Jump! Jump! Jump!

There is a moment at the end of a session that all campers are familiar with. It looks like this. You’ve packed all your things, said goodbye to all your friends, your luggage is loaded, and then the boat shoves off. Your counselor stands on the pier waving good-bye back to you, there are cheers and whistles, just outpouring of emotion, as the boat drifts farther and farther away… bam! In the blink of an eye every counselor streams down the gangway onto the float and jump into the blue Pacific after you. This happens after every session of summer camp. In fact it also happens after every week of CELP, Family Camp, Camp del Corazon and even just when some guests leave in a power boat. It causes a frenzy just about every time, it’s even been adapted it to when people are leaving by car. This farewell extends around the island too. I’ve talked to counselors at Emerald Bay, Two Harbors, and Toyon that do the same thing. No one is sure why it’s done, just that is always has. Last summer I heard sailor David Dentinger yelling “and now we will jump after the boat as if we could somehow stop your leaving by doing so!” And that seems to be just about the sentiments - you’re leaving, it’s sad and we can’t change that, but let’s have some fun doing it. Endings are often like that, sad at first but becoming exciting and fun as they change into a new hello.


This Friday I’ll jump in the ocean as our last CELP school groups leave the island. And just before I do I’ll look around and ask all my friends on the dock before the boat leaves the same question that is always asked, “you jumping?” The answer to this question – just so our new counselors this summer know – is always “yes.” I’ve worked at our camp for 4 summers, and 6 CELP season, so that means I’ve jumped into the water 96 times after the boat*. But after this Friday it will be over a month before I perform this ritual again.


This is worthy to note because so much will have changed in that time in between. The CELP season started in February with staff training. Can you imagine a night snorkel training in February? Yeah, we’d all done one before so we only did 10 minutes in the water. CELP has had 12 blissful weeks of program, with a crackerjack staff and no less than 1400 guests coming through camp this spring. This Friday we will wrap up this season. The four of us (Danny, Miah, Julie and myself) staying for summer camp will have to say good-bye to a bunch of our friends, and that can’t be changed. But just like when you jump into the water, when we come up on the other side there’s a lot of fun to be had making new friends as summer camp begins.
*A complete exaggeration, maybe I jump a quarter of the time, remember I work here during March and November too!!

Camps for a Cause - Camperships that Raise money for Your School

A group of California camps have gotten together to raise money for schools and encourage kids to go to summer camp. Using E-Bay, the new group called Camps For a Cause, will sell sessions at their camps with low reserve prices. Whatever is bid for the camp sessions above the reserve amount will go to the winning bidder’s school. “This is actually a win-win-win situation” said Andrew Townsend, Director of Kennolyn Camps. “The camps can welcome another camper to experience summer camp, the winning bidder gets to send their child on an amazing camp adventure, and the winning bidder’s school gets a nice donation.”

The traditions and customs of Summer Camp are alive and well at Gold Arrow Camp, Shaffer’s High Sierra Camp, Catalina Island Camp, and Kennolyn Camps but they didn’t want to miss out on the world’s largest online marketplace and the chance to raise money for school sin times of budget cuts and teacher layoffs. “E-Bay makes great sense for us," says Scott Shaffer of Shaffer’s High Sierra Camp. “We are also trying to reach out to potential new campers and find ways to contribute to our community. Camps For a Cause helps us do both of these things at the same time.”

Bidders may also get a bargain. While the respective camps set each session’s reserve price, some reserves are as low as 30% of the published price. “We hope that people will bid up the items to ensure that the schools get a healthy contribution but someone could get the deal of a lifetime” said Tom Horner, owner of Catalina Island Camps. Steve Monke of Gold Arrow Camps hopes to see this pilot project expand. “Children really need the opportunities that camp offers” he says, “the chance to really connect with people and our natural world is a vital stage in a child’s development and camp allows children to explore these relationships in a fun and caring environment. The chance to get more children involved in camp and help schools is a great idea.”

Interested bidders can find the camp sessions by searching on the camp names within E-bay or just searching for “summer camp.”

Campers do not need to worry that technology will take over the camp experience. We will never gather round the glow of a computer to sing camp songs and tell stories," says Townsend. “Camp will always be a human experience, even if we use technology to spread the word about our camps."

Visit Camps for a Cause on Ebay.

Nathan Chaim in the South Pacific

This post comes from CIC summer camp counselor, Nathan Chaim. Nathan will be a sailing instructor this summer. He attends Biola University in Southern California and is currently studying abroad in New Zealand.



My Name is Nathan Chaim and I am a sailing counselor at CIC (the best camp in the world) I get paid more for writing that right?! Just kidding, anyway, I worked here last year and had the time of my life, and can’t wait to come back again!! I am currently studying abroad in New Zealand with a cultural trip to Samoa. New Zealand is an incredible place. It is completely untamed and wild. I have seen the entire south Island and my words would not express it’s beauty adequately.



In Samoa I got to experience the other side of living (a side of living I had never seen before). The family I lived with grew their own coconuts, Taro (a root much like beets), and they caught their own fish. These people had “living off the land” down to an art. These people in Samoa have been affected by many economic failure traps. These people work with what they have and it is the most beautiful thing I have seen as far as people working in community.



I am a Communications Studies major double majoring in Biblical Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California. I am in my fourth and final year. I love learning! I enjoy creation on a daily basis and also love surfing, guitar, photography, cycling, running, swimming, and Crossfit.



CIC is one of those camps that takes your initial thoughts of the camp, and magically makes it come true! The staff and the directors make a camp run but the kids are what this camp is about, and that’s what I love about it. At some camps I went to when I was a kid and some I have heard of, the counselors don’t entirely care about the kids. At CIC I don’t think that is possible. The reason I chose to come back was because the staff here loves the kids and cares about them. They become a part of the kids' lives instead of just being an authority figure. It’s an amazing balance between being there for them as a friend and being there to mentor them as a father figure and brother figure.

“It’s not about how much you know, it’s about loving people with your mind.”

Shalom,
N8