Alford Lake Camp

    The week past has been one of tremendous activity and achievement.  The camp hummed with comings and goings – projects being completed and new challenges taken on.  Older campers took over in leadership, filling the spaces that were left when the Jr. CTs headed out for their five-day canoe trip.  It was great to see camper leaders and friends lead songs, fill in when a counselor was on time off and just generally help in every way.  The Guide Crew waited on tables in the Dining Room and the camp prepared for the final events of the Session I while looking ahead to the arrival of Session II. 

     Upon the return of the CTs we learned that their trip was awesome, that an unexpected hole in a canoe was not ideal for paddling and that all problems are not really problems but are opportunities to figure solutions. 

    And that they did! “We had a blast and we saw a huge big antlered moose.”   “When we returned we cleaned up our entire trip in half an hour!”  Their leaders tell of the CT APGI program.  It stands for Achieving Personal Goals Individually. 

    And when an individual CT stands alone before the entire camp community at Logs and reads her own personal “Belief Statement” – we are awed.  Sunday evening Sydney S. read her statement:  “I believe in seeing beauty in all things….What truly opened my eyes to a deeper beauty was my AMT XXXIII trip last summer.  We would hike in our straight line, talking, singing or telling riddles.  But we would [also] have our days where we would be silent for miles.  It was truly beautiful to loose consciousness with your eyes still open.  You’re in a group of people, yet you’re completely alone in your own mind…  Every time we climbed, every time we peaked, yes the view was gorgeous, but the beauty was in the fact that we had ascended that mountain together.  The beauty was in what we accomplished every day and in every mile that we trekked.  The beauty was what we were and are capable of… Beauty is buried in a smile, a hug and eye contact….in emotions, second chances and butterflies in your stomach… Every person is a snowflake: never like another…This I believe.”

    As the Session II campers arrived on Sunday afternoon, there was high excitement. And when the entire camper group  was singing with Mrs. M before dinner – we knew that the 2008 camp family was now complete!      

                Love to you back home!     Jean, Sue, Betsy

We cannot believe that this week marks the middle of our summer – when Session I campers leave on Friday and Session II campers arrive on Sunday.  In the meantime, the lucky Full Session campers get to continue right on with their challenging program.  We have noted, anecdotally, that those campers who stay through the seven weeks get perhaps twice as much good out of camp as those who may stay only half a season.  But then, why would they not?  The initial adjustments are over, the friends are solidified and counselors are focused upon taking campers as far as they can in activities over the camp season.   Yet we can proudly say that any camper in camp – whether half or full season – returns home with greater independence, increased leadership qualities and social skills that allow them to make and keep friends more easily.  Campers become more adventurous and willing to try new things and their environmental awareness is greatly heightened.  As for as adapting positive values and practicing decision-making – there are tremendous opportunities in camp.  We believe that you will note your camper has become more secure in her own positive identity.  For of all the educational experiences that we know, having an extended experience in a fine resident camp is one of the most valuable gifts we can give to our children.

What will you, as parents, notice about your returning camper?  Does she take shorter showers in order to conserve precious water?  Is she more patient with her siblings and does she wait her turn more easily?  Does she show more interest in the natural world around her and has she a more secure presence in meeting and greeting new people?  Can she laugh more easily?  Sing more often? Try new foods?  Thank you sincerely?  Does she have less fear about tackling the unknown?  And can she enjoy helping the other fellow through an increased exposure to community service?   We see these things – and hundreds more – in your daughters here in camp.  We hope you will share your observations with us. 

The Full Session Campers are focused upon the last half of the camp season ahead of them.  They are looking forward to welcoming the Session II campers into this wonderful camp.  New and old friends will come together to make it the most productive and the most fun time together.

Can you tell that we have a tremendous pride in the campers here at Alford Lake Camp?  You better believe it! Warmly, Jean, Sue & Betsy

A snip-it from Mrs. M’s 4th Newsletter!

