Summer on Johns Island is winding down, but the final week of August holds one last gem before the season ends. After our Second Session campers leave and before Camp closes for the fall, we welcome prospective campers and their families to a short, four-day session known officially as Explore Nor’wester – and affectionately as “Family Camp.” Family Campers have the opportunity to live in tipis, participate in activities at the waterfront, craft shop, and ropes course, eat and sing together in the Lodge, partake in campfire skits, dances, and Musicale, and get a sense for what being a Nor’wester camper is like.
Multiple generations of Camp families – as well as families new to Nor’wester – joined us for Family Camp 2017!
This year, 26 families joined us for Family Camp. It was a fun and memorable time for all of us, staff and families alike, as we got to know one another, shared Camp traditions, and lived in community. By the end of the four days, several of our young campers were eager to sign up for a full session of Camp!
Our Family Campers had plenty of time for both department activities and down time throughout the weekend.
On the same day that our Family Campers arrived, we also welcomed 50 very special guests to Johns Island. Representing multiple generations of Nor’wester Spirit and dedicated involvement with Camp, these Charter Donors came for a celebration honoring their enduring legacy and incredible commitment to Camp. (Our Charter Donors are those supporters whose belief in Nor’wester’s future during a time of great uncertainty – the transition from the Sperry Peninsula property to Johns Island – made possible the continuation of Camp and all the ways in which we are thriving today.)
Our Charter Donor Celebration culminated with the dedication of Mollie Montgomery’s gorgeous commemorative art piece.
The program of the Charter Donor Celebration included the dedication of a beautiful art piece specifically commissioned to commemorate this core group of Nor’wester benefactors. Camp alumna Mollie Montgomery created a magnificent copper madrona tree whose roots are inscribed with the names of our Charter Donors, representing the foundation from which Camp has grown and flourished. The madrona tree was installed on one of the exterior walls of the Lodge earlier this summer, where it can be seen by everyone who enters Camp’s main gathering place.
We were incredibly honored to host our Charter Donors at Camp!
As we gathered beneath the tree to recognize and celebrate so many Nor’wester campers, staff, and families who made it possible for Camp to persevere and grow into what it is today, we could feel the extent to which our roots run deep, even as our branches continue to reach higher every year.
These last two experiences of the summer – Family Camp and our Charter Donor Celebration – offered us many opportunities to reflect with gratitude on all of the remarkable things that have happened at Camp this summer. It has truly been a summer to remember, and we are thankful for everyone who played a part in it. Farewell, Summer 2017; you will live on in our hearts for years to come!