Camp Notes .06

Summer camp magic 🔥✨

Wyonegonic, in Denmark Maine was the perfect summer camp to finish this project on.

Camp Wyo, as the campers call it, sits on a mile long stretch of lake front with a little over 200 campers. Each unit, separated by age group, has their own swimming dock and lodge. It’s an absolutely stunning property.

I was mesmerised by the height of these pine trees in contrast to the cabins.

Wyo has some magnificent end of summer traditions. The camp director had informed me of this previously, which is why I chose them as my final stop, but I didn’t realise it was going to be as memorable as it was.

The second to last night of camp is their banquet night and the counselors spend the entire day setting this up. They decorate each lodge (three in total) with freshly cut pine tree branches and turn each space into a Christmas wonderland. Pine boughs are wrapped around beams, draped from the chandeliers and lined along the walkway to the entrance. Could you imagine being a young camper and walking into a dining hall that has been fully transformed!? And bonus, each lodge instantly smells like Christmas.

Banquet dinner.

The girls dress in their best uniforms and are served dinner by their loving counselors. Afterwards, they remain in their respective lodges for the next few hours as counselors sing songs they’ve written for their campers, and campers sing songs they’ve written for their counselors. Even out of context listening to these songs was equally hilarious and heart warming. I was crying behind my camera. Some people get very creative and write songs from scratch, but more often it’s popular tunes with lyrics cleverly reworked to fit camp life.

Girls crying and hugging after listening to songs from their counselors.

The last night at Wyo - I’ll try to paint this picture with my words, photos and videos as Wyonegonic’s last night for campers was easily one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever witnessed, so I want to describe it as accurately as possible.

The evening starts with all the campers walking onto the dock for a wishing night candle ceremony.

The ceremony begins just after the sun dips below the mountains. Once the girls start walking onto the dock, 15 canoes from the left and the right fill in (paddled by the eldest campers) towards the middle of the dock. During the ceremony three campers share their wishes for the camp, for alumni and for their friends. When the candles are blown out the ceremony concludes for the younger girls and they walk back to their cabins in silence.

The senior girls leave the dock and paddle their 30 canoes softly and quietly towards a bonfire floating in the middle of the lake. The canoe I’m in is the last to arrive, and we join the others as they paddle in wide circles around the fire. The girls are singing the whole time, but the melodies feel more like lullabies - only the glow of the flames and the sound of their voices cut through the night. We circle the fire until its final flicker fades, and then we paddle home.

And the final flourish, one more sprinkle of summer camp magic: after taps the counselors go from cabin to cabin serenading the campers and taking requests on their favourite camp songs. The campers cuddle in the doorway of each cabin, holding each other, crying and soaking in the final night.

One of Wyonegonic’s camp songs. The lyrics are so perfect.

When the fire burns out and the embers all die, we still have all our stories like stars in the sky and we will always remember how we lite up the night. Ohhhh summers by the lake, like a million twinkling lights. 

Summer camps are pockets of unbroken serenity - a place where time stands still and memories are etched in the hearts of campers for a lifetime.

I have always been a believer in the power of summer camp but now I might be their loudest voice. I will write a final post, separate from this one with all my thoughts on the month long project. For now, I want to thank Wyonegonic for welcoming me into your sacred space and sharing your traditions with me, I will never forget them.

xx,
Amanda