Hayward Adventure Camp

In response to overwhelming demand, we are now opening registration for our first Hayward Adventure Camp. It runs from July 20th - 27th and features the best parts of both camp and adventure trips.
Participants get to sleep at Base Camp next to Camp Burgess, attend all the big Hayward events (dance, campfire, beachday), do the best CAPS (horseback riding, high ropes, climbing tower, tubing etc.), take a surf lesson, cycle to the beach and more. Meals involve a mixture of the best eating spots on the Cape (Hayward Dining Hall, Base Camp, the Pontoon Boat and the Burgess Dining Hall).
If you want to find out more, take a look at an itinerary or register, give us a call. at 508-428-2571.

Happy Pig

Today is the pigs third day at camp, and what a happy pig he is. As you can see in the pictures we had him fitted with a special harness. This means he is able to be outside all day digging holes which is what he does best. It also means that he can be trained to walk on the harness much like a dog. If he is able to do this it means he will be able to walk around camp and not be in his pen all day. It took him only a few minutes to be comfortable in the harness and he spent all day outside digging holes with his noise and finding grubs to eat. Pigs will put on a about a pound and a half in weight a day when they are piglets.

New Arrivals (Part 2)

Along with our new OE staff we have a brand new camp pet. His name is undecided as of this post (feel free to e-mail suggestions to lhastings@ssymca.org) and he is a pig! Laura picked him up from a farm near New Hampshire and brought him down for his new life as camp's composter. He will be in charge of eating the scraps of food left over from meals at camp and turning them into fertiliser for some of the new gardens around the new nature center. George, Jessie and the OE staff worked really hard building him a house which is more like a palace with a door, window and cosy bed.

Jessie hard at work building the pig palace

This was his first night at camp, after a three hour car ride he was very hungry. We were preparing to bottle feed him for a few weeks but he loves his food so much that he doesn't want milk anymore!!

Before coming to camp the pig had never been outside, in a car, with people or out of the pen he was born in. So coming to camp was a big change for him. Pigs are very intelligent, more so than dogs and are good animals to train. Were going to be spending these first few weeks getting him used to humans and his new environment. He has been living at Laura's house because he is just too little to stay alone right now in the pig palace. Here he got to meet one of her cats and they fell in love! The cats cry for him when hes at work and he gets excited when he comes home and snorts and grunts to them.

Ashley and Donna came round to spend some time with the pig, its important he feels comfortable around a lot of humans. As you can see he is adjusting to his new life just fine. He loves to sleep on the sofa or comfortable pillows.

Another important lesson for our pig is to get used to being around dogs as we have three who live at camp right now. He also got an A+ at this assignment. He was very good with the dogs and the dogs were very curious of him!

New Arrivals (part 1)

Spring has sprung at Camp and we have several new arrivals. First came the Outdoor Education Staff an intrepid bunch of instructors coming from all over America, England and Guernsey! Were very pleased to have them here and cant wait for an amazing Spring season. If you come down to Volunteer Day on May 10th you'll get to meet them and help us gear camp up for the summer!

First day and everyone is feeling a bit new!

10 minuites later camp works its magic

Ta-da! everyone has settled in well. From left to right top to bottom we have Ashley, Emily, Mary, Chloe, Jess, Ben, their fearless leader Carl, Ryan and Brian.

Notes on Camp

National Public Radio's "This American Life" did a great show all about camp. You can listen for free or pay to download at; http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=109

It made us laugh out loud
Enjoy

Camp Burgess & Hayward in Atlantic City

During the winter a strange thing happens. Camp staff converge in their fleeces and comfortable pants and shoes on cities across the country. They are easily spotted due to the abundance of "camp apparel", proud name tags and uneasy way in which they walk through the "big city". You may even spot them grouped together, often in a circle formation. Traffic accidents usually increase around these events as all these country people fall into the sights of the ruthless city drivers.
Camp Burgess & Hayward cut loose some of it's staff this week on Atlantic City for the American Camping Association Conference. Why Atlantic City and not some camp somewhere? Well apparently there aren't any camps that could fit everyone, there are thousands of camp professionals attending. They will be spending their time in workshops with some of the best camp experts around, learning about new programs and also meeting with the organizations that help us to recruit our international staff. Expect some great new things this summer.

Ski & Snowboard Adventure Photos

As promised, here are a few shots from our February Vacation Ski and Snowboard Trip to New Hampshire. It's not too soon to find out about next years trip. Call us now (508 428 2571).

Noah Shelter

On Tuesday night Lois, Debra, Silva and Laura went to the Noah Shelter in Hyannis to cook and serve a meal to roughly 80 homeless people living in the Hyannis area.

Lois was as usual an outstanding cook and we served chicken ala king (queen), rice, biscuits, green beans and two desserts.

As a camp community we hope to be able to do this once a month, it felt good to be able to put our camp values into action in a really real way.

Estimates from the National Coalition for the Homeless estimate 3.5 million people in America will experience homelessness in any given year of those 1.5 million are children. If you are over 16 years of age and want to volunteer to serve a meal with us or to donate food we'd love to hear from you.

You can e-mail lhastings@ssymca.org

Winter Ski and Snowboard Adventure

Donna and Ryan set off today with 10 gnarly teens for the snowy north country. They will spend the week based out of North Conway in New Hampshire where they will be hitting the slopes of Cranmore, Loon and Waterville Valley. If you're reading this, it looks like you missed this years trip, so make sure you give us a call next fall to book your spot for 2009.
Check back next week for photos from the trip.

Wampanoag Tribal Social

The Wampanoag Tribe are regular visitors to Camp Burgess and Hayward. The Burgess Dining Hall was the setting this Saturday for a regular social event, involving song, dance, drumming and good food. Tribe members have run some awesome programs for Burgess and Hayward in the past, including special campfires and cultural presentations. You can find out more about the Mashpee Wampanoag at http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag .