You may have heard that this summer marks 25 years of Camp Nor’wester being able to call Johns Island home. While many older alumni think of Johns Island as the “new” camp location, more than a quarter of  Nor’wester’s almost 90-year history has been spent here. Alumni who were young staff members in the early Johns era are now parents sending their kids to camp. 

Walking around Johns Island last night, you would have found Camp unusually quiet; no campfires in units, no whispered conversations in tents, no outhouse doors slamming, just a blanket of bright stars and the sound of waves. Where are all the campers? They are out on overnights!

Despite years of working at Nor'wester and other camps, when I picture mealtime at a summer camp, I picture the sloppy joe mess hall scene in the Mary-Kate and Ashley classic "It Takes Two." While meals at Camp Nor'wester can contain a certain energy, the unbridled chaos represented in summer camp movies is not our reality.