The Official Blog of Camp Laurel
Moosetrack News

Let’s Go on a Trip!

July 16th, 2011

With all of the amazing offerings within camp, it’s hard to believe that anyone would want to leave. But some of the greatest fun children have at summer camp is actually away from camp on one of the many out of camp trips that are arranged throughout the summer. Some are small, an evening or afternoon, while others are overnight camping or hiking expeditions. For many campers, the culmination of their camp experience each year is the multi-day trips that take place toward the end of the summer. Regardless whether it’s one night or many, some of the unforgettable summer camp memories made away from camp include…

Day/Evening Trips
From evenings spent eating hot dogs while cheering on the local pro or semi pro sports team at the ballpark to friendly competition on the bowling lanes, lacing up the skates at a local rink or catching a movie at the cinema, campers enjoy a “night out” a few times during the summer. . Sometimes instead of nights its days spent relaxing in inner tubes as they float lazily down a river, enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes from riding the water slides at a local waterpark, or braving the roller coasters of an amusement park. Enjoying some of the most breathtaking scenery in the northeast is always a pleasure on an out of camp hike or nature walk as well.

Overnight Trips
One of the best parts of camp is the overnight camping program….spending a night or two at a campsite in a tent with all of your camp friends! It’s no secret that campers love to camp! Tents, campfires, s’mores, hikes, canoes, and a night dedicated exclusively to spending time exclusively with other campers within their own age group are all reasons why overnight camping trips are some of the most eagerly anticipated out of camp trips.

Multi-Day Trips

Campers don’t merely look forward to these trips all summer, they look forward to them from the very first day they step foot into camp as second and third graders. As campers grow older, the trips get bigger, and each one is a rite of passage that campers anxiously await. Amusement parks, national parks, and major cities are just some of the places that campers visit on multi-day overnight trips. Sometimes they travel no further than a few hours from camp. Older campers venture across the country to places like California or even over international borders into Canada. Even with such exciting destinations, for many senior campers, it’s the journey with their camp friends and not the place that make multi-day out of camp trips the pinnacle of their camp experiences.
Whether it’s one day or several, some of the most exciting summer camp offerings aren’t in camp at all. But they’re still very special parts of camp because they’re shared with people who can only be found at camp—camp friends!

Acadia National Park, Carnival, Tournaments…Program Roars On!

July 15th, 2011

It was another exciting week at Laurel as the summer flies by! We’ve had tons of intercamps and tournaments, camping trips to Acadia National Park and various Maine State Parks, awesome evening programs, and lots of in-camp specials. On Tuesday evening, Senior Bec and Bago set out for their annual whitewater rafting trip down the Kennebec River and they can’t stop talking about how much fun it was! On Wednesday, our older campers got a chance to check out Funtown/Splashtown, Boothbay Harbor, and Freeport while Acadia and Apache had camp to themselves all afternoon to play Ga-Ga, Wacky Relays, and lots of other fun games. Thursday was our annual 5-Year-Club trip. Campers who have been at camp five or more years were treated to a special barbeque meal and then hit the town to catch a movie. They also received their 5-Year-Club shirt with their own personalized message on back. Program is in high gear this weekend and next week as we look forward to more instructionals, Carnival, the Dance Show, and this year’s Big Show, High School Musical. We can’t wait!

Great Weather…Great Fun

July 13th, 2011

We don’t know where the first two weeks went! It seems like we just got to camp. It was an amazing week. Yesterday we had Traditions Day. The Warren Williams Bago Sprint…Bec Swim…Sequoia Olympics…Polar Bear Plunge at 7:30AM and the traditional Council Fire. Today was program-galore….Camping trips, Climbing Competitions, Swim meets, Tennis tournaments, Intercamps, Golf, Ice-Hockey, Mountain Biking and more. The fun never stops. Rehearsals for High School Musical are in full swing. Gourmet Cooking is amazing. We need some rest…

