The Saltash Mountain Camp 50th anniversary party has begun! Forty-nine of our Questers and SAM campers have arrived and we’re so excited to have them. We’ve been working pretty hard to get ourselves prepared for today. So it was wonderful to see the campers come in ready to play, laugh and sing! After an amazing meal by Sam Arfer, our head cook, of spaghetti and spinach salad, we piled into the lodge for a round of singing and skits. Skits are an great part of SAM and, early on, we are using them to orient campers to our bell system, using the kybos (human waste composting toilets), and, of course, on the importance of remembering your flashlight when you come up for evening activities.
Our campers’ first-night cabin discussions revolve around how to take care of personal needs and discussing what kind of communities they would like to have in their cabins. This is awesome and feels very much like making the rules for the “club”. SAM is a place where everyone’s voice matters and we trust that the campers are going to come up with an amazing list of what will make their community great!
The next five days are looking like perfect camping weather, 80’s and sunny, so we’re excited to be packing up tomorrow to take off for our first trips. Campers will be learning, refreshing and teaching skills of trip preparation. They’ll also learn menu planning, food packing, lighting stoves, setting up tents, recovering from a tipped canoe, and other skills, to name a few. On Friday, each camper will be hiking or canoeing out of camp to spend some additional time getting to know their cabin mates. All five cabins will depart Friday morning spending two nights out and will be returning Sunday afternoon.
We are again incredibly grateful to spend this time in the beautiful Vermont forest with your camper!
More to come!
Jeff Bounds, SAM and Questers Director