Kids are the best advertisers for Family Camp

Got this e-mail from a camper today, letting me know she was signing up...

"Hi Dave!!


Happy New Year!


I can't put in words how happy I am that we're coming back! We took last year 'off' to try to save a little money and rented a condo in Vermont. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. lol. We we there about 20 minutes, trying to unpack, get the lay of the land, and Nick starts with "I'm bored". And I wanted to say 'Go up to the barn and find someone to play with" And I couldn't!! We joked with them the whole rest of the week 'just go to the barn'. And boy did I miss having a dinner bell ring and just coming to the table. :)


On the way home started talking about saving for family camp in 2012!!"



It was a nice sentiment.   We hear a lot that the kid's preferences are the main driver in coming back.  But it's not like the parents don't want to come back as well.  I think it is just parents sometimes have different considerations when making vacation plans from year to year.  But a happy kid often equals a happy parent, so "family camp" it is!  And to be sure, the kids having fun is really what allows you as the parent to relax and unwind.  So it's a win-win.

Criteria for finding a family camp that actually feels like a vacation...

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...also a call to the powers that be to better define the term "family camp". 

Based on talking to other family camp directors and countless prospective family campers, I propose a set of variables that when present, will define a family camp as most people understand it to be.  And hopefully this list will help you sort through all the information on the web (trust me, there's a lot and much of it is confusing) to find the family vacation you are looking for.

1) Family camps should be full-season, that is it operates as a family camp for the entire summer, just like a childrens camp (usually June-August).
2) A family camp facility should be at least partially designed with the interests of its adult campers in mind as well as its children campers. This means comfortable sleeping arrangements (real mattresses with boxsprings, one family-to-a-cabin privacy) and ready access to clean bathrooms and hot showers, preferably in the cabin itself.
3) Family camps should serve 3 meals/day and food should be of a standard that is satisfying for its adult campers and easily pleasing of its child campers.
4) Family camps should provide activities that appeal to its adult as well as child campers and ideally should provide qualified guidance and instruction in those activities through the use of trained staff.
5) Family camps should recognize, as expressed through their programs and facilities, that they function to provide a quality and meaningful family vacation, usually modelled in the style of the traditional childrens summer camp and that this unique distinction is what defines them as family camps.

Why consider a family camp for your family vacation?

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There are of course a number of reasons, but here is one I came up with a few years ago when I started the blog...

A family vacation has two, sometimes competing, interests going on:  1) What is fun and relaxing to the parent?  2) What is fun and relaxing to the kids?  A great family vacation finds a way to make those interests intersect.

And speaking of intersections, try thinking of family camps as the intersection of two streets...one is named 'family vacation' and the other is 'summer camp'. Recall your fondest memories of both and this is what family camps strive to provide for vacationing families. When you think about it family camps take the convenience and relaxation of a quality all-inclusive family vacation spot and mix it with the wholesome fun and treasured friendships of a well-run summer camp.  Admittedly this concept isn't obvious and still takes a lot for people to completely wrap their heads around. I've been advertising my camp for years and I still regularly get the question, "so where do I send my kids?" I will tell you this: If you have heard of family camps before and you are sort of skeptical or on the fence, I can tell you that our most satisfied customers are those that took the chance and gave it a try. And when you don't know what to expect or even better, you get dragged in by a spouse and have low expectations (I'll bet you're thinking mosquitos, fish sticks and camp cots aren't you), family camp comes through big time. The first realization is usually, "hey this bed is comfortable and the showers have hot water." The second realization is about the food and any quality family camp understands that the food had better be good. The last realization usually comes mid-week when the parents step back and recognize the harmony of it all: the kids are not complaining (having a blast, actually), the parents are relaxed from not having to plan anything or cook and clean, and are even having fun doing the things they loved to do as kids. Family camp is wholesome, good, clean fun that believe it or not, the whole family actually agrees on.

A rising tide lifts all ships

It has occured to me that the inherent nature of putting up a blog and "advising" folks on how to find a family camp might seem to suggest that I am looking to charge a fee for advice.  I'm not.  In fact that sounds like a pretty lame business model. So while I'm concerned that the appearance suggests that I'm looking for some type of compensation, my intent, which I state in my Disclosure, is to try and stand out as an authority on family camps and help direct people towards the right camp for their family. Some of you may be interested in the camp that I direct and others may not and I more than happy to help you find a camp that does suit your family. My ultimate hope is to elevate the profile of family camps as a whole and help filter out the confusing information so that families have an easier time finding the right family camp for them.  More families going to family camps and having a fun, relaxing and satisfied experience is the compensation I am going for.  Obviously positive exposure to the niche industry I am a part of, of course benefits my camp.

