Camp Kern’s new Wilderness Pavilion is well under way! The excellent weather has allowed the Camp Kern Maintenance crew to make tons of headway on building our new Yurts. Check out the Pacific Yurt Company, who is supplying ours! They’ll be outfitted with both heat and air conditioning, so campers can spend the night in them year-round.
Check out the pictures, and you’ll soon be as excited as we all are!
See the whole vision for the project in the Centennial Campaign Booklet
We LOVE Dr. Seuss at Camp Kern! The timeless designs, memorable characters, and great messages are really powerful for kids. This points to so much of what Camp Kern does with kids. The YMCA’s values of Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility come out in the every-day interactions of campers and counselors, and are often just as subtle and textured as the wonderful Doctor’s.
We’re all excited for another summer of camp, for the Lorax movie, and the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the lives of kids!
Here is a link to download the NEW Camp Kern song!
Natalie performing the Camp Kern song at Harry Potter Week!
Written, performed, recorded, mixed and made awesome by Natalie Jones, Counselor Summer 2011
Check it out in the Camp Kern 2012 Summer Camp video
Check out some of Natalie’s other work here
Ozone Zipline gift certificates make perfect gifts for the entire family. Good for two years and available for all our 2012 tour options, they are sure to be a hit with anyone lucky enough to receive one this year.
Call 513-932-3756 to order yours today.
Camp Kern’s own Executive Director has been featured in the November/December edition of Camping Magazine! His article, “Why the world needs summer camp” has been posted on Camp Kern’s blog before, but now it is being shared with even more people across the Camping industry. Check it out on the American Camp Association website here:
http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/1111/why-world-needs-summer-camp
or read the rest of the online magazine here:
Check out this video (uploaded by a Camp Kern participant!) of the new “Tire Zip” behind cabin 14. It’s a really great time, and just another super-fun thing to do at Camp Kern!
Camp Kern is building TONS of new stuff this fall/winter/spring! By the time summer rolls around again, many new buildings will be up, and Camp Kern’s campers will be able to enjoy even more comfortable accommodations. Keep an eye out for New Construction for updates and announcements!
Just a few days past (ask anyone who was here for Labor Day Family Camp) the old sports shed was still in place. 5′ x 8′, dark, sharp pointy edges on things, and a strange smell all combined to make any foray into the sports shed an epic undertaking.
But now, behold…the NEW sports shed! At least…the framing so far.
The Maintenance staff (Chuck, Scotty, Robbie, Craig, and Ron) are refurbishing the shed and making it something less likely to devour a counselor whole.
Keep an eye on the blog and Facebook for more updates!
It is not easy for parents to make the decision to send their child away into the waiting arms of strangers who promise to take care of them — people who promise to show them the wonders of nature, fun, new skills, and friendships. As a parent of two children, even I struggle with the idea, and I have been around summer camps my entire life.
The world needs the next generation to be more tolerant of each other’s views, ideology, and beliefs. Summer camp is an opportunity for children to be exposed to the best of human character. Carefully selected role models are dedicated to showing your child how to have fun, learn from others, and make friends in person rather than online. Camp allows kids to meet people from all over the world, every race, culture, and socioeconomic level. I still remember one of my counselors, Danny, from England, explaining to me, “The world is full of excuses. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what has happened to you. At the end of the day you choose how you treat others.”
There is something magical about a summer camp experience. Each and every camp in the world is different. Not merely because of geography or location, but because of the traditions and people who have touched the camp. Every camp has hidden treasures of history and traditions that give it character and identity. Even with agency camps like the YMCA where there is a common mission, each and every camp is unique in its style, program, games, geography, traditions, and experience.
Every staff member, alumni camper, and volunteer has memories associated with their time at their camp — memories that stay with them for their lifetime. Most people remember with fondness the counselors, cabins, camp food, camp outs, and special happenings of their time.
Camp is an independent experience that shapes one’s character and life — a controlled, safe environment where children and youth are able to make their own decisions about simple things (what activity they want to do, how many s’mores they want to make, or what clothes they are going to wear) and about important things (who they will hang out with . . . who will be their friends).
Camp is a place where kids interact with people face-to-face and, at the same time, learn about themselves and others around a camp fire, under the stars, or sitting around a dining hall table. Camp allows the idea of boarding the train to Hogwarts to go from fantasy to reality— children find a world filled with possibilities unavailable to them in everyday life.
Camps give kids a chance to practice being the best they can be. They experience a place designed to create happy memories and encourage self-expression. They have the opportunity to climb towers, ride horses, shoot an arrow, and even experience the success of winning the big game! It stays with them forever. Kids will learn from a full range of emotions and human experiences including homesickness, friendship, disagreements, team work, frustrations, jubilant success, and more.
As parents, our hopes and jobs are to ready our kids to be productive, independent, and capable people — to prepare our children to thrive without us. Camp offers a way for kids to start developing those skills in the best possible environment. It makes me a bit sad every time my son runs off to join his cabin group without even a look back . . . and at the same time, I burst with pride watching him growing into a happy, independent, tolerant, open, confident, and capable person. I know that we will have plenty to talk about when he gets home from camp. I also know he will remember the trust and gift of his time at camp, and it will add to him for the rest of his life.
There is so much competition for our children’s time in the summer — sports practices, summer school, well-deserved vacations. But let’s not forget the value of a camp experience — camp is a gift we can give our children that they will benefit from and remember forever. If ever there was a time when the world needed a generation of future leaders who understood the intricacies of living in a community, having tolerance, and being open — that time is now.
Jeff Merhige is the Executive Director of YMCA Camp Kern, a branch of the Greater Dayton YMCA. He has been professionally involved with camping for over 20 years. He and his wife Amy met at camp, and have two children Luke and Sydney.
[Dayton, OH, 07/11/11] –
When the school year ends, so do free meals for the millions of children in low-income households who depend on them most. This summer, the YMCA of Greater Dayton is offering free nutritious meals to children in Dayton, Trotwood, West Carrolton, Huber Heights, Xenia and Fairborn communities this summer, thanks to a $85,000 grant from YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) and Walmart to feed more children through the national Summer Food Service Program. The program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides free meals to children aged 18 and under while school is out of session. Nationally, more than 300 Ys will provide 7 million meals to 70,000 children this summer.
