Life At Camp

you may get a better at camp or head home "This Is The Life"

Week 1
This week is mostly about getting acquainted with cabin mates. Although campers all need to take a swim test to show ability. There are five swimming tags show ability:

Life at camp swimer "Swim Test"

-Red: Cannot Swim - Can only take out rowboat on the lake.
-White: Can swim but still needs lessons - Can only take rowboat on the lake.
-Yellow: Almost a perfect swimmer - Can take Canoe or Kyak (Must pass test) out on lake.
-Green: Good Swimmer - Can take every boat (including JY sailboat) out on lake, they must pass kayaking test.
-Purple: Can swim to 440 rocks, in Rudd Pond and back, can take out every boat.

Week 2
This is really the beginning of camp, you start your activities, and your cabin teamwork builds.(There is non-religious chapel every week that include morals, values, and readings).

Week 3
Dads Weekend is when the campers' dads (or in Chimney moms) come to camp to spend a weekend with their sons. This is a great experience for moms and dads who share a tent and activities with their sons. This is the highlight of the session for many kids.

Week 4
The End of camp there is the Big Show (a play), Candelight (a ceremony reflecting on camp where every camper is given a candle) and there is final banquet, the last dinner of camp where a specialty meal is always served.

Camp Becket - Chimney Corners Camp

Camp beckett ma "Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA"

Camp Becket, also known as Camp Becket-in-the-Berkshires, summer camp for boys in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, run by the YMCA. It was founded in 1903 by George Hannum on Rudd Pond in Becket, Massachusetts. It is the oldest continually running summer camp in the United States. The camp is a single-sex environment for boys to concentrate on traditional values while building a sense of teamwork. The camp still teaches many of the values, such as building individual character by achieving goals in the context of a group setting, that were espoused by its second director Henry Gibson (tenure 1904-1927).

The camp is divided into 4 units called villages, listed here from youngest to oldest: Iroquois (cabins named after the Native American tribes of the Iroquois Nation, with the exception of Algonquin and Erie), Pioneer (cabins named after famous explorers), Frontier (cabins named after U.S. Forts) and Ranger (cabins named after U.S. National Parks). Within each village are 8 to 10 cabins. Each cabin consists of eight boys (all close in age), an assistant counselor, and a counselor.

In addition to a focus on group activities and team-building within the cabin group, campers have the opportunity to engage in numerous individual activities, ranging from sports to arts and crafts, boating, and nature activities. There are many opportunities to get involved in the Becket community during the all seasons, including fall and spring, by going to a work weekend. During these work weekends, alumni, staff, and kids participate in work activities, such as wood chip spreading or fixing a roof. There is also an Alumni weekend, a chance for alums to reconnect, and for father and son or mother and daughter to hike around the grounds. All of these events are hosted at Chimney Corners Camp (mentioned below) because of their heated, and insulated cabins.

Camp beckett ma "Environmental Education"