The first snow

Today saw the first proper snow fall of the year at Camp! Whilst Jessie ploughed for the first time in his life Debra, Joe and Laura took a quick break from the office to go outside and enjoy the weather. After a quick snowball fight during which Laura, who was as ever unprepared for the weather in her Unit Leader sweatshirt and leaky shoes got completely soaked, Debra and Joe hit the basketball court. Joe dominated the game scoring several baskets with his home designed snowballs. Not content with a basketball victory Joe and Laura had a fierce game of tether ball winter style. After all the fun and hilarity it was time to head back to the office to get on with the planning for winter reunion.

Quietness!!!!!

Camp is really quiet right now. Half of the full time staff are off enjoying great holiday vacations including Gage our seeing eye puppy who has to go away once every three months in order for him to get used to staying in different locations. A very important lesson for a seeing eye puppy. The rest of us are getting ready for the holidays and Debra our office manager is entertaining us all with wonderful renditions of popular Christmas songs.

Lois our wonderful chef came by today and hung up our stockings over the fire place in the dining hall and our live tree that we got last week is doing well.

Holiday Time

As the holidays grow closer the year round staff are getting into the spirit of the holidays. After a fun holiday lunch we went to a local farm stall in the school bus and picked a beautiful tree for the office. We chose a living tree so that after the holidays we can plant it out somewhere on camp. Debra and Laura went a little crazy with the decorating helped along by Gage the seeing eye dog that is being trained by Donna and Silva. We are very pleased with the end result feel free to come by and see for yourself!!

Office Feng Shui

We are already tired of winter, even though it hasn't even started yet, so we decided to have an early spring clean. We got mean with all the junk that we had lying around the office, keeping some, donating some and throwing the rest. We even tackled the dark and nasty basement. We now have some serious good energy flowing through the place ready for the new year. Let us know if you are in the neighborhood, we'll put the kettle on and you can relax in the new space.

Special campers

Some of you may have been lucky enough to see a celebrity couple at Camp Burgess and Hayward last summer. They are always seen in a pair, are very well dressed (a little tacky sometimes), the male is the real star of the show and they are imported from elsewhere. No it wasn't David Beckham and Posh Spice, but a pair of Wild Turkeys. Extinct in Massachusetts just 100 years ago, the State has undertaken a re-introduction program which in the last 30 years has seen them release birds from New York State. Hopefully the pair that have been around Camp will be around for summer 2008, especially with it being Thanksgiving tomorrow. Your best chance to see them is in the old orchard and farm area (next to the parking lot) at Camp Burgess, where they love to eat the seeds from the long grass.

Cool site

There are a couple of reasons that no posts have been made in the last week. One is that a bunch of camp staff are away on well deserved vacations, and the other is that we've been playing this online game. The concept is that you test out your vocabulary and for every question you get right, the sponsors will donate rice to the the World Food Program. If you haven't played it yet, give it a go here http://www.freerice.com/ .

Open Camp

Today we held our last Open Camp of 2007, where new campers and their parents come and take a look around and chat with staff. Thanks to all who made the trip down, it was a bright and sunny, but chilly day at Camp. Our spring Open Camps are March 2nd and March 16th. If you are around why not come on down and join us between 1pm and 4pm in the Burgess dining hall. We'd love to see summer staff and campers around. Drinks and snacks will be provided by Lois.

Noreaster

Camp managed to get in the way of Tropical Storm Noel this past weekend. This type of storm is called a 'noreaster' in New England. Lots of homes on the Cape lost power for about 12 hours and Camp was no exception. Everyone had fun though, hanging out in the lodge and dining hall with candles and warm fires.

The maintenance crew are jammin this week to clear up the trees that came down. If anyone wants to help with the clean-up please email camp@ssymca.org .

More new cabin photos

Check out the new bunk design..........

Gage-Camp Guide Dog

Camp would like to introduce someone special. All of you that are planning on returning to Camp this summer will see Gage, a cute 4 month old black Labrador. The amazing thing about Gage is that he is training to be a Guiding Eyes for the Blind potential guide dog. He was bred by guiding eyes for the blind and will hopefully one day serve somebody with impaired sight. Right from birth, Gage has been in training for his future career; learning how to sit, down, spin etc. He will be on Camp for about a year and his training is on-going. He is being taught general obedience; walking close by, not barking or jumping up and general commands. His training is being done through the use of food. He gets treats for doing things well and learns in a positive environment. Previous systems have included the trainer pulling on the lead a number of times to get the dog to do certain things.

Gage is a happy dog, he gets lots of love and attention. He is extremely intelligent and learns fast. That being said he can still be mischievous and will do anything for food. So when you’re at Camp this summer expect to see little Gage around. He will be fun to play with and you can all help train him for his future career.

Guiding eyes for the blind is a fantastic non-profit organization and if you would like to raise a puppy with a purpose, then check out the Guiding Eyes website at www.cdc.guidingeyes.org or call 1-866-GEB-LABS for more information.

woof woof

Camp Hayward takes on 'Full of Ourselves'

Camp has helped take Full of Ourselves, a wellness program for girls, into the Sandwich Middle Schools. Every Tuesday, after school, Donna and Rachel meet up with teens where they eat yummy snacks and chat about girl power, health and leadership. From role plays to journal writing to storytelling, we discuss a range of topics that include bullying, strong women, media culture, and friendship. The group is coming to a close in December, and ends with a school assembly where the girls get to present to all female sixth graders. Our next session begins in January with a new group of excited teens. If you're interested in learning more about this program, feel free to contact us at camp@ssymca.org

Adios Outdoor Education Staff

It's time to say goodbye to most of our dedicated Outdoor Education gurus, who have been with us since the Spring, working with school and college groups (left to right-Tony, Carl, Ryan, Jenn, Shane, Bevin, Ciara and Angie). They will all be missed here at camp. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. Carl.

Docks

For some reason, not too many people are wanting to swim at camp at the moment. That means that it's time for one of our favorite jobs..........taking out the docks. This normally means that people get cold, wet and sometimes fall in. This year was no exception, with Ciara taking a nose dive.

New cabins for Camp Burgess

Work on the new Camp Burgess cabins is well under way, thanks to the hard work of the New England Carpenters Union who are donating their time to the project. They will be located next to the path connecting the lodge and the New Dining Hall. Five cabins are in various states of completion, with each featuring two counselor rooms and bunks for eight campers. The new bunk design is pretty sweet and there is plenty of room in the middle for card games. I'd even go so far as to say you could play 4-square in there, but check with the Director on that one.
Here are some photos from a couple of weeks back, we'll get some up to date ones on here once we figure out what's up with the camera.

New ways to keep the Camp spirit alive

Welcome to our new electric version of The Spectacle Newsletter. Along with our new Facebook user group (Camp Burgess and Hayward), The Electric Spectacle will help you stay up to date with everything that is going on down at camp. Come back soon.