LOCALadk Magazine

Now, I fast-forward to my next role in the counselor hunt: the hunted. Yes indeed, after eight summers as a camper, I trained and became a camp counselor. The counselor hunt remained my favorite evening program. If you found that sweet hiding spot among the ferns and felled trees, just on the verge of bounds, and went undetected, you were privy to interesting camper dynamics. I heard great debates of strategy from the cabin groups (one particularly animated one when one in the party mistook my shin for a log) and gossip from the campers who chose to bring up the rear, resigning any hope of a high score to the die-hard strategists. It was because of these privledged glimpses into the child psyche that I, and several of my co-counselors, decided that working with children would be our lifelong path. We committed ourselves to the goal of having a positive impact on children's lives. I am flooded with memories as I write about my favorite place on earth, which I have always considered home. When I was a child I would, quite frankly, muddle through the school year just to get back up to the Adirondacks. To this day, camp songs run through my head and always bring a huge smile to my face. The music also gets me excited because, as it turns out, I'll be heading back up in just a few months, with the Village Head that I married 13 years ago on the very waterfront I gazed upon when I woke up from that nap so many years ago. We'll ditch Rochester for ten weeks and, with our own two children, spend the summer with a different generation of kids on a beautiful lake just across the road from Darts. We believe that our love of Camp Gorham is rooted in our history, but we love all of the Adirondack Mountains, the Big Moose area especially. It is an investment - to provide ourselves and our children w i t h the sensational gifts of fresh air and the adventures that lie just out that screen door. - Maggie T here are many summer camps throughout the Adirondacks and they each have their own unique settings and offerings. Each camp offers kids the opportunity to grow, explore, learn, make friends, try new challenges and love the outdoors. YMCA Camp Gorham, owned and operated by the YMCA of Greater Rochester, will be celebrating its 53rd year as a premier sleep-away camp this summer. Camp Gorham offers a wonderful Adirondack experience, set on 1500 acres with a private lake. The programming centers around campers unplugging and connecting in the great outdoors. Programs include waterskiing, horseback riding, mountain biking, athletics, hiking, sailing, paddle boarding and kayaking. A highlight of the two-week program is an overnight experience where staff take the kids to an on-site campsite where they swim, cook their own food, sing around a campfire, and make bonds that last a lifetime. They proudly serve 1000 youth every summer and credit their excellent staff who work tirelessly to make sure each child has an exceptional experience. www.campgorham.org Thank you to Executive Director Anne Thornton for providing this information as well as the featured photos. Summer 2014 9 LOCALadk S U S T A I N A B L E L A N D S C A P E S earthrootslandscaping.com Lake Placid, NY 518.946.7759 photo ©Michele Buck

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