The electives will be available for your review in advance of the camp season again this year. They should be posted to the website by March 15. We will not have you sign up for them as part of the registration process, but it would be good for you to discuss the electives with your child and help them choose their activities before camp. Thank you for all of your feedback regarding how electives were operated last summer. My observations, coupled with your responses, have brought about a few more tweaks to the elective programming. This year, most of the electives will correspond with the theme for the week to encourage interdisciplinary learning. We will offer a sport, an arts & crafts, and another nature or outdoor activity each day. Nicole Blais has worked with Camp Woodhaven for the past six years v p and will be our new Assistant Director of i s m o Electives. We understand that this is an r a p la c e t sc a p e f important area to our campers! o e
The 2008 summer season was the rainiest summer I can remember since we started day camp at Camp Woodhaven. We had a record of four Overday picnics in the Dining Hall. The kids were great and enthusiastically ate the boiled hotdogs and the oven baked s’mores. We did miss our camp fires, but they still sang their hearts out. One thing became clear during those long rainy days. The camp is in need of a new building that is capable of housing the entire camp for rainy day activities, dismissal and for other large group gatherings. The camp has grown by 20% every year. It is our vision to construct a multipurpose facility with a large meeting room, classrooms, and restrooms. This building may also bring opportunities for year round programming. Please pray for the staff as we make decisions regarding raising funds for this project and developing the site plans.
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Camp Fees will Stay the Same Many of you may be concerned that the camper rates will increase this year. With the economy as it is, we will not be raising any of the camp, extended day, or bus fees; even though, the bus rates have increased considerably and payroll has gone up due to minimum wage hikes last year. The only rate that will change is the price of our lunch tickets. Our lunch tickets will increase by $1 per ticket. Food prices have gone up quite a bit over the past three years, and our lunches are not subsidized by the government. This is an optional service, so feel free to pack your child’s lunch every day. We will continue to work at controlling costs in order to keep your camp fees manageable.
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Please stop by for a visit during our Open House on Saturday, April 25, from 10 am to 2 pm. Come in and meet the staff, walk the grounds, and enjoy a scavenger hunt and popcorn. We will be there to help with questions you or your camper might have. If you are a returning camper family, you are invited, too. You'll be greeted by a lot of familiar smiles, and we would love to see you. Remember, the Open House takes place a few days before the May 1st early bird discount. You may bring your applications with you to the Open House and make your final payment in order to take advantage of the discount.
Updates to Plant and Facilities Everyone has been enjoying the newly renovated restrooms that opened three weeks into the summer last year. This year, we have some new surprises. Underwater Pool Masters of West Boylston installed a brand new $20,000 liner in our swimming pool. It is gorgeous! P.D. (Paula’s Dad) built a new entrance into the pool deck area. We now have a handicap ramp and new stairs with railings. P.D. also built two lifeguard chairs. The pool area looks great and ready for fun!
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Thank You Scholarship Donors for Giving Camp to 50 Families
In this economy, there will be a greater need for scholarship funds. Please consider giving again this year. Even small contributions add up. We encourage families applying for the scholarship to contribute as much as they can financially toward their camp fees. In many cases, families just need a little help to cover their camp expenses. This really makes your donations go further. Together, we can work to give as many children as possible the life changing camp experience!
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P. O. Box 777 West Boylston, MA 01583 508-835-9883 info@campwoodhaven.com www.campwoodhaven.com
These are important qualities to the making of a successful person! This inventory of traits looks like a laundry list of leadership qualifications. It is no wonder that people with camp experience are often hired first. These skills are not guaranteed to come with a university education, but come with lots of hands on practice. I believe these essential elements culminate into one thing: PASSION. Just observe our Leaders in Training participants, many of whom have grown up at camp. You will find passion in their midst, and it is contagious! My husband, mp George, says this about passion, “Passion leads to Vision and Vision leads to Destiny.” What is the value of camp you ask? It is PRICELESS!! We can’t wait to see you! Sincerely, George and Paula DeTellis, Executive Director & Camp Director *To read my complete article on “The Value of Camp,” see our camp blog at http://campwoodhaven.blogspot.com.
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Many parents have come to me and said, “I just love camp. My kids come home exhausted and go right to bed after their dinner and shower.” Together, we have had a good laugh at the video footage and pictures they have shown me of angelic, snoring children. Is there more to camp than good exercise? What is the intrinsic value of the camp experience for your child? Let me share with you a few key life skills I see developed in campers every year. Campers learn to be: · Community minded · Teamwork centric · Comfortable with crossing cultures · Good listeners · Service oriented · Socially adept · Communicators · Environmentally aware · Resourceful · Confident · Skilled presenters · Faith filled Your children will become people of excellent character!
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To see thank you notes from scholarship recipients go to our blog at http://campwoodhaven.blogspot.com.
Welcome to Camp Woodhaven’s 2009 season!
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Camp Woodhaven wants to thank all of those individuals and corporations who generously gave to the Scholarship Fund. Your gifts allowed us to lend financial aid to 50 families! I want to convey to you the gratitude expressed by these families. They all made one thing very clear: without your gifts, their children would not have attended camp.