Canoes, Campfires, and Friendship Bracelets

Recently, some friends and I were sharing memories of our childhood summer camp experiences. Even after many years, we could still recall the songs we sang, the crafts we made, and other camp memories. Time at a summer camp is something that many of us share and still remember fondly. You might say that it is a quintessential part of many American childhoods.

I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Beginning with 7^th grade in the 1970s, I went to a sleep-away camp at 4-H Camp Shehaqua in Hickory Run State Park. I loved it so much that by the time I was in high school, I was returning as a camp counselor. I’m delighted to learn that the camp is still there and welcoming campers!

When my daughters were old enough, we offered them the chance to attend overnight summer camps. They went to YMCA Camp of the Pines in the South Jersey Pinelands, where they got to swim, canoe, make crafts, do high ropes courses, put on plays, roast marshmallows around campfires, and many other fun things.

Sometimes, we make life-long friends at camp. At the very least, we get time away from our family, exposure to nature and the outdoors, and probably do some things that we’ve never tried before. Of course, summer camp comes with its share of problems such as homesickness, bug bites, poison ivy rashes, and general pre-teen or teen angst and drama.

The history of children’s summer camps in the United States dates to the turn of the 20^th century, according to Leslie Paris, history professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. “From the outset, these camps were not designed to be wild rumpuses in nature; rather, they were ‘carefully controlled adventures,’ that were managed by adults”, Paris says. And as children of all backgrounds, particularly immigrant children, began to attend summer camp, they became “perceived to be spaces where children could be Americanized, could be taught American values.” It wasn't all about ideology, though. By design, Paris says, “camp became a place where children could spend an extended period of time — often for the very first time — away from their parents, away from the responsibilities of factory and farm jobs, to finally experience childhood.” (https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/nx-s1-5863153/camp-word-history-military

These MCLS books and movies can help us connect with summer camp memories.

Do-over!: In Which a Forty-Eight-Year-OldFather of Three Returns to Kindergarten, Summer Camp, the Prom, and Other Embarrassments by Robin Hemley. 

“Robin Hemley's childhood made a wedgie of his memory, leaving him sore and embarrassed for over forty years. He was the most pitiful kindergartner, the least spirited summer camper, and dateless for prom. If only he could do them all over a few decades later, with an adult's wisdom, perspective, and giant-like height.”

 

Until Next Summer by Ali Brady.

"Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves ‘once a camp person, always a camp person.’"

 

Happy Campers: 9 SummerCamp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults by Audrey Monke.

"Written by a camp owner and mother of five with a master’s in psychology, Happy Campers shares nine proven summer camp secrets parents can use at home to foster family connection and raise kids who are confident and capable and who become thriving adults."

That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey.

"Turns out you're never too old for a summer camp romance. Or a change of heart. When a divorced woman attends a sleepaway camp for adults only, she reconnects with a man from her past--only to catch feelings for his sister instead.”

 

Pioneer Summer by Elena Malisova and Katerina Silʹvanova.

"The year is 1986, and Yurka Konev, 16, has been sent off for another summer at Pioneer Camp. Impulsive, forthright, and unfairly branded as a troublemaker, he anticipates the weeks ahead of him with boredom and dread. But when he's pushed into working on the camp's theater production, he meets serious, thoughtful troop leader Volodya.”

 

 

One Last Summer by Kate Spencer. "Clara Millen's life is spiraling out of control: her dream job is a nightmare, she's resoundingly single, and it's been years since she's taken some time off. Thankfully, the last problem she can fix - this year she'll join her friends on their annual summer vacation to their beloved childhood sleepover camp for a much-needed escape.”

 

 

  

Meatballs 

Bill Murray plays Tripper, the wisecracking, rule-bending head counselor at Camp North Star. Whether playing pranks on Camp North Star's clueless director, wooing a female counselor, or scheming against the rich brats of a rival camp, Tripper delivers fun and mayhem in a laugh-filled summer his campers will remember forever!

 

 

Summer camp is also a very popular setting for horror books and movies (Jason, anyone?) Here are just a few if you want to get your summer scare on!

The Woods by Harlan Coben. 

Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again.

 

Friday the 13th (And the many sequels!)

A carload of teenagers head for a weekend of fun at a lakeside cabin. Meanwhile, Clay and Jenna pursue a lead in the search for his missing sister, against the advice of police and cautions from the locals. The lakeside cabin happens to be part of the boarded-up Camp Crystal Lake. There, they soon encounter Jason Voorhees and all of his deadly intentions.

 

Hell of a Summer

Camp counselor Jason arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his co-workers. What he doesn't know is that a masked killer is on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one.

 

 

The Summer Fun Massacre by Crain DiLouie

A massacre at a summer camp is eerily similar to one nine years prior, leading a local deputy down a dangerous path towards unmasking the killer once and for all"-- Provided by publisher. SUMMER 1983. A blood-soaked summer camp counselor is found staggering down a country road. The sole survivor of a horrific massacre, Mary tells a nightmare of a masked maniac wielding an old skinning knife.

 

 

Do you have a favorite memory from your time at summer camp?

Sharon S.

Ewing Branch