Finishing Up Post Camp

I always enjoy working post camp after the main season. Firstly, it involves working with a number of different groups which keeps the work fresh and less monotonous. Secondly, it requires you to do a whole host of different jobs. So any given day could include looking after a group of day campers in the morning, serving at an ice cream party after lunch, running a game of family kickball in the afternoon and setting up a campfire and leading songs in the evening. The other thing I like about post camp is that the staff team is smaller and integrates staff from Nah-Jee-Wah, Cedar Lake and TAC. Nahj staff are usually a minority, which at first is a bit of a downer as camp feels rather empty and you miss all the people you grew close to over the summer. However, it allows me to catch-up with all the people I know from CLC and meet new people, which is never a bad thing I suppose!

Post camp this summer was a bit different for me as it was more of a continuation of the main season work I had been doing. I was the division head for the First Step program, which saw me working with 9 other staff members and running a 5-day camp for a group of boys and girls aged 7-11. The weather made this week particularly challenging, as it rained persistently. This meant we had to adapt the schedule regularly and take advantage of any dry spells that randomly came about.

Despite the poor weather, we had a fantastic week. We managed to offer every camp activity possible, we had a cook-out breakfast, we ran big game-shows, brought in outside entertainers and even had a banquet.

Once First Step ended, I rejoined the regular post-camp operations and mucked in with all the jobs going. I only had about a day and a half before leaving so I made sure to keep myself busy and spend lots of time with the people I would be saying goodbye to. Sunday morning came about, my bags were packed and I made my way to New York to catch the plane.

Much love

Sam