Family Camp Session 2 of 2016 was a hit all around! Whether spending time relaxing by the pond, launching water rockets, or practicing archery skills, families had plenty of options for fun. Take a look and imagine yourself back at camp! Thanks to everyone who attended and have a great rest of the summer.
Session 1 has kicked off today so expect a look into camp by Wednesday morning of this week. Stay tuned and enjoy the sunshine!
The first session of Family Camp in 2016 has come and gone! It was a fantastic session with over 80 adults and children enjoying four days of fun in the sun. There were ample opportunities for participants to enjoy some time in and around Hubbard Pond. Courage was on display as some campers elected to take a trip down the Zip Line on our challenge course. We were even treated to a visit by Wendy from the Drumlin Farm ARK program who brought along a Great Horned Owl and Box Turtle.
Wildwood Family Camp is a great place for families to share fun new experiences like these. Thanks to everyone who attended and we’ll look forward to seeing you back again next summer!
Countless campers and staff from Wildwood and Camp Quinapoxet have enjoyed meals looking over Hubbard Pond.
Hosting over 550 campers and 50 staff for twelve weeks during the summer takes a toll on the Wildwood property and facilities. Luckily for us, we have amazing property staff who take great pride in ensuring the facility always puts its best face forward.
This year the focus was on the Dining Hall, a building we all know and love. The first order of business was to repair a hole in the kitchen floor which developed last summer and was a result of many years of moisture wicking from concrete to wood beams. This causes rot to develop at the ends of the boards, which leads to cracked tiles and sinking floor. To make the repairs, our property manager removed a section of tiles, cut through old hardwood floor, and revealed the trouble beams underneath. After removing the damaged pieces, the area was reinforced with treated lumber which should resist moisture damage for many years.
New screens are easy to repair and look great!
The outside of the building is seeing some improvements as well. New window screens are being installed so that everyone can enjoy the breeze with the windows open during meal times. Previously each window was equipped with its own screen which was matched to that window. Those screens were difficult and costly to repair. The new screen frames cover a group of windows and are easily removed and repaired.
This is just a small fraction of the work being done to get Wildwood ready for summer 2016. Come visit us at an Open House event to get a glimpse before we officially kick off summer camp. See you there!
Winter offers another, still spectacular, view of Hubbard Pond
Best wishes to all Wildwood families as 2015 comes to a close and the countdown to Wildwood camp 2016 begins. Thank you all for your support of Wildwood this past year, all of which helped us have an incredible summer of camp. During this time of the year, I like to take a moment to consider the things that make camp special, and why so many campers return to Wildwood each summer.
Camp friends are the best friends!
Camp encourages everyone (campers and staff alike) to step a bit outside their regular comfort zone and discover self-confidence and problem-solving skills. Wildwood also gives campers the opportunity to develop close new friendships with other young people who might not have otherwise come together. One camper this summer remarked that they enjoyed, “…spending time with people with interests different than my own. I might not have even met them if they lived in my hometown.”
For those reasons, and so many others, we are committed to providing the best possible experiences for all new and returning Wildwood campers in 2016. Next summer’s campers 
can expect to see more of what makes Wildwood overnight camp so special: responsible and devoted staff, a caring community, and a strong focus on natural history education. Have a great holiday season and New Year and I look forward to seeing you all back at camp!
Each year we take the quiet days of autumn to reflect on the programs from the previous summer, and look for opportunities to provide programming that best meets the needs and interests of our camp families. This past fall has been no different as we took a close look at our Leaders-In-Training and Trek programs and have made some exciting adjustments based on your feedback.
Teens love exploring the wilds of New England!
Returning in summer 2016 is the much-requested 3-week program for second-year Leaders-In-Training! After the past couple of years of 2-week sessions for that group, we realized those teens (and their staff leaders) would really benefit from an extra week to take part in more advanced programs. We are calling this session “Leaders-In-Action” and it will include a longer and more involved off-camp trip, as well as the opportunity to develop and implement an on-camp service project from beginning to end. Applications for that program were sent out directly to previous LIT and Trek participants. If you weren’t a camper in 2015 or didn’t receive the application, no problem! Contact the office to request a copy of the Leaders-In-Action application. Leaders-In-Action are 16 years old and/or entering 11th grade in fall of 2016. Space in this program will be limited and applications received by January 1, 2016 will be considered together.
Moose and plenty of other wildlife await teens in the Great North Woods!
