Camp Brings the Energy

Paige Lester-Niles, Camp Director

Camp is special. It’s a place like few others where we can all suspend disbelief for a while and know that whatever we dream or believe is possible. At camp, you can’t be “too cool for school,” because it’s CAMP, and, at camp, what’s cool doesn’t even matter (unless we’re talking about the number of Dolly’s Ice Cream stickers that are on your trunk). Camp is a magical little community that has been very intentionally created to allow children to be safe and encouraged to explore the world around them, communicate honestly with each other, dress up in wacky clothes and create their own fun! We don’t hear too many kids say “I’m bored” at camp.

In a world where we celebrate hump days and “FriYays”, where we slam the laptop shut or zip the bookbag tight for the weekend, and where we dream of being able to break out of the ordinary at work or school and do a crazy dance or skit (maybe without the flippers), camp is the antidote. Camp, and our campers and staff, bring the energy that ignites the playful, accepting, fun-loving flame in all of us. And goodness am I lucky to be part of it!

If you are an Eagle’s Nest alum or friend and need a little dose of the camp energy, please contact us! We’d love to have you stop by campus to say hello and see what’s new, and what’s the same (Quad rocks, the smell of the pine trees, the Old Lodge). If you know of someone who would benefit from coming to camp or doing a Hante, please direct them to our website and the new videos we created this summer (and watch them yourself; they’ll make you smile). Finally, if you know of any folks who would be interested in igniting those flames as counselors this summer, please let me know or pass my email on to them (paige@enf.org).