The Akeela Winter Circular for our Vermont campers and their families is here!
In this issue of our camp newsletter:
Happy holidays from your friends at Camp Akeela! We’re thinking of all our camp friends during this season, and can’t wait to be back at camp with you in 2019. Below you will find slide shows from Vermont’s first and second sessions. We hope you’ll watch them and that they’ll help remind you of all the magical times we spent together last summer. Wishing everyone a safe and happy rest of the holiday season!
Love,
Debbie, Eric, Kevin and Rob
The latest Camp Akeela (VT) newsletter, the Akeela Circular, is here!
This jam-packed newsletter includes a lot of important information for camp parents, introductions to our amazing team of program heads, details on communication from camp, and much more. Here’s a quick look at one article, What To Expect On The First Day of Camp.
Dear Akeela Camper,
Summer is almost here and we hope you are excited about camp, even if you’re also feeling a little nervous about it. Many kids go away for part of the summer. Some visit family, some go on teen travel or community service programs, and some go to sleep-away camps. Almost everybody worries about how they will like a place that’s new to them. It’s OK to feel that way and we’re here to help make your transition to camp as easy and smooth as possible. We think that one way to do that is to help you know what to expect…
If you’re taking one of the camp buses to camp, you and your parents will meet some of our counselors at the bus pick-up location. They will be there to welcome you and to introduce you to other campers. They will help you find a seat on the bus with a new friend and will be there to answer any questions you might have. The travel time from NY is approximately 5 hours and the time from Boston is approximately 2.5 hours. You will bring lunch on the bus and there are bathrooms on both buses!
Those of you flying to Boston on Opening Day will be met at the airport by Akeela staff members. They will be there to greet you and to introduce you to other campers who have also flown in! You and your new friends will be driven by our staff in a camp van directly to camp. It will take approximately 2.5 hours to get to Akeela. If your parents are driving you to camp, you will be dropped off at 2:00. Your counselors will be there to meet you at your car and help you carry any last-minute items you have brought with you that day. You, your parents, and counselors will go to your cabin, where you’ll see all of your belongings have been unpacked and organized for you so you can easily find your bed. You’ll then say goodbye to your family and begin your camp adventure!
Regardless of how you get to camp, here’s what you can expect to happen the rest of that first day:
- You will have a chance to see what camp looks like and enjoy some planned activities with your bunkmates. You might take a tour, play some games, or jump on the jumping pillow.
- You’ll also meet our nurses so that they can give you a quick “health check” to make sure you’re healthy!
- Our great Chef, Catarina, will give you a small preview of her culinary expertise and provide a delicious snack for you and your new friends to enjoy.
- There will be some time after everyone arrives for each bunk to start spending some time together before we meet for dinner. This is a great time to get to know your bunkmates and counselors, and talk about “bunk expectations,” so you know what to expect from each other.
- We will all have dinner and Evening Meeting together as a community. You’ll eat dinner with your cabin, just like you will for all your meals at camp! Evening Meeting will be at the amphitheatre and you’ll get to hear from Eric and Debbie, and have a chance to make announcements about the new friends you’ve already made!
- Then it will be time for our opening campfire and evening snack. We’ll sing songs and do skits as a community by the fire. It’s one of our favorite parts of camp!
- Before bedtime, you will preview the next day’s schedule and then Debbie or Eric and your Head Counselor will stop by to say good night. Before you know it, your first day will be over and we will all be getting ready for bed!
Many campers worry that they might be sad or homesick on the first night of camp. That is very normal. All of your counselors will be right in your bunk with you to help you. In addition to talking to them, you might want to look at photos from home, write a letter to your family or read a book. We know that after a short time, you will be having such a great time at Akeela, it will feel like your second home.
We can’t wait to see you at camp. Many of you will be joining us for our Open House on June 17th. (RSVP HERE) If you’re not able to attend Open House, you’ll be able to see photos of the event on the camp website. We’re so excited for an amazing summer at Camp Akeela. See you soon!
The latest Camp Akeela (WI) newsletter, the Akeela Circular, is here!
In this edition:
The latest Camp Akeela (VT) newsletter, the Akeela Circular, is here!
In this edition:
The latest newsletter, The Akeela Circular, is here!
Here is an excerpt from the newsletter, in which we describe what campers can expect from the first day of camp:
Dear Akeela Camper,
Summer is almost here and we hope you are excited about camp, even if you’re also feeling a little nervous about it. Many kids go away for part of the summer. Some visit family, some go on teen travel or community service programs, and some go to sleep-away camps. Almost everybody worries about how they will like a place that’s new to them. It’s OK to feel that way and we’re
here to help make your transition to camp as easy and smooth as possible. We think that one way to do that is to help you know what to expect…
If you’re taking one of the camp buses to camp, you and your parents will meet some of our counselors at the bus pick-up location. They will be there to welcome you and to introduce you to other campers. They will help you find a seat on the bus with a new friend and will be there to answer any questions you might have. The travel time from NY is approximately 5 hours and the time from Boston is approximately 2.5 hours. You will bring lunch on the bus and there are bathrooms on both buses!
