10 Coffee Mugs - Part III

 

Summer 2021

We're back!

Well, we're back at 50% capacity with a ton of mitigation policies including distancing between cabins and no indoor meals or All-Camp events, and routine testing (Rest'Test'n'Treat). But we're back!

However, all this caused us to invent new words like "Whatever Time", "Morning Meeting", the new "Choice Rec", and "Patio Dining".

Speaking of Patio Dining, we fortunately also debuted our brand-new refurbished flagstones, a wonderful upgraded area that has grown to be an iconic heart to Camp Central.

Each summer is built upon the previous summer, and for the first time since 1951 we didn't have a previous summer at 4-H Camp to build upon. The Staff of '21 answered the call and assembled last minute (we didn't know for sure we were running until April!) to endeavor to run Camp in a way that had quite simply never happened before.

The counselor staff was made up entirely first-year counselors, many of whom never got the opportunity to go through our Junior Counselor program or step foot on 4-H Camp previously (with the exception of one Nicol, who traveled several thousand miles the wrong direction to somehow make it to Camp). However, through sheer dedication to our mission of making camp happen for our campers and a boatload of ingenuity from our Senior Staff team, the program was resuscitated under some truly challenging circumstances. Our current summers are now built on the foundation of this summer, and all the Summer Staff of 2021 were able to accomplish. 

Oh, while we were at it, we went ahead and added an 18-day BIG Session in August. But more on that in '22.

Also, beloved Colmerg hand wipes became quite the thing. (You're not clean unless you're Colmerg clean.)

Summer 2022

Now we're really back!

Well, back with full cabins and a full camp roster for the first time since '19. As a reminder, at this point NONE of our counselors had worked with a full cabin and full camp before - AND we took all those freshly invented programs and adjustments from '21 and created a brand-new schedule. So we were back - back once again doing a ton of stuff we've never done before for the very first time.

Speaking of - THE BIG SESSION.  Probably the BIGGEST programmatic change in New Jersey 4-H Camp history was when we switched from a volunteer run county program to a fully staffed open enrollment camp. Probably the SECOND biggest change was the introduction of our Big Session. Campers have always wanted to stay at camp longer, and the Big Session allows for more new friendships, an even deeper sense of community, more time in the groove of the camp lifestyle, and truly making 4-H Camp a long term home-away-from-home.

Meanwhile, our Craftshop, one of the most beloved and creative areas of camp, got a FULL bring-back-from-the-brink renovation to make it an even more beloved and creative spot. 

Summer 2023

Okay, now we're actually seriously really for real really BACK!

We had third year counselors, we had second year counselors who had run a full camp last, we had first time counselors who had been through the Junior Counselor and CIT programs, our practice of stacking summer upon summer was back and for the first time since 2019 you could almost call it business as usual at 4-H Camp - or as usual as we get around here, anyway. Most sessions of the summer operated at full capacity, and in our THIRD Big Session we were starting to find a sense of tradition (while still finding plenty of space for invention) in our new program.

Speaking of new programs, we also expanded the New Jersey 4-H Camp program to 4-H Camp at Rutgers Gardens! A new day camp set in Rutgers beautiful botanic garden, it endeavors to capture 4-H all of our trademark goofy community building and simple-play-outside-make-new-friends-mentality in a day camp setting. (The concept is even loosely based on our virtual Camp, HAFHAH.) The first summer was a wonderful success, and we can't wait to do it again this year.

For renovations, we gave a very nice interior polish to our Nature Center, changed the Camp Store to Staff Store-age, got some more paddle boards, and most importantly of all...procured a Skee-ball machine.

Yes, this summer was SO recent...

We haven't even gotten around to hanging this on the wall yet.

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...And that brings us to right now!

Today!

Getting ready for Coffee Mug #11, Summer #74, and the most important number of all, Summer #1 for all of our first time campers - some of whom will join us in falling in love with this place, coming back summer after summer, and being IN the Staff Photos when we post the 20 Coffee Mugs retrospective.