The morning of July 4th arrived with an Alford Lake Camp bang!   Junior Counselor Trainees (Jr. C.Ts) were trooping through camp banging on pans and making a huge racket.  Campers poured out of their tents in their pajamas – squealing with delight.  “Alice In Wonderland” was the theme of the giant party that encompassed the entire day – entirely planned and run by the CTs.  And what a day it was!  There were cardboard cut out flowers and toadstools “planted” on the hillside, banners flying and each CT dressed as an Alice in Wonderland character.  The day was a rainbow of eight different teams (such as Mad Hatter, Pink Flamingos, Red Hearts and White Rabbits) dressed in their own color.  Doughnuts were consumed for breakfast and suddenly the male staff appeared – all dressed in the most fetching dresses and hats. (You would have to have been there!)  Campers competed in Down The Rabbit Hole, Slip and Slide, Croquet with the Queen, Off With Her Head, The Tweedle’s Obstacle Course, Painting The Roses Red and, You Must Have a Cup of Tea!  The Bungalow staff (senior camp leaders) appeared as burlap-dressed tea bags (A Bunch of Old Bags – Tea, Of Course) and whooped around a tea-box trailer.  Pies were thrown at a ducking Alice whose head appeared in a hole in a board; musical chairs were played on the lawn that later had a perfect circle worn down in the grass; faces were painted with lovely colors; campers raced at the waterfront for floating objects; and there were games of giant croquet played with beach balls batted through wickets made of swim “noodles.”  After a picnic lunch of subs and ginger ale (gasp!) – there were mighty tugs of war between different teams and groups.  A huge cheer went up when the entire kitchen staff, including the chef, pulled the Bungalow leaders across the finish line.  The CTs are 16 in all and it was significant to realize that their combined number of ALC years is exactly 100 summers.  So pros that they are, they realized that it was time to gear down and the campers enjoyed a free swim and a movie of Alice In Wonderland. And, as if in celebration, our new assistant chef, Susan Boivin, treated us to a dinner feast of mini hamburgers, hot dogs, quiches and ice cream sundaes. We donned our ‘evening clothes’ and headed down to campfire.  Songs, skits and stories later…there came through the darkness out on the lake, twelve torches held high by skilled swimmers.   As this special brand of ALC fireworks died away and an echo taps sounded on two bugles – we were certainly glad for America’s Independence day…and a merry Un-birthday Party!

We’ve had some unusually hot days so Wednesday’s Beach Day was particularly welcome!  This week most of the camp dunked or swam in the deliciously cold ocean.  To build sand castles, lie out on warm rocks and explore tide pools was a perfect Maine day for the whole camp group! 
           Bye for now!                 Jean, Sue, Betsy

When I visited my daughter Amelia at camp last Sunday, a member of the staff came up and introduced herself to me. She said, “I kept  getting these emails from a Melissa at ALC, and I was like, WHO IS THIS LADY, ANYWAY???”

I thought it was such a great reminder that many of you don’t know who I am! Sue and I I thought that you might like to learn a bit about me so, here we go!

First and foremost, I am the VERY PROUD mother of two beautiful children, Amelia (8 – pictured here with me while we visited her at ALC this past Sunday), and Ben (6). We live in Portland, Maine, and have three Jack Russell Terriers, Lucky, Lucy and Bandit.

I began working with ALC almost two years ago, hired to help get the website off and running. Two years later, we continue to develop our website, but work to integrate the values and community of ALC into the 21st Century! It is my job to manage our blog, update the site, and our latest adventure into myCampMinder, providing a safe, secure way for us to share your child’s summer experience with you.

I see my role as a facilitator of all great ideas we have to tell people about camp. I know that most of you reading this already know how amazing the overnight camp experience can be for our children (or for ourselves!). We want to share this enthusiasm with EVERYONE, while continuing to create a nurturing place for us to stay connected all year long! If you have comments on how things are developing here at camp, I’d love for you to leave them here, or you can email me. Your input is so valuable to all of us!

So there you go – that is me! I hope you feel like when you get an email from me now, you’ll at least know who this lady is!!!!!
Sincerely,
Melissa Murphy

More from Mrs. M’s Newsletter - 

Wow – the first week zoomed by fast!!

Campers were choosing their activities that continued – rain or shine- throughout each day.

Campers are divided into living groups from the youngest to the oldest: Rangers, Explorers, Blazers, Guides.  Then comes the group who will be entering (or rising) 11th graders – the Jr. C.Ts, then Sr.C.Ts (“rising” 12th graders.)  Campers may experience a half session of 3½ weeks or a full session of 7 weeks.  As the Guides (teens) return to camp, they generally choose the full session in order to better qualify for some of the extended trips that are offered in their older Guide years.  Depending upon their camp and social skills, and upon their general camper citizenship, the Directors invite these lucky Guides to experience such as the Appalachian Trail Trip, the Mexico trip, the Abroad Trip and the Nova Scotia Trip. Thirty-two extended trippers who are rising 10th graders are representing ALC on these trips this summer.  And we can even accommodate boys on three of the extended trips…usually brothers of ALC campers. We are enormously proud of these campers and many of them will no doubt will be candidates to become Jr. C.Ts next summer.  There is a wonderful tradition in ALC to ‘grow’ many of our own counselors!

Word from ALC Abroad 
is that they love Ireland and Karen and John Black’s farm! Abroad campers are doing 10 days of Community Service while staying on the Black farm.  That trip will travel in Wales, Scotland and England over the 7 weeks of the trip.

Don’t you wish you could spend a summer camping at Alford Lake Camp? 

                             Jean, Sue and Betsy

We are so happy to share these bits with you. If you are an enrolled 2008 Family and have not used our myCampMinder system yet, please email Melissa for instructions as to how to do this. It featured the newsletter in full with photo. If you are an alum, hang on! We are developing this system to include you, so that you may enjoy watching the continued growth of ALC!