Our Reunion is Just Around the Corner!

So the reunion is just around the corner...

...and not only is it making me think that the summer is flying by (which it already is!), it's also making me think of some of my favorite memories from camp. As a camper, I would spend months getting ready for camp. I was packed for session 4 as soon as school ended. I had my trunk filled with clothes in every shade of red and blue you could imagine. Bug Juice, the MTV original series, would start late Spring and that would be it. I was in the camp mode. I'd watch every episode, then get on AOL and email and Instant Message my camp friends about it. Yes, I said AOL and Instant Message. Do campers today even know what that is? Do they think it's for "old people"?

Now that the sun is shining and the temps are warming up, I definitely feel the ping of nostalgia knowing that I'm not packing up my trunk this year (and haven't for 11 years) to get ready for camp. But I do have the reunion. This year having the reunion at Camp Hayward is amazing. I haven't spent more than 15 minutes at Hayward in...years. And even then I only made it as far as the new office! Will camp still smell like camp? Will all the cabins be just how I remembered them? Will I walk through camp and remember the silly inside jokes that were created out side the bathrooms or by the waterfront? I guess I'll just have to see in a few weeks!

Register fore the reunion here!

~ Krysten Duarte

Jenny is gearing up - and Throwin' it Back Thursdays - in preparation for the 2015 reunion!

As I get more and more invested in helping to plan the Alumni & Friends Reunion (see you there...save the date: July 25th!), I am feeling increasingly nostalgic about my camp years.  

A lot has changed since I started attending camp in 1998, and here are some of my favorite memories:

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• Before Paddlers, Outriggers, Pathfinders and Trailblazers, there were Units 1-4.
• The JC tent used to be behind Lost River and CITs lived in the Hen House.
• In the olden days, the ‘media’ interest group was photography and we used film and a dark room to develop our photos.
• The tower used to be on top of Adventure Mountain, so did low ropes!
• Resource Staff used to be called Senior Staff.
• Instead of checking in at your cabin, everyone would line up outside Tousant Hall and check in there. (I remember always wanting to get there early so I could run, ehm, I mean speed walk, to my cabin to get a good bunk!)

• The mini-golf course built by the CITS of 2002.
• Get your letters, get your letters, get your leeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttters.
• Though this precedes me, I’ve been told that the Paddler (Unit 1) cabins used to be called Happy Cabins 1-4.
• When I was a camper, there were no Yurts or Sheds!
• Beach Day used to be at Sandy Neck beach – it should have been called Rocky Neck Beach, though!
• The Hen House and the Chicken Coop were once bathrooms, and before Pam’s Place, the Chicken Coop was also the Arts and Crafts Building (not at the same time it was a bathroom, though!)
• Old Tousant Hall and the old store.
• Pop Stop used to be twice a day, and you could get a soda and a candy (yikes! Our dentist’s weren’t happy about that)!
• Some years, we could only get to the island for our overnights by canoeing there with all of our gear because the water was too high to walk across at the point!

• Interest group sign up involved running as fast as you could and pushing people out of the way to go sign up for the best interest group.
• Waterskiing was once an interest group.
• Some old school songs that have been lost and forgotten: Shaving Cream, Three Bears, Your Mama Don’t Wear No Socks, the one about the bright sun coming up and the dew falling away…
• Overnights used to be by unit and were all on the ball field.
• Once upon a time every cabin at flagpole just said ‘present.’
• On the first version of the camps website, there were chat forums where people could post and talk about camp during the year.
• Instead of all April Vacation Camp, the Ski Trip and all of the other year-round programs Camp has now, there was one Reunion over snowy Martin Luther King Day Weekend in January.
• Adventure trips used to be called ‘Great Escapes.'
• There was a time when e-mails to campers didn’t exist!
• The Hayward Office used to be under the dining hall.

I could reminisce all day, but I will save that for the Alumni & Friends Reunion on July 25^th (double shameless plug)!  What are some of your favorite Hayward traditions or memories? Share them here or tweet them to @BurgessHayward with the hashtag #HaywardTBT!

~Jenny Muschinske

Join us for our next Boston-based event!

The Friends of Camp Burgess & Hayward Council is proud to announce our next Boston-based alumni event! 

We'll be hosting a private spin class at The Handle Bar, a boutique fitness studio in Fenway, and hope that you will gather your favorite summertime pals for an afternoon of sweating and socializing! 

The class will take place Sunday, March 29th at 1:15PM. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite, here! and all proceeds go to the Campership Fund!  

We can't wait to sweat with ya!

The Friends of Camp Burgess & Hayward Council

2015 Summer Reunions Announced

We are thrilled to announce the dates for our 2015 Summer Reunions!

Back by popular demand, our mid-summer reunion...

Saturday, July 25, 2015...at Hayward!!!

The ever lovely Jenny Muschinske and Krysten Duarte, are again this year co-chairing the event, which means they'll be building upon their efforts and success from the 2014 reunion. Mark your calendar -- you don't want to miss this!

And, new this year, we're offering up a second reunion to include an extended two-night stay for those of you wanting to hunker down and immerse yourself in Camp culture over Labor Day Weekend! This is the perfect opportunity for alumni traveling from the hinterlands of the US, or from "across the pond" to make a holiday of it!

Saturday, September 5th - 7th, 2015...also at Hayward!

Stay tuned...details to come!

Don't forget to visit our Alumni Page for more news from Camp...

Four Days until the Alumni Reunion!

We are expecting over 100 attendees at this year's Reunion!

 

Here is your Camp Packing List to get your ready to return to your old stomping grounds...

What to bring:

• Sunblock
• Bathing suit
• Towel
• Camp t-shirt, photos, memorabilia
• Flip flops
• Closed toed shoes (to try out our new Challenge Course & Zip Lines!)
• Water bottle
• Your best flag pole ideas
• Paper and pens to write letters home!

We can’t wait to see everyone on Saturday at 12pm in good ol’ Sandwich!

 

~The Camp Burgess & Hayward Friends & Alumni Council

2nd Annual Reunion

We're sure we aren't the only ones who have the sudden desire to quit our jobs and ditch our classes as soon as June rolls around.  We'd much rather be packing our trunks full of red and blue anything, an absurd swim suit to clothes ratio, and the wackiest, tackiest garb we can find. Now that you're thinking about camp, why not clear the calendar on July 19th for the 2nd Annual Camp Reunion. If you missed out on last year's event, it was definitely like the old days. Zip lining through camp, beach party at the Burwatch, and a BBQ at the teardrop with camp cookies to finish off the afternoon. Come see old friends, make new friends, and bring along any family or pals that might enjoy sunshine, snacks and swimming.  We'll see you there!

 

Register Here!

 

~Jenny and Krysten

Reunion Chairs and Edwama Mamas circa 2001

Young Professionals Alumni Networking Event

Last night, we had a great turnout to our first Young Professionals Alumni Networking Event at Tia's waterfront, in Boston! 

Thank you to those of you who joined us - it was wonderful to reconnect and build engagement on such a beautiful evening...the conversations were a brilliant intersection of career and Camp -- Camp being the operative word here.

Camp Friends & Alumni catch up at Tia's Waterfront