Being a Camper for 8 Years and Staff for 3, Why I Keep Coming Back:
Written: Dec 23 '07 (Updated Dec 23 '07)
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Pros: Great camp experience, People from all over the world, Great friends
Cons: Only two months long
The Bottom Line: As a former camper and a present counselor, I can assure you that Surprise Lake Camp is a great experience for children.
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| doorstopman's Full Review: Surprise Lake Camp |
To all the disgruntled attendees of Surprise Lake Camp,
An Epinions user wrote a review bombarding SLC after only one year of being staff. I made a comment on this review and I thought I’d share it:
I have been a camper at Surprise Lake for 8 years and a staff member for 3. You may think that the campers aren’t having their needs met and saying that the senior staff is not fit for the job. But you have to realize that this camp isn't how you think it is. This camp was founded in 1902 for the sole purpose of providing inner city children from New York the chance to escape the urban setting for the summer. Most of these children were lower class and the camp brought them here FOR FREE. This tradition still exists where many of the children come on scholarship. SLC is known and is proud of being a rustic camp. We charge very little to come to camp in comparison to most other sleep away camps. Because of this, we’re not spending money hiring the best staff in the world but I think we did a pretty good job. If you think the children aren't having a good time then why year after year am I seeing the same exact smiling faces? I started off as a CA on main side and now I'm a counselor. I've seen these kids progress through the years and they always come back. They could easily tell their parents that they don’t like camp and they wouldn't be back. But, 70% of the kid that i see one year, I've seen in the past, and they all say how much they love camp. If you think that children aren't having a good time with the activities and the counselors, why are there waiting lists filled with kids wanting to come every year? Before you start making these accusations about the camp, maybe you should think a little about what you’re saying.
Now, onto my review.
Surprise Lake Camp is a Jewish Federation sleep-away camp located in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York. It is the oldest sleep-away camp in North America. Campers turned celebrities include Jerry Stiller, Gene Simmons, Eddie Cantor, and Larry King. This is also the same camp that both my mother and her brother attended as children. My sister and I both started attending the camp in the year 1999 and since then, we’ve become addicted. After eight years of being a camper, I am now a member of the staff. The friends that I made when I was 10 are the same friends that I work with today.
ABOUT THE CAMP
Surprise Lake Camp was founded in 1902 as a summer retreat for low-income inner city kids. The camp would bring kids in for free for a couple of weeks to get out of the city environment and the camp does the same thing today through donations and scholarships for some city kids. The camp became a Camp of America and a United Jewish Association camp in that the camp is sponsored and donations are made by members of these two organizations. The camp is a traditional style camp in that all the basic activities such as sports, swimming, hiking, etc. The camp is also a Jewish camp in that all the meals are kosher, on Friday nights and Saturday mornings there are fun and lively Shabbat services in the beautiful outdoor theatre, and there are Jewish activities dealing with the culture and history of Israel and Judaism. The camp is located in the town of Cold Spring, New York which is right in the Hudson valley. The camp surrounds an oval-like lake which was man-made for the camp a century ago.
I first heard about Surprise Lake from my mom who went there. She said she loved and that I should go. I’ve never been to a sleep-away camp so the idea of going away for such a long time was a little scary. Surprise Lake Camp is broken up into two sessions. Each session is two months. Children can decide between staying for one session, both sessions, or up to a certain age, staying for only two weeks. Even two weeks sounded like too much for me so my mom signed me up for the Get Your Feet Wet program. This program allows children up to 10 years of age to go to camp for one week. This program is offered after the normal two sessions are over so the camp is nice and quiet for the newcomers. Camp always asks their best counselors to come work the GYFW program to give campers the best experience they can have. During this weeklong program, kids do all the regular camp activities such as all types of sports, boating, swimming, arts and crafts, hiking, nature, etc. After me and my sister came home from the Get Your Feet Wet program, I knew I was in love with the camp and I asked my mom to sign me up for next year for a whole session.
The next year, I went to a regular session of camp. There are two sides of camp located on opposite sides of the lake, Mainside and Teenside. Mainside is offered to kids from ages 6 to 12 and the activities are more structured. Teenside is offered to kids 13-15 and the activities are a little more loosely structured. The kids are divided into units by age and each unit has 3 or 4 groups in them of 8-12 kids each. At all times, two counselors are present with each group and maybe even more if there is a lot of coverage. On Mainside before every meal, we have roundup. Roundup is where we all gather on this one meeting spot and sign camp songs for about ten minutes. This is used so that all the groups on Mainside are present before we eat. When we walk into the dining room, there are long tables throughout the entire room and every group has their own table. Everyone sits down and the senior staff, which includes Unit Supervisors and the Mainside Director, gets up and quiets everyone down. Once everyone is quiet, we say a quick prayer in song form to bless the food in front of us and then we can eat. The meals usually consist of normal camp food like chicken fingers, pasta, pizza, etc. For every meal there is a vegetarian option which is available in the front of the room. Also, there is a salad bar in the center of the room and a peanut butter and jelly table on the opposite side of the room. SLC realizes that kids can be picky eaters so they try to accommodate. During the meal, there are cheers going around the room from unit to unit. Once everyone is done, everyone starts cleaning up. Cleanup is a group effort and everyone helps stack up the dishes, and bring them up to the front. Once the meal is all cleaned up, the room is quieted again and a closing prayer is sung.
