“We’re back! We’re back!” Cries of delight filled the air on a beautiful Adirondack afternoon as two hundred and ten campers streamed into Pok-O-MacCready today. The camp song proclaims that “the sun is always shining in the skies above”, and a brilliant blue sky greeted the arrivals on this first
day of camp. The counselors were just as eager for the campers’ arrival, for as Pok-O headmaster Erik Zimmerman noted, “Opening Day is the most exciting day of the year, for we have the entire summer in front of us.”
The earliest arrivals came by car, and they were the first to explore their new cabins and meet their counselors; as one parent observed, “We had to get here early because our son was driving us crazy with his eagerness to get to camp!” Campers quickly moved through check-ins with the nurse before joining in games and conversations with friends old and new. Returning camper Alex Gigantiello was eager for camp to get started, exclaiming, “I can’t wait for horseback riding, for pottery, for pretty much everything.”
Meanwhile the busses were working their way northward on a journey that was smooth and uneventful. Gleeful (and occasionally off-key) renditions of the camp song filled the air, punctuated by cries of “Are we there yet?” The busses pulled into camp at 1:30 P.M., amidst great anticipation. Campers were delighted to reunite with old friends and dashed across the MacCready fields to share hugs and shrieks of joy. Everyone quickly made their way to the cabins and summer was officially on its way.
And what is on campers’ minds as the summer begins? For Kara Stein, “It’s all about the hiking.” Conor Dowd can’t wait for his first chance at fishing. For Alex Bridgewater, “It’s about being back and being in Advanced Section!” The most common refrain, though, has been, “I’ve been thinking about camp all year, and now it’s finally here!”