Please feel free to check out the links section for family camps that I would suggest for your family or even e-mail me at family@medomakcamp.com. I am happy to offer my insights on family camp as a family vacation and the range of options families have available to them.

Who am I? Why am I writing this?

Reposted

In the interest of full disclosure, I am the Director of Medomak Camp of Washington, Maine. Medomak used to be a children's summer camp for many years and in the early 90's, a former camper (not me) with four young children found herself in the position to purchase her childhood camp. The idea was to preserve the very valuable and very pretty property from the familiar fate of many summer camps: housing development. But when 250 acres of land also comes with 80 buildings, 3 dining halls and an arsenal of equipment, preservation also becomes about land use. Not only would it have been a shame to let all the buildings fall into disrepair, but it presented an opportunity to keep alive it's traditional use as a summer camp. So the owner reached out to alumni for ideas and the common thread was that they all loved camp and they all had young children. Organically, the idea of camp for the family was born.

A few years into the venture, I was recruited having had a decent amount of experience working at a children's camp while in college. When I first came to Medomak, what was immediately clear was that you could very easily take the summer camp for children model and adapt it to serve the needs of families. I think this observation is very important because to me it defines what a family camp is or what it ought to be.

As you do your search for family camps, keep front and center in your mind that not many people define family camp the same way and thus your search will be somewhat complicated by the terms broad use. The point of this blog is to help you better understand the important differences between the family camp programs, point you in the right direction and help you make a good choice. While I clearly have a basic incentive to try and steer you towards Medomak, ultimately my interests will not be met if your interests are not met. So please understand the reason I am playing the role of information giver is because I am interested in finding families that are truly looking for what it is that Medomak Camp offers. At the same time, if you are looking for a family camp and Medomak is not ideal for your family, I want to be able to help you find a camp that is.

Family Camps, in addition to being a great family vacation, also act as 'training wheels' for kid's summer camp.

Reposted


Below is an article that we wrote for the American Camp Association's (ACA) magazine that gets sent out to parents interested in sending their children to summer camp. The purpose of the article was "play up" the benefits of family camp. The recommendation, I think, applies to any camp running a true family camp program. Also, I would point out that full-season children's camps that also happen to run a "family camp" program are, in this particular instance, a great idea if you are looking for a family camp program to serve the purpose of getting your child comfortable with the idea of summer camp (especially if it is that particular camp).

Training Wheels for Sleep Away Camp

Over the past five years families have become more cautious when it comes being away from each other. It is not uncommon to see young children with cellular phones with the sole purpose of being able to be in constant contact with mom and dad. The days of helicopter parents are here and no one can blame them when it comes to their children’s safety and well being especially when they are away from mom and dad for an extended period.

Parents attach training wheels to a two wheeler in order to provide a safe and easy transition from a tricycle to a bicycle. For the same reasons parents can now do the same to prepare their children for a one, two, four or seven week session of summer camp. American Camp Association accredited Family Camps offer children the opportunity to attend a week long camp away from home for the first time with the security of knowing that their parents and siblings are along for the fun.

Pam Ehrenreich’s two children specifically asked their mom to find a sleep away camp that they could all attend together. Pam’s seven and nine year old resisted the idea of leaving home and attending two separate camps. After doing extensive research on the web this single parent, from Ellicott City MD, chose our camp, located in the mid-coast area of Maine, for her family’s first camp experience,. After attending a week of camp together this past summer Pam now feels both of her children are ready to spread their wings and attend a camp solo next summer.

Family camp is a perfect opportunity for children to gain a sense of what camp is. They learn what to expect and what is expected of them. We have found that at our camp kids who attend morning activities with other campers their own age, such as archery, tennis and sailing, gain the familiarity of a traditional sleep away camp. The morning sessions provide our youngest campers the opportunity to interact with campers their own age. After lunch the entire family spends time together lakeside. Fathers and daughters can fish together, siblings’ tye-dye shirts, entire families enjoy an afternoon sail, while some parents read that neglected novel while their children swim under the watchful eye of the lifeguards. Even grandparents get into the spirit of camp pointing out constellations to the youngsters by the nightly campfires. By the end of the week friendships are formed and kids often choose to sit with their new found friends at meals and at campfire instead of sitting with mom and dad.

While the kids get to try on camp, the parents also get the opportunity to see what safety measures and procedures are in place as well as the level of professionalism in the staff that ACA camps strive for. Both parents and kids get to rid any insecurity they might have about sleep away camp while having a memorable fun family vacation together. When the next summer rolls around, and the camp registration process is complete, parents will have peace of mind while their campers will have the confidence necessary to make their camp session a memorable as well as positive experience. Camp training wheels is a safety net that is a win-win situation for families.