The kids swim in the lake. There is a big wooden crib on both sides of camp, divided into shallow and deep zones. On the first or second day of camp, all the children are required to take a deep water test, which includes swimming back and forth from one end of the crib to another, and treading water for 10 seconds. A lifeguard is present for each of the children’s tests and they decide what level swimmer they are. Camp tries to make it so that the campers have the choice of going in the water at least once a day, especially during the really hot weeks. They do this by either having general swim or instructional swim on each day. Instructional swim usually runs during the morning periods and units have it 2-3 times a week. During I.S., campers are broken up into their swimming groups based on how they did on the deep water test. Each group has a lifeguard with them that is teaching them different strokes and playing games with them. General swim is a bit different in that its coed and the children are able to swim freely. If the campers want to go in the water, they get a buddy and sign into either the shallow or deep area. Once a buddy call has been done, the kids are free to swim but they have to stay with their buddy. Lifeguards and counselors patrol the docks making sure everyone is safe.
On Friday nights, Shabbat services are held in the Eddie Cantor Theatre, an outdoor theatre in the middle of camp overlooking the lake. All in attendance are required to wear a white shirt. The camp realizes that some kids wouldn’t want to sit through services so we try to make them fun. All of the songs are accompanied by guitar and tambourine and counselors put on skits for the campers. After services is Shabbat dinner which is known by the campers to be the best dinner in camp, consisting of chicken soup, challah bread, and roasted chicken. The next day, Shabbat, is a very laid back day. Campers get to wake up 45 minutes late and breakfast is served then. After breakfast, Shabbat services are again held at the Eddie Cantor Theatre. After services is Shabbat Walk. Shabbat Walk allows campers free roam of camp to play sports, swim, meet up with friends and siblings, etc. Staff members are posted throughout camp to make sure everyone is safe and after 1-2 hours of Shabbat Walk, campers round up again for lunch.
Every night after dinner there is an evening activity which can range from unit capture the flag to a social with the brother or sister unit. Once a session there is a trip where the unit and their brother or sister unit go to an amusement park, water park, etc. Also there is a mystery bus trip once a session. The staff gives the campers clues as to what it could be and in the end, all the campers enjoy the trip which is usually a trip to the movies, bowling, or ice skating. Also once a month, every unit goes on an overnight. A Teva (which is Hebrew for nature) specialist takes the unit on a hike up to an outpost. Campers bring sleeping bags and flashlights. Once the group reaches the camping site, which can either be in the forest or on the top of a mountain looking over the Hudson River, the campers set up where they will be sleeping, and start collecting wood for a fire. The counselors make and patrol the fire and once it is hot enough, the counselors start cooking. Hamburgers and hotdogs are usually the food of choice on the overnight trips and veggieburgers are available on request. Once all the campers have eaten, the Teva specialist
Each session there is a visiting day where parents come and visit their children. The day is filled with fun activities such as boating, swimming, and the Mainside Music Show where all the units prepare a song and sing it for the parents. Parents usually bring food and eat it picnic style while sitting on the lake side but hamburgers and hotdogs are available as well. At the end of the day when the parents leave, the campers are usually sad so a fun evening activity such as a concert is provided.
One thing that I really like about the camp is the diversity in it. SLC is a Camp America camp which means that people from all over the world including, England, Israel, Australia, China, Russia, and many more countries, come to camp either to work as a staff member or to come as a camper. There are many campers from England and Israel and it gives American children who have never experienced such diversity, the chance to live and become friends with people from all over the world.
Being a staff member is a much different experience. You can be staff when you reach 16 years of age. The first year staff members are mostly aides such as office aides, health center aides, and counselor aides. The pay the first year is pretty low but that is because you have to build as a staff member over the years. Now I am a full counselor and I cannot be any happier. As a staff member, you have more privileges. You get one day off a week and depending on what your job is, usually from 2-4 hours off a day. When you are off, you are free to do as you please which includes leaving camp and going to a movie or dinner or whatever you please. The administrative staff members are always there for anything that you need and are extremely helpful in my opinion.
Overall, I really enjoyed my years at Surprise Lake Camp as a camper because the friends that I made there were some of the best friends I’ve had. Now that I am a staff member, those same friends that I bunked with 8 years ago are the same friends that I work with. I think it is incredible how people can say after working for a year at SLC that it is a terrible camp. Obviously they are not educated enough in why the camp is the way it is. Surprise Lake Camp is a rustic camp that gives kids the chance to have fun and make new friends and the kids achieve both of those every year and keep coming back every summer for more.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2300
Type of Camp: Religious
Best Suited For: 13 to 17 years
Camper to Counselor Ratio: Wall-to-wall counselors
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Epinions.com ID:
doorstopman
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Member: Zach Jacobs
Location: Centerport, New York
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
SU Architecture 2012
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