There is a group of young people here at Camp that we can never give enough credit and “thank you’s” to.  These folks are truly the ones that make Camp Magic happen.  Our year-round staff and board and committee members do a tremendous amount of work, so please don’t think we are slighting them.  But the summer staff, the young men and women living in the cabins, leading our villages around, cooking our meals, running the activities, keeping Camp clean, mentoring campers, and generally being great role models 24/7 deserve our gratitude and respect in a big way.  These “kids” work for very little, get hardly any time off, put their “outside” lives on hold for 9-14 weeks, and go above and beyond the call of duty every day, all summer long.  They play, sing, and lead until their voices are hoarse, their clothes are filthy, and their friends and family back home wonder if they are still alive because they have forgot to call home for weeks.  One moment, they are teaching a camper to paddle a canoe or setting up an overnight and the next they are counseling a young person going through a rough time at home or returning a phone call to a parent.  They write birthday cards to every camper.  They set up and break down the Dining Hall countless times (the CIT’s also deserve a lot of credit for this one!).  They are PRESENT every time a camper needs them.  They plan evening activities.  They pull the trash (usually at the last minute!).  They participate all day long in countless activities with their kids.  They strategize how to turn a village of boys and/or girls into a tight-knit team of friends.  And then they volunteer for everything else that comes up that we didn’t think of ahead of time.  After all of this (and more) in a 17-18 hour day, they may be lucky enough to sleep for 6-7 hours before getting up and doing it again.  And they always have a smile on their face!  They don’t do it for fortune (believe us, we know how  much they get paid!).  They don’t do it for fame.  They do it because they love being challenged.  They do it because they love working with young people and teaching them about character and how to make friends and how to be a part of a community.  They do it because they can’t imagine themselves doing anything else with their summer.  Most of all, they do it to give back.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to the summer staff of Lake Stockwell Day Camp, Camp Matollionequay for Girls, and Camp Ockanickon for Boys.  Though the majority of the world will never know what you did this summer and how many young lives you impacted for the good, we know several thousands of campers and their families that will never forget you.  Thank you.

From Brent, Gab, and MaryAnn