The concrete foundation walls are up and Tree Top is starting to take shape.

It is all pretty exciting around here because we have also decided to take on yet another project, the Lodge is getting a much needed face lift! Why would we do that you might be asking yourself? Well, ultimately because we love you girls and a lot of Sunnysiders weren’t going to be able to be here without us doing something drastic. We fill up really quickly after camp (never forget to early enroll people!) and it was heartbreaking to us that some really sweet girls were going to miss out on their last summer with us due to lack of space. So for the first time ever, the Lodge is going to have campers living in it! Aren’t we crazy? Maybe a little bit. But it is going to be nice. Check out the progress so far. You would never even know it was the Lodge.

And then we put in some pretty stone steps on the bank up by the canoe shack too! Because why not?

Happy Camping! (Especially to you Sunnysiders)

From all of us here at Merri-Mac

Ask an Merri-Mac camper from the 1940′s or 50′s what camp tribe she is in and she will say “I AM a Choctaw “, or “I AM a Seminole”, or “I AM an Iroquois.” Seldom will you hear “I was.” There is a sense of permanence that gives our campers a base, a stability, and a sense of tradition. Those same former campers can walk into the Merri-Mac Dining Hall today and hear the same songs sung today as they sang them more than 60 years ago.

Each camper or counselor joins an Indian tribe soon after arriving at camp. When you become a Iroquois, Choctaw, or Seminole at initiation, you have joined a lifelong group within the Merri-Mac family. Each night in camp, our evening activity is a competition between the three tribes. At the end of the session, the tribe with the most victories wins the Merri-Mac banner and some serious bragging rights.

It was amazing to catch up with folks from the summer. I was reminded again of just how blessed we are to have such a great group of people surrounding camp.

We even had an appearance from “Virtual Dave” at the Staff reunion.  It was nice to see her wandering around the party on Brie’s Ipad.  Very nice touch, Dave!

It is hard to believe that camp is just around the corner.  After Christmas it seems like the snowball of camp preparation really begins to grow larger and head down the mountain!  We are getting super excited and can’t wait for June. What about you?  Are you ready for camp?

More than most camps we know of, Merri-Mac is a camper driven program. The tribal leaders, honor campers, princess court, spirits of good cheer and sportsmanship, and even the princess herself are decided by the campers. Each of these become opportunities for campers to recognize particular character types and leadership abilities and is an important way of calling to a girl’s attention her own abilities and talents.

One of the exceptions to this is our Merri-Mac Council where the counselors will award our White Feather promotions. Here campers who have demonstrated gifts of quiet leadership and an increasing growth in the fruits of the Spirit receive beaded necklaces as they progress through the ranks toward achieving the rank of White Feather. More important than these promotions, however, are the opportunities Merri-Mac Council provides for recognizing each girl’s unique character and abilities. Some of our most successful campers, some of our tribal chiefs, and even some of our honor campers may never receive a White Feather promotion because their gifts lie in other areas. But White Feather is an opportunity to recognize certain character traits that might otherwise go unnoticed.

In the end the most important part of Merri-Mac Council comes after the ceremony is over. During cabin time on the evenings that we hold council the counselors will go to each camper to describe the gifts and abilities that they have noticed in her. This is where a girl who may never earn a White Feather Promotion, or a Gold Bar, or be elected to a tribal office, can be told about her own unique gifts and contribution to her camp family.

Our rock wall is finished and they are putting in posts for a railing around the top. The canoeing and kayaking dock is almost complete. Notice how it ties into the swim dock and boat house. By the way, should we call it that?

These guys are working hard to get the steel posts attached to the concrete footers under the water. We had a pretty good rain the other day and so the lake is filling up nicely. I was a little worried with the increased size that it might take too long to fill old Doris with water! They looked pretty cold and miserable trying to get them in place wading in the cold water. I thought they might need some scuba gear but they seemed to manage. I also think that blow torch is a nice touch to the photo!

Happy Camping!

Director Dan

About ten years ago we set out to answer three questions: what do we do, how do we do it, and what if we did it intentionally? The idea was not to decide what we wanted to do, but rather to try to figure out what has been happening here all along, and then decide how we can get on board. What we discovered was that the primary factor for why camp is so effective, the reason our campers come back, and the reason our staff fall in love with camp every summer, is very simple. Friends.

We are made to live life together. It is in our DNA. Put another way, we are made in God’s image and at the very center of who he is is relationship (the Trinity). So it is no surprise that placing career or accomplishments ahead of family and friends usually ends poorly.

In most places developing community, is means to an end, a by-product of what they are there to do. Schools want strong community to create a better learning environment. Businesses want strong community to create more effective sales teams. Even reality TV stars want community to avoid getting voted off the island. But camp is different. For us community is an end in itself, it is what we are here to do.

We also have a leg up over other groups. We live together, like families. In other words, we do not just spend some time together and then go back to our real lives at home. For a short period each summer camp is our home. This is why camp friends are different, closer, than any others. We are made to live life together, and at camp doing that is not a strategy; it is the end itself.

Adam Boyd

1. Involve your child in the decision.   A child who is adamant about not being at camp be slower to experience the best parts of camp.  A great counselors will eventually win over just about everyone, but campers with some degree of buy-in will be the happiest soonest.
2. Make the final decision yours.  You need to be even more excited about the program than your camper.  If you are uncomfortable with a camp then keep looking.  My parents were camp directors so when they sent me to camp they chose two camps that they trusted.  They then handed me the brochures and let me decide.  It was a great mix of involving me while keeping control of the process.
3. A lot of campers feel more comfortable going to camp with a friend.  This is fine; it may help with pre-camp jitters.  However, after the first several hours most children have made friends with every child in their cabin.  Simply put, camp is not school; we live together so close friendships form very quickly.  You should certainly consider where your child’s friends go to camp, but do not limit yourself to those camps alone.
4. It’s all about the counselors!  Look hard at how the camp hires staff.  How many were former campers?  How many return each year?  How many are hired through international staffing services?   Ask about their grades, where they go to school, what interview questions they are asked.  If you choose the right camp your camper will be there summer after summer for many years and a great staff will become a wonderful part of their growing up.

We’ll try to add to this list over the next several weeks, but if you cannot wait then please call any time.  We love camp and would be happy to help you find the best fit for your camper.

Sincerely,

Adam and Ann