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 With the hot weather. the afternoon cloud burst and the warm summer evening, it was every bit the “Tropical Paradise” it was billed as.
Visiting day for the first session kicked off while the campers were still eating breakfast, with the arrival of the first eager parents. Throughout the morning, parents joined their children at the morning activities.
The 104th Pok-O Picnic featured a meal of chicken, pork, beans, salads, fruit, corn on the cob and James’ ice cream. The mood was accented by tropical music, laughter and much conversation. “Excellent! So much better than the picnics used to be,” voiced one satisfied parent.
Following the picnic, guests took advantage of the camp facilities and partook in swimming, boating, sports or just hanging out. Many parents bowed to their child’s wish for an afternoon out of camp and, by mid-afternoon, a brief rain storm left camp all but deserted.
“We went to a diner, ate at the mall, went to a movie and climbed a mountain (my father’s first),” Travis Fischer said of his family’s busy day. The Youngs, here for their 17th and final visiting day as parents of campers, went to Vermont and picked berries. “Very cool.”
The Brakeys did the tourist thing. “Fort Ticonderoga and Lake Placid. An aggressive agenda.”... Highlander camper Jamie Konowitz “went shopping, and I ate a lot  of food.”... “Very relaxing,” stated ADV camper Spencer Ivey as he returned to camp toting a large bag of unknown contents.
Of course, many of the parents of 2008 campers were once campers themselves. Sarah (formerly Zuckerman) was a camper in the 1970’s and now her son attends Pok-O. “It was a little surreal. Here I was staring at my own kid, in my old section. I felt like a kid again!”
And then there was senior camper Xavier Robles, who hails from nearby Plattsburgh. “This year I was an orphan (the term used for a camper whose parents do not come on visiting day). I asked to be.” So instead of going out with his folks, Xavier traveled with the other “orphans” to the mall. In Plattsburgh! No word whether or not he ran into his parents.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MANY PHOTOS OF PARENTS DAY
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