That wind in your face feeling when riding a bike independently at full speed is the same freedom children feel at camp when paddling their own kayak, hitting the bulls eye in archery, developing their own photos in the darkroom, making that special memento in arts and crafts or receiving thunderous applause for a well preformed campfire skit. It is at this moment parents realize that the training wheels are ready to come off.

Scroll down a bit for the actual advice/Sorry, distracted by cheese

Sometimes you create a blog with one thing in mind and then you get excited about something else and post it and the focus seems to change.  It's funny what cheese can do.  Anyhow, I will from here on out try and keep the cheese blogging to the medomakcamp.com internal blog and keep this blog focused on family camps and family vacations.  So if you are here looking for advice, just scroll down a few posts and look in the archives to the right to find the information you came here looking for.  And if you are interested in food, cheese, local or organic food conversations, you can find them on our medomakcamp.com page or for right now, check out our cook's blog familycampkitchen.wordpress.com.

Making the cheese we taste at Medomak Family Camp

Cheshire is a style of cheddar.  It is actually the cheese used in Welsh Rarebit, which I always thought involved "rabbit".  Up until recently that was enough to keep me away.  Now I will happily eat rabbit, especially after Neal and Kathy Foley of Claddaugh Farms in Montville, Maine cooked me up the most delicious paella with rabbit, sausage and lobster.    But anyway, Welsh Rarebit has no meat in it.  It is simply cheese (Cheshire) melted with beer, some flour, mustard powder and worcestershire sauce.  Mixed together after melting, spread on toast and broil or bake.  Sounds delicious, right?  Just as delicious as that rabbit paella.  

Anyhow, when I say cheddar, cheddar refers to a process called "cheddaring".  Without going into it too deeply, all cheese pretty much starts out the same.  Milk, bacteria, rennet and salt.  And even as you innoculate milk with bacteria, add the rennet to gel the curds and cook the curds, most cheese is still pretty much the same thing from batch to batch.  Cheddaring refers to the what you do with the curds.  Once your curds are ready, you basically stack them on top of each other and heat them at a temperature of our 90 degrees for a few hours.  What you are doing is creating acid in the curds...you are getting the bacteria to eat the lactose in the milk and create lactic acid.  This is what gives cheddar the sharp flavor (aging does that, too).  Once the curds are "cheddared", you put them in a press and with time and pressure, you create a wheel of cheese that you can age. 

So we just made a wheel of cheshire.  It will now age until camp, which is 10 months away, which means that it will be excellent.

On tap for the next make is brie, gruyere and manchego.

We grew and served organic vegetables/milked our own cow and it didn't cost us more to do it!

I just confirmed something very cool. Something that I had suspected, but needed data to confirm. One of the big things for us at Medomak is the food. The reality is that nobody wants to eat bad food on their vacation and camps in general have a reputation for bad food. So we put money and effort into making sure the food is of a quality we are proud of.

So for the past couple of years, we have had a dairy cow...which means fresh milk, fresh cream, fresh butter, fresh cheese, fresh ice cream, etc... And this year we decided that we were going to try and grow as much of our vegetables as possible. Primarily we needed lettuce and other greens, but tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, peas, edamame, cucumbers, squash also were in the plan. Growing on a small level wasn't hard, but we needed to grow large numbers of veggies, in succession, so that each week would have adequate amounts for our campers. So figure that on a given week, we needed enough lettuce and other veggies for anywhere from 50-120 people. And the scary part was that since we had to plant in April, we weren't even 100% sure of our final number of campers.

Anyhow, onto the cool part...the cost. I had assumed that the labor and materials (seeds, fertilizer, etc...) would be so expensive as to make it prohibitive (we convinced ourselves to go ahead and try anyway because we figured the programming aspect would justify some of the expense). What we found out was even with all the costs of the cow and the production garden added in (labor and materials), our food costs stayed about even in comparison to our previous years! I was amazed. We all know just by comparing the cost of a head of lettuce at the local grocery store vs. the cost of an organic head of lettuce at the health food store, that it is cheaper to get the non-organic (did I mention our gardens are organic?). But hey, on our scale, it was cost neutral to grow our own veggies and get our own milk rather than get it from one of the big food distributors most camps and restaurants use.