Those of you flying to Boston on Opening Day will be met at the airport by Akeela staff members. They will be there to greet you and to introduce you to other campers who have also flown in! You and your new friends will be driven by our staff in a camp van directly to camp. It will take approximately 2.5 hours to get to Akeela. If your parents are driving you to camp, you will be dropped off at 1:30. Your counselors will be there to meet you at your car and help you carry any last-minute items you have brought with you that day. You, your parents, and counselors will go to your cabin, where you’ll see all of your belongings have been unpacked and organized for you so you can easily find your bed. You’ll then say goodbye to your family and begin your camp adventure!
Regardless of how you get to camp, here’s what you can expect to happen the rest of that first day:
•You will have a chance to see what camp looks like and enjoy some planned activities with your bunkmates. You might take a tour, play some games, or jump on the jumping pillow.
•You’ll also meet our nurses so that they can give you a quick “health check” to make sure you’re healthy!
•Our great Chef, Catarina, will give you a small preview of her culinary expertise and provide a delicious snack for you and your new friends to enjoy.
•There will be some time after everyone arrives for each bunk to start spending some time together before we meet for dinner. This is a great time to get to know your bunkmates and counselors, and talk about “bunk expectations,” so you know what to expect from each other.
•We will all have dinner and Evening Meeting together as a community. You’ll eat dinner with your cabin, just like you will for all your meals at camp! Evening Meeting will be at the amphitheatre and you’ll get to hear from Eric and Debbie, and have a chance to make announcements about the new friends you’ve already made!
•Then it will be time for our opening campfire and evening snack. We’ll sing songs and do skits as a community by the fire. It’s one of our favorite parts of camp!
•Before bedtime, you will preview the next day’s schedule and then Debbie or Eric and your Head Counselor will stop by to say good night. Before you know it, your first day will be over and we will all be getting ready for bed!
Many campers worry that they might be sad or homesick on the first night of camp. That is very normal. All of your counselors will be right in your bunk with you to help you. In addition to talking to them, you might want to look at photos from home, write a letter to your family or read a book. We know that after a short time, you will be having such a great time at Akeela, it will feel like your second
home.
We can’t wait to see you at camp. Many of you will be joining us for our Open House on June 4th. If you’re not able to attend Open House, you’ll be able to see photos of the event on the camp website. We’re so excited for an amazing summer at Camp Akeela. See
you soon!
From The Directors
Dear Camp Friends,
Throughout our nine unforgettable summers on Miller Pond we have seen so much growth, not only in our campers but in the size of our community, as well. We have watched our camp grow from approximately 40 to almost 120 campers per session. Likewise, the number of Akeela staff members has risen from less than 40 to more than 100. Over the years, we’ve added six new camper cabins, a golf driving range, the Lodge, a dining hall porch, gazebos and so much more. We are excited to announce that in the summer of 2017, our community is going to grow even more, with the opening of another Camp Akeela, in Wisconsin!
Don’t worry, nothing is going to change about the Camp Akeela that we all know and love in Vermont. We are just expanding west so that more boys and girls have an opportunity to grow in a loving and fun-filled summer camp community similar to what we have created together on Miller Pond. Debbie, Eric and Kevin will all continue to spend their summer in Vermont, while Dave and Katie Baker will be the On-Site Directors in Wisconsin.
Akeela Wisconsin will be located on the campus of Lawrence University in Appleton, which is about 40 minutes southwest of Green Bay, two hours north of Milwaukee, and three hours north of Chicago, IL. Despite being on a college campus, our Wisconsin camp is most definitely NOT an academic program! In three 2-week sessions, campers competing grades 3 – 10 will enjoy many of the same activities that our Vermont camp has to offer, including swimming, art, drama, music, cooking, tennis, team sports, LARPing, hiking, trips, and nature exploration. All of the camp traditions we have grown to love in Vermont – evening meeting, campfires, bunk songs & plaques, and special event days – will be equally integral to the experience at our new camp. We are going to bring as much of the magic of Vermont as we can to Wisconsin to create yet another incredible, life-changing summer experience for campers and staff!
We are so excited about this new adventure and invite you to follow all of its progress at the camp website, campakeela.com.
Fondly,
Debbie & Eric
Fall is here and that means that it’s time for our fall newsletter! This jam-packed edition of the Akeela Circular includes:
Read it all here:
We are thrilled to announce two new and exciting winter program offerings. Both events will take place in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts on the weekend of January 9 – 11, 2015. Akeela campers in grades 6 – 11 are invited to join us for a weekend of reuniting with camp friends, indoor and outdoor games, and Akeela spirit. Campers will stay and play at the Winadu Lodge at Camp Winadu in Pittsfield, MA. Meanwhile, we have organized a retreat for parents at the luxurious Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox, MA.
Learn more here:
The latest Camp Akeela Circular is ready for your reading pleasure. It announces several exciting changes being planned for Summer 2015, a collection of Summer 2014 photos, and some big news about upcoming Akeela Winter Weekends!
Check out Lakeside Retreats to plan an event at camp.