Crazy Days and Whacky Nights

July 9th, 2011

Parents, do you ever log onto your computer to check out the camp photos for the day, see your child painted in blue from head to toe or maybe wearing a crazy wig and big nerdy glasses and wonder, ‘What in the world?’ The answer probably has something to do with your summer camp’s special events and evening activities. For fifty plus nights (and some days) summer camps entertain your children with some of the zaniest games and wackiest contests that they can come up with. Why? Because it’s fun to be painted in blue from head to toe…seriously. Or at least it is when your cabin is performing a dance to the Smurfs theme in front of the entire camp and you’re Papa Smurf—or Smurfette. And seeing images of your children and their counselors slipping, sliding, and splashing around in what appears to be multi-colored goo…it’s a camp thing…a really fun camp thing. Eye patches are always fun. So is spending a day pretending to be pirates and searching for buried treasure. Becoming a secret agent and collecting clues to decode a message or pretending to be wild animals is also a great way to spend that occasional non-program day. From trivia contests to talent contests and everything in between, some of the greatest moments of summer camp happen during the crazy days and wacky nights!

MT. VERNON AND CASCO – Home of the Laurel Camps

July 9th, 2011

If you know Camp Laurel or Laurel South, you’re familiar with Mount Vernon or Casco. You might think of them as way stations on your way to or from camp – but they’re much more than that.

Mount Vernon is a gem in the Kennebec River valley. The tiny beach next to the community center; the former church with Victorian stick-work; the 200-year-old gristmill; the brick general store selling everything you could possibly think of (from bait to pesto) – all make it worth more than drive-through on the way somewhere else.

Filled with artists, writers, educators, farmers and retirees, it’s got a quirky, eclectic but very real community feel. It’s also got plenty of history. Elizabeth Arden built a health spa here. Her guests included Eleanor Roosevelt, Judy Garland and Ava Gardner.

Mount Vernon has a “hippie sensibility” – really a spirit of independence and self-reliance – that dates back to the 1700s, Downeast Magazine has written. With only 1,500 residents – along with moose, deer and bald eagles — the town packs a lot into its hilltop meadows, wooded valleys, ponds and lakes.

If you have time for only one thing in Mount Vernon, head to the Olde Post Office Café. It’s the unofficial town center for breakfast or lunch. You won’t regret it.

Casco, in the Sebago Lakes Region, also dates its founding to the 1700s. It too was a mill town. In the 1840s, steamboats on Sebago Lake and the canals carried tourists and freight. The lake – since 1938, part of a state park – helps shape the town’s character, and provides plenty of recreational opportunities.

Point Sebago Resort offers many of the amenities of Laurel South (for those who are not of camp age), while the town itself – about the same size as Mount Vernon – has a variety of good restaurants. One of our favorite stops is Webbs Mills Variety just down the road from camp. It’s meatloaf sandwich is a favorite. And how about Crescent Lake? It is truly one of southern Maine’s most beautiful. There’s really nothing like it.

You also can’t leave Casco without a quick stop at Blacksmiths Winery for a sip on the famous Porch or in the Tasting Room.

Casco’s not far from Portland – providing a nice counterpart to city and ocean tourism for anyone heading back and forth from Laurel South.

So, join us at camp this summer for a visit…and get a taste of the local color in Mt Vernon or Casco.

Non-Stop Action in Readfield…

July 8th, 2011

What a week! After the incredible 4th of July fireworks on Monday, we jumped back into program with a bang. Tuesday was a big sports day with intercamps going on both here and away in baseball, softball, basketball, and soccer. We capped the day off with an action-packed Sports Night highlighted by some incredible goals at Sequoia Hockey. Wednesday was an Out-of-Camp S-Day with everyone heading out to see some of Maine’s greatest attractions. Acadia and Apache spent the day at Funtown/Splashtown going on rides and playing games. Baxter and Sequoia splashed around at Aquaboggin Water Park and the weather couldn’t have been any better! Bec and Bago hit the picturesque Maine seaside town of Boothbay Harbor and had a nice, relaxing day.

