It is January and we are in the midst of Winter. Hopefully you are getting out and enjoying the season in some way, shape, or form. I know that there is not much snow, but hey maybe we will get it in the summer. Anyone remember session 1 last summer with the snow? Only a little snow up at camp right now, and the moose has moved on.

This summer we are making a few changes for the Pathfinder program. To start with we are bringing back the overnight camp out program. We will be having a couple of new sites to use for cabin campouts. 1 will be down near Tent Village; 1 will be up Brandywine Gulch; 1 will be near the lake; and 1 farther up the mountain from Brandywine. Cabins will have the opoortuntiy to head out and spend the night campign out under the stars, telling stories, and roasting marshmallows. Hopefully we will get some rain in the spring so we do not have the same level of fire bans as last summer.

Also, we are changing the mornings at camp. The whole camp will be doing “Skill Tracks” in the morning. Each camper will get to choose from a collection of activities that will be 1-hour in length and will meet every day. The activities might be Arts and Crafts, Sports, Dance, Archery, Slacklining, Kayaking, Nature, Creative Dramatics, and frisbee. You get the point, there will be lots to do. Then after lunch and Siesta, the Pathfinder Unit will be doing things together, or as a cabin. And then coming back together for “Free Choice” time in the afternoon before dinner.

I am in the process of interviewing returning and new staff right now and it is making me very excited for camp to begin! So, get ready for camp, and see you soon!

Well camp is over and most campers are back in school, and the staff have all gotten back into the routine of school or work, and this weekend Fall begins with the Autumnal Equinox on Saturday. If you are having a little camp withdrawl, no worries. The video skill track videos are now up on YouTube, and you can see them here. And we are getting the summer’s photos up on Shutterfly as well.

While the summer of 2012 is still several months away, we are working on getting the dates set for next summer. We will be getting those dates and sessions posted on the website and out to you in early October. We will be adding a Counselor in Training program in 2012 so those of you who were Teen Leaders this summer can come back and spend another summer with us and get training to apply to be a staff in 2013. We are also expanding the Teen Adventure program to offer a wider variety of trips.

And as we move away from the summer of 2011 and closer to the summer of 2012, I have a question for you to ponder in the spirit of keeping the energy of summer going year round. How has camp helped you become who you are, and how can you bring camp into your daily life? Have fun exploring those answers and if you feel like sharing, send us an email at santamaria@ymcabv.org.

Well, summer 2011 is in the books, and is was awesome! Sure there were a few bumps along the way, like fire bans, and we still had an amazing time! We had the most kids we have ever had come and experience Camp Santa Maria this summer including 4 weeks of camp when we were completely full! And while the staff and the site have something to do with the great summer, it really is the campers who come to camp and their parents who send them to camp that really make camp happen. So thank you for helping to make camp great.

It is a little quieter at camp now. Mini campers left 2 weeks ago, and then we had a great weekend family group right after camp with about 120 people at camp over the weekend, and last weekend we had a men’s group at camp. A couple of staff are staying around camp and helping out with weekends and closing down camp from the summer. They all say how odd it is walking around camp and not having campers at camp. It is different. The deer have begun coming a little closer to main camp, and the birds seem really loud.

We did have a great tour yesterday with several members of the YMCA of Boulder Valley Board of Directors. These were some of the facilities board members that wanted a tour of camp. It was great being able to walk them around and talk about the future of camp and where the Y and the Dowers want camp to go. That is it for now, we will be getting registrations ready for next summer by the end of September, so keep an eye on the website, and our Facebook page. See you soon, there is after all only 291 more days until camp 2012!