Wow, what a whirlwind! On August 6th we wrapped up our 2016 summer camp season. Ask anyone who’s ever worked at a summer camp: you’re always amazed at how incredibly fast it goes, but at the same time you’re astonished that so much managed to happen in three short months.
Erasing my “summer numbers” board – a sure sign that summer camp is finished!
In many ways, this summer was our most successful yet. The growth Ferncliff has experienced in the last couple of decades has been crazy! This summer we had 1,367 total campers in our overnight, day camp, and Camp-2-You programs, a 12% increase from just last year. We far exceeded our goal numbers for each type of program this year, partnered with several organizations for outreach camps, hired our biggest (and best!) staff yet, and broke in several new site additions like the Q and the new dining hall. Summer 2016 was an awesome success!
Even more important than the quantitative stuff, however, is the quality experience we were able to provide for our campers. We like to measure our summers at Ferncliff with “the things you can count and the things that count.” Of course it’s great when our numbers are up and we can tell you exactly how many campers we served and how much income we brought in. But more importantly, we have a million wonderful stories of people who have been impacted by Ferncliff this summer.
I think about a camper who excitedly told me at lunch that she caught her first fish in Ferncliff Lake, or the group of campers who cried on Thursday night after vespers because they’d gotten so close as a team throughout the week. I think about my summer staff laughing as they reminisced about something ridiculous that happened several weeks ago. I remember seeing a camper who was experiencing camp for the first time this summer, and a camper who had experienced camp about ten times previously, and how their excitement levels were the same. I think about parents who told us that their children wouldn’t stop singing camp songs and doing energizers for a week after their camp session ended. I think about the friendships and the memories made. Those are the moments that make camp successful!
It’s definitely a little sad that the camp season is over. It’s a bit too quiet around here. Already I miss the staff, the campers, and the hustle and bustle of such a crazy, demanding schedule. But even as we say goodbye to the summer camp season with a bit of sadness, I know that we have a great year ahead of us with conferences and guest groups… and hey, summer 2017 isn’t that far off! 😉
-Emily