On Thursday, we brought in world famous Lacrosse star Paul Rabil who put on a clinic and showed off his world record 111 mile per hour shot for our campers and signed autographs.

The night was capped off by our annual Hypnotism show featuring Ronnie Rahm, who put some staff members through a hilarious exhibition. Time sure flies when you’re having this much fun!

Quest, Western Day and 4th of July!

July 5th, 2011

Camp is building up steam as we enter our second week of the summer! We’ve had a jam-packed last few days here at Laurel with The Quest on Friday, Western Day on Sunday, and the 4th of July on Monday. Western Day was a rootin-tootin good time with Gold Rush—a camp classic—and brand new in 2011, Laser Tag. We brought in obstacles, a fog machine, and the latest Laser Tag equipment and everyone had a blast!! Monday was July 4th and we had our annual Patriot Games and finished off the night with Maine’s greatest firework display, right over Echo Lake! What a way to celebrate America!!

Going Gaga for Ga-Ga

July 2nd, 2011

Something you might not know about summer camp: It breeds passionate athletes in many different sports, even ones that are little known outside of summer camp, such as ga-ga. Although it’s not well known in America (but becoming more so everyday!), hoards of campers dream all winter about getting back into the ga-ga pit. Many camps even have ga-ga tournaments! Camp challenge weeks even have ga-ga challenges. There is no doubt that campers are going gaga for ga-ga!

So what is this ga-ga? It’s a little like dodgeball in a circular enclosed space. Many camps feature ga-ga pits , but the game can be played virtually anywhere there are four walls or barriers. As in dodgeball, when players are hit with the ball, they are out. They may, however, use the walls of the ga-ga court to clear the ball. As players are struck by the ball, they are eliminated, and leave the pit. The last boy (or girl) standing wins. Two primary ways that ga-ga differs from dodgeball is that ga-ga strikes must be at or below the knees and players bounce rather than throw the ball. Also unlike dodgeball, players may either bounce the ball at other players or against the walls of the pit. Some camps have adopted rules of play unique to their campers’ style of ga-ga play, while others prefer to stick to the official rules…What? There are official rules? Yep. In fact, there is even an International Championship Tournament held annually in Europe. More than 30 countries , including the U.S., winner of multiple championship titles, participate.

No one quite knows how ga-ga originated or where it comes from, but rumor has it that the game gets its name from the sound the ball makes during the opening play. It’s bounced twice in the air and the players say “ga” on each bounce. On the third bounce, the ball is in play (some rules call for three bounces with the ball officially in play on the fourth bounce). So warm up your ga-ga hands and start stretching. We’ll see you in the pit!

First Week Wrap Up!

July 1st, 2011

The first week of camp is wrapping up and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the summer! All programs are up and running. From Lacrosse to Waterskiing to Dance to Fitness to Tennis to Metals and so much more…we’re doing it all. The weather has been fantastic, too! Wednesday night was our first Sports Night highlighted by some incredible touchdown catches and a game-winning interception in Bago Football. Last night was our all-camp Talent Show and we were blown away by how many talented campers and staff we had on stage. Today is the annual Quest, a 50-year-old Laurel tradition! We split the camp up into 16 teams and compete in various sports, relays, and cheer competitions for a chance to win a Chinese feast at Jem and Debbie’s house, Alliquippa. The Super Seniors are pumped for their first opportunity of the summer to show their skills as team leaders. Who will win?

The Fun Begins…

June 28th, 2011

The Campers are finally here! After 10 months of waiting, the 2011 season has started off with a bang! Everyone arrived safely on Saturday and was introduced to their counselors and cabinmates. Saturday night we had our opening campfire and heard some music and stories from some of our most talented staff members. On Sunday, we jumped right into regular program with campers all over the fields, tennis courts, inter-art buildings and Echo Lake. On Monday night, we had some super fun evening activities including Egg Drop for Acadia and Baxter, ACFL and SHL combines for Apache and Sequoia and Sports Night Drafts for Bec and Bago. We can tell by all the Laurel smiles around camp that this summer is starting off just right!