If anyone is interested in talking with me about the details of how we were able to offer organic vegetables and milk for the same cost as non-organic, food service-distributed veggies and milk, give me a shout. I'm happy to go into the costs we incurred and we can compare our experiences. Anyway, it was a good season with FRESH, TASTY food that WE grew ourselves. And it didn't cost us anything additional. WIN-WIN!

Is it self-important to say that Family Camps are important? Probably, but it's camp so we get a pass :)

This is a draft of a letter I wrote to our family campers a few years back...I just came across it and thought it was blog-worthy. Just some heady thoughts on why people come to family camp as a vacation.

When was the last time you labeled a specific vacation you took as “important”?

It struck me today when I looked in my inbox. Two responses to an e-mail I had sent out earlier in the day. My message to them: This is the week you are registered to attend our Family Camp next summer and this is how much you owe. The responses back varied. One wished me congratulations on my wedding, both said they were excited to see us next summer. One word struck me as interesting, however. Both used the word “important”. Paul and Gerriane C. said, “thank you Dave, you and everyone else have made it a special and important place for us.” Pat and Cindy B. wrote, “Thanks for making it such a wonderful place that has become an important part of our lives.”

Maybe other Family Campers have used this term to describe their time at Medomak and I just didn’t notice. Camp people are notorious for their superlatives describing their camps. “Awesome”, “Amazing”, “Best summer of my life” say many a 9 year old camper. And so often in reading evaluations what you are really looking for are negative comments about things you ought to improve or correct. So maybe “important” got lost in the many words of praise and today, it was the two e-mails (one right after the other) that made me think.

Family vacations are important. Time off from work and school, the rare opportunity for every member of the family to spend time together, rejuvenation and relaxation are why we cherish our family vacations. But think about it for one second. When was the last time you took a vacation and the actual place, the actual activity was what you found important? I think the fact that many families are always looking for something new to do speaks to the fact that it often isn’t the place or the activity, but the block of time that is important.

So consider that the families that return to our Family Camp year after year are coming back because the camp is important to them. Not just the valuable chunk of time, but the actual thing they are doing.

I can’t tell you why these families consider their time at our camp important. We don’t engage in family counseling or therapy. We are not experts in family studies. Programming isn’t specially designed to be of benefit for families per se. We are simply a summer camp that caters to families. And while we certainly have families ourselves and pay attention to what other families want, like and need in a vacation, this is the extent of the influence in our programming. We started a summer camp as adults because we liked summer camp as children and figured that other families might like it, too. Not only were we right, but we found out what children’s camps have known and have harnessed since the beginning: camp is important to people that have experienced it. It plays an important role in their up-bringing and their identity.

In some ways, this sounds like therapy. And while some may find Medomak therapeutic, I can assure you that no group sessions are taking place. No trained psychologists or social workers are on staff. Just people that love summer camp and like to see others have a good time.

Bad food at camp

I use 'google alerts' to pay attention to what is happening in the family camp world. I came across this article about a Berkeley, California, municipal-run family camp in the sierra's.

The author really slammed it hard because of the food. Understandable. In the comments I suggested that the very low cost should have been a red flag about the quality of the food.

Basically, it is expensive and labor intensive to put out good food with fresh ingredients. I've yet to see an organic, fresh and local eating establishment compete, cost-wise with a place like McDonalds.

Anyway, the article is worth the read for a families perspective on their experience at a family camp.

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/09/02/hungry-for-better-food-at-berkeleys-echo-lake-camp/ (By the way, if you have a few moments to waste and comments-section battles make you laugh, check out the melee this article started...*headshake*)

Just remember, you get what you pay for. If you don't mind eating the kind of food your kids get out their school cafeteria, you can do family camp on the cheap. And if you want to eat more healthily and enjoy better meals, that will inevitably cost you more.

And so when comparison shopping for a family camp experience for your family, know that a cheaper price will probably translate into compromises on food quality (understand that food is one of a camp's biggest expenses).

Another Family Camp season comes to a close

Camp's over!!! Hurray for a great season with great staff and neat families. I've got mixed emotions about being home from Maine, namely I'm glad to be back home with my wife and I miss the northeast's weather, but I'm adjusting quicker than usual.

A quick list of things I'll miss about Maine:

Contes 1894 (google it or check out the Anthony Bourdain Maine episode)

The fresh air

The cooler temps

The healthier way of life, i.e. walking everywhere, eating veggies from our garden, staying active...

