February Newsletter!

February Newsletter!

Newsflash – camp starts in 130 days (at least according to our website).  So it’s time to start to thinking about summer 2014 for real(ish)!  Without further delay, news from camp – go!

New Outdoor Pizza Oven

Our friend and WMI’s talented cook, Eduardo from Mexico, has more skills than just cooking.  He also builds outdoor pizza ovens – like this (dog not included!):

Dog Not Included!

Eduardo will be building something similar for us this spring to be placed behind the Dining Hall.  We will use it for outdoor cooking classes and for bunk nights for those who want to make their own pizzas (and then of course to eat those pizzas, which is the next logical step after making pizzas).

New Activities – Martial Arts, Woodworking and Piano Lessons

We have some great new staff members joining us this summer with some excellent skills that we haven’t had at camp recently.  This is good news for you, because among other interesting activities, now you will be able to learn martial arts, woodworking and piano (but not at the same time please).  Use these newly found powers for good and not evil.  “With great power, comes great responsibility.”  “Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Um, okay, that’s enough.

Video Lab

Under the warm and excellent guidance of seasoned television professional Paul Wagner (with assists from Kim Gorey and Josh Eilberg), our Video Lab program was a tremendous success last summer.  Campers and staff alike made funny, creative and entertaining videos.  For those of you who didn’t get to see them, you can click this link – https://www.windsormountain.org/you-tube/– and watch them from our website.  We look forward to seeing what you all can do in the summer 2014 in the Video Lab!

Crazy Ideas, Anyone?

We here at Windsor Mountain are always up for innovating with interesting, fun, unique, creative ideas for camp.  Our campers and their families are a great source of all of these things, so please pass along any crazy ideas you have for camp that you think might just end up being excellent.

Treehouse, please!

Okay, so my boyhood obsession with treehouses has not waned (nor has it abated).  In other words, I still really like treehouses.  I bet many of you do too.  I recently have been watching the show “Treehouse Masters” on Animal Planet, in which amazing treehouses are built at people’s homes and businesses.  How great would it be to live in a treehouse?  I think usually great, but then other times probably not so great.  Regardless, we need to make a fully functional treehouse happen at WMI.  If any of you out there have treehouse building skills (or know anyone at Animal Planet), bring them to camp this summer!  Please!

Outdoor Adventure Trip to Maine (July 19 – July 29) – $2,695

Windsor Mountain is running an outdoor adventure trip to Maine this summer.  It will begin at the end of Session 1 and run until July 29.  Here are some basic details:

This trip is designed for campers ages 11-15 and will take you to some of the most breathtaking natural scenery and wilderness in all New England.  The trip includes wilderness canoeing the Kennebago River in Rangeley, Maine, climbing two pristine mountains (Tumbledown and Bald Mountain), Ocean Kayaking from Stonington, Maine, White Water Rafting on the famous Kennebec River, indoor rock climbing, hiking the cliffs of Quoddy Head State Park,  and Ocean Sailing on the Olad, a 50-foot two-masted wooden schooner out of Camden, Maine.

Campers will rotate job responsibilities on a daily basis and contribute to the group effort.  The jobs include group captain, navigator, cook and cook helpers, log master and fire and water person. To enhance leadership skills, our experienced staff will lead group discussions in the evenings to assess how well we are functioning as a unit.  Campers will be taught skills in map reading, compass work and how to pack and plan each trip.

Please let us know soon if you are interested because space will be limited to 12-15 campers.  Hope to have you join us!

Global Routes Travel

For those of you feeling a bit more adventurous, our sister organization, Global Routes, runs international service and adventure trips to numerous locations around the world.  These trips are for finishing 7th-12th graders.   Join Global Routes this summer to make new friends, learn a new language, build a classroom, teach English, run a day camp, have life-changing experiences and explore the world!

This year’s destinations include Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, the Grenadines, Puerto Rico, India, Nepal, Thailand, South Africa and Swaziland.  To learn more, click here http://www.globalroutes.org/

Camp Volunteer Work Weekend – April 26 & 27

This spring, we will continue our annual tradition of inviting families up to camp to join us for a weekend of being with good people, having good cheer, eating good food and some hard-working fun!  We’ll be hauling downed branches and brush, raking (and probably jumping in) leaves, placing our log benches in our new outdoor amphitheater and anything else Bob tells us we need to do.  For those of you who prefer the indoors, we’ll have plenty of opportunities for organizing and cleaning in the office and HMO. Bring your chainsaw, rake, gloves, or just your helpful hands and desire to dig into spring. We hope we’ll have gorgeous weather but just in case, bring a change of work clothes and rain gear.

For those of you who plan to arrive on Friday evening, we’ll enjoy a great dinner together and spending time catching up and/or getting to know each other. On Saturday, a delicious New England breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m., and we’ll begin our work at 9:00 a.m. After a mid-day lunch-break, we will finish up between 4:00 and 5:00. Saturday evening we’ll gather together to cook, eat, sing songs, tell stories, play games, chat, and enjoy our time together. We’ll provide breakfast Sunday morning and will spend a little time finishing up before heading our separate ways.

If you are able to join us for a fun-filled weekend of “building stuff and hauling stuff,” please RSVP to [email protected] so that we can plan for your arrival. And please remember to bring your sleeping gear (pillows, sleeping bags, bottom sheets) and work clothes! It really is a great weekend, and if you’re lucky, you might even feel sore the next day! Good times.

FAMILY CAMP – AUGUST 20-24, 2014

Whether a seasoned Windsor Mountain camper or someone thinking about camp for the first time, family camp is incredibly fun! Stay in a bunk with your family and enjoy everything that camp has to offer – from the waterfront, ropes course, farm and garden, sports field and art fortress to off-camp adventures to Hidden Lake, Trout Pond, and Pitcher Mountain, there is something for everyone. Of course, we’ll have a full staff available to lead activities so you can join activities as a family or split up and try different things. No doubt we will have friendly matches of staff v. families Gatorball and Canoe Wars. To get more information about Family Camp, please go tohttps://www.windsormountain.org/new-families/family-camp/  We expect a good crowd again, so please don’t wait to enroll if you are interested in joining us.

Camp Forms

It’s almost time to start talking about everyone’s favorite topic…Camp Forms!  Woo hoo!  Who doesn’t love camp forms?  (please don’t answer that question – it was rhetorical).  For those of you who are new to Windsor Mountain, sometime in February every year, we make the camp forms on our website live and ready for completion.  The required forms are (1) Health; (2) Physician’s Exam; (3) Summer Questionnaire; (4) Transportation; and (5) Teacher Reference (new campers only).  The Health, Summer Questionnaire and Transportation forms are able to be submitted online.  All forms are due in April.  We will send to you an email later this month with more details about forms and to let you know when they are live.  Long live camp forms!