to sample our activities. The full activity program will begin on Tuesday. This evening promises to be a thriller with our first game of Capture the Rocks on the lower field between our two camp teams- the Sags and the Hocs. All in all, it’s been a very smooth start. Our campers are happy and settling in, and I am very impressed with the outstanding job our counselors are doing. I look forward to providing more updates later this week.