In the Trek program, we have heard from many families that they are interested in a longer Trek option for teens seeking a more in-depth experience. A longer program gives the group a chance to develop stronger connections and explore the region further. This year, we are debuting a very exciting 2-week trip for teens who have participated previously in a Wildwood Trek. The new Trek is called “Discovering the Great North Woods” and has teens exploring the northern tip of New Hampshire where wildlife outnumbers people! Check out that Trek and other opportunities today on our program catalog.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at camp in 2015 and we’re so excited to make 2016 the best yet!
Sunny skies plus exciting activities equals smiling campers and staff! It has been an amazing week so far for Session 6 and we still have two full days to go. This week has been full of everything including nature discovery, dips into the swimming area, high and low ropes adventures, and exploration trips on boats across the pond.
So far we have had great programs like the always popular “Jammin’ And Jam” DG where campers collected berries and made their own homemade jam and created some music while their batches of jam cooked. Warm days have also inspired many campers to head down to the waterfront at OATs to relax and play with friends.
On Monday the Heffalumps made an appearance once again! It was up to our intrepid campers to help categorize and learn about them while fending off Mama Lump.
It looks like a great rest of the week here. Two more full days of programming for us to enjoy before the week finishes up. One week sessions just fly by!
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This past Friday at camp we said goodbye to all of the campers signed up for the one-week Session 5. We had a great with with them and with lots of new friendships made amongst the groups. The two-week Session 5/6 campers then spent the rest of the weekend gearing up and heading out on overnights which is unique to our two-week sessions.
After overnights, we welcomed in the one-week session 6 campers with clear skies and warm weather. A perfect start to the week! The Abbey and Dillard campers also spent some time after the Session 6 opening down at the waterfront. They had the place to themselves so everyone got a chance to jump in, take a turn on the mat, or head out in a canoe or kayak. It was a perfect end to a great week as we prepare for this week ahead.
Stay tuned for more pictures of Session 6 later in the week. We’ve got a lot of fun planned as IGs and DGs get started on Tuesday. See you there!
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What a week for camp at Wildwood! With sun shining and a cool breeze blowing, there have been so many great opportunities for campers to discover and explore fun places at camp. There are smiles to be seen everywhere and a great variety of activities for everyone to enjoy.
Dragon Hunters was a very popular DG and there were plenty of Dragon(fly)s out for campers to catch and see up close. There were even a few Damsel(fly)s out as well! Wetland Kayaking had the best view on camp and some of the staff shared pictures of the group’s view of Mt. Monadnock from Hubbard Pond. The water is always a popular place whether it is swimming, boating, sailing, or ponding at the shore.
The Caves and Waterfalls trek made it to Tolland State Park today after a hike up Mt. Greylock with stops at a view hidden waterfalls along the way. They are gearing up for a magnificent last day of hiking and spelunking before heading back to camp to tell us all of their stories.
The two-week campers will be preparing for overnights this weekend while we have a full day of programming for the last day of the one-week session 5. We’ll be sure to make the most of it and we hope you are too!
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The first full day of camp is always fun as campers settle into the camp routine and start making connections with each other and their staff. By the end of the day everyone has jumped in the pond for their swim check, visited Nurse Cali for health checks, and stopped by the Nature Center to see Aisha. All the while learning their way around camp and enjoying the sights and sounds of Wildwood. We finish off orientation day as we always do with an exciting game of Predator-Prey!
After a sunny orientation day, we were treated to some great rain to cool everything off and breathe some life back into the plants and soil. Plenty of fun was still has in IGs and DGs as the normal programming schedule gets underway. Tonight is Unit Night so campers will break off into their unit groups for a special evening program planned by their unit staff. It should be a great time!
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We’re just cresting over the middle of Session 4 and having a great time here at Wildwood! Fortunately for us we’ve managed to skip past some of the bad weather other places have been seeing which meant we could continue to focus on fun!
So far we have had great programs like the always popular “Spider Army” DG where campers learned about spiders while collecting specimens to amass their small army of arachnids. Even with some cloudy afternoons, the thunder stayed away allowing many campers to head down to the waterfront at OATs to relax and play with friends.
On Wednesday the Heffalumps made an appearance once again! It was up to our intrepid campers to help pacify them before Mama Lump became too upset.
It looks like a great rest of the week here. Two more full days of programming for us to enjoy before the week finishes up. One week sessions just fly by!
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