Catching (and eating) trout on the lake

Spotting the bald eagles

Seeing the milky way in the night sky

A quick list of what I like about being at home:

My wife

A movie theater and restaurants down the block

Decent pizza

Decent chinese food

Diversity

Someone actually reads this blog

I'm in Maine, just finishing up our third week of family camp. One of the campers, a family from California, said that she read this blog and that it was helpful to her in making a decision. I responded that I think she is the only one out there reading this, but that it was nice to hear it was helpful for her. I can just imagine that bringing her family of five, 3,000 miles across country wasn't an easy thing to do. But this blog helped her decide between the choices that seem, on the surface very similar, but dig down a layer and you see the differences that may matter to your family.

Anyhow, camp is going great. A great staff this year. Great families. Great weather. The price of lobster is dropping. I've been to Conte's (in case you don't know, the best seafood in Maine) twice already. And Morse's Sauerkraut got me in special 4 lbs. of schmaltz herring. Mmmmm!

Advertising Family Camp on NPR

So the perennial problem for family camp is getting the word out to families. These next two weeks we are sponsoring the local NPR affiliate WAMU in the D.C. area. The thought is that this is our target audience. I know that to be the case as I get to know my families pretty well. I don't know their politics per se, but I do know get to know them on a somewhat personal level. It is one of the joys of what I do and where I work. Medomak is small and everyone is there to have a good time. Anyhow, let's see if that sponsorship drives some traffic to our site. We need more people to know about what family camp is. I really believe that the more people really "know" about what we are, they more they go, "duh, why haven't we been doing this all these years." If you really like spending time with your family, you just can't beat what family camp offers in the way of a family vacation.

The "Just In Time" Consumer

I just got back from the American Camp Association's tri-state conference. Always a good time and filled with great information for camps. Wish it wasn't in Atlantic City, though (no offense to AC'ers). Pizza was good, so were the steak and cheese subs. Anyhow, I digress...

This year camps were all talking about the economy and how it has affected their bottom lines. The long and short of it is that the economy has been brutal to camps and many of our assumptions about our customers have changed. The biggest one being how our campers are making decisions about camp for their kids and how they are using their vacations.

The big take away for me was talk of the "just in time" consumer...folks that are holding off on their decisions for their summer plans. It used to be, and you will note in any of the travel writing done about family camps, that you were advised to sign up as early as possible because space was limited. It seems that even the most successful camps these days are having issues putting "heads on beds". It took them a while to admit that publicly, but now that they are, we can address the issue.

Now camps and travel spots are noticing consumers are really waiting until the last minute to make their summer plans. The educated guess is uncertainty. Why make plans and commit money 6 months out if you don't have to. And they are right to do so. It makes us nervous as we plan for the season...we hire staff five or six months out...but reality is reality.

So the take away is this: Some of the awfully bad advice out there regarding family camps would lead you to believe that if you haven't signed up for camp before December, you might as not bother. Don't listen to them. Family camps still have space. We are still looking for families.

Sign up for family camp and treat your family to a great family vacation. And don't worry about calling at the last minute. The economy has been just as hard on us as it has been on you.

Found this little nugget on the interwebs today

http://www.howtoandtipstoday.com/2010/10/24/choosing-from-the-many-family-summer-camps.html

A Travel Writer Nails It on Why to Go to Family Camp

Rare that a travel writer visits the actual place these days. She really captures the intangibles of this kind of family vacation...

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/travel/20101010_Personal_Journey__A_family_goesto_camp_-_and_the_kids_stop_texting_.html

Family Camp on the West Coast

Here's a good family camp article for folks on the west coast:

http://sanfrancisco.parenthood.com/SF_familytravel_0310.php

Family Camp has been around for west coasters for a few generations and there are many varieties ranging from basic no-frills to living the high life. The nice thing about west coast family camps is they tend to have year-round options whereas east coast camps tend to operate solely in the summer.

Not really a Family Camp as I define it, but this is too funny to pass up.

Sleeping With Penguins Family Camp

For: Whole family.
Do you ever fancy sleeping next to Penguins? I would love to and I am sure many children would put up their hands too. The highlights on this programme is of course get to pitch tents and sleeping with the Penguins!!!! This 2 day 1 night programme will have few guided tours, series of mind-stimulating activities that involve family fun and participation. At night, you will ends with merriment and supper at a Camp fire.
When: 12 and 13 December. (2 days 1 night)
Venue: Jurong Bird Park
Cost: $110/adult, $90/Child.
Booking: Download Booking Form
Contact: Contact an education officer at amailto:amberly@birdpark.com.sgor (+65) 6661 7809 /maggieang@birdpark.com.sg or (+65) 6661 7819.

A Great Description of a Family Camp Experience

This woman summed up the reasons for attending a family camp perfectly! Give it a read:

http://www.5minutesforparenting.com/433/family-camp-101/