Summer Camp
In past issues of Adoption Briefs, I have focused on issues relating to adoption. I am asserting "poetic license" in this issue and discussing an issue unrelated to adoption, but very much related to children, that of summer camp.
For those of you who have been wondering why you have not received an issue of Adoption Briefs recently, all I can say is that my golf game has gotten very good. I plan to get back on a quarterly schedule for Adoption Briefs beginning with this
issue . . . or, at least, I hope so!
The Summer Camp Experience
As the summer draws to a close and I look back a month ago to the return home from summer camp of two of my three boys, I think about the wonderful experiences all three boys have had attending Camp Thunderbird for Boys in Bemidji, Minnesota. I have three sons, Tyler - age 14, Grant - age 17, and
Joshua - age 19. All three of them have attended Camp Thunderbird since they were 7 years of age for eight weeks during the summer.
This past year, Joshua attended camp as a third year counselor and Tyler attended as a camper. Grant stayed home this summer for reasons which I will explain in a moment.
All three of the boys have had incredible experiences at camp. This year, for example, among other adventures inside and outside of camp, Tyler spent nine days canoeing in Canada, in addition to a number of other shorter canoeing, biking, and hiking trips.
Next year, Tyler will participate in a trip called the "Pacific Northwest", the "PNW" as the boys call it. The PNW is a 4-1/2 week backpacking trip through the Pacific Northwest. Both Joshua and Grant went on the same trip when they were Tyler's age. The PNW participants begin their adventure by flying to Seattle where they spend a couple of days kayaking in the Pacific Ocean and then move inland to the Olympic Rain Forest and backpack through surrounding parks and mountains.
The year following the PNW, Tyler, as did his brothers, will go on the "Western" trip where he will spend four weeks traveling through the Western United States and seeing such sights as Mount Rushmore, Yellow Stone National Park, the Badlands of South Dakota, Banff, and Lake Louise.
In addition to the out-of-camp adventures, all three boys had wonderful experiences in camp learning everything from using a pottery wheel, to shooting 22 caliber target rifles, to sailing small boats, to waterskiing on slalom and trick skis.
On August 17, 1997, Grant flew, alone, to Denmark where he boarded a 188 foot, triple-masted, 15 sail sailing ship and will spend the next ten months sailing from Denmark, to Scotland, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Jamaica, through the Panama Canal, and then to the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, around South America, to South Africa and then back up to Nova Scotia, as part of a program called "Class Afloat".
It is because of Grant's participation in Class Afloat that he chose not to go to camp this summer. By all accounts, Grant was bored to tears this summer.
I know it was because of the independence and the self-esteem which Grant developed at Camp Thunderbird, that he was confident enough to want to participate in Class Afloat.
After watching the movie, "White Squall", Grant searched the Internet for a sailing program like the one in the movie, found Class Afloat, which is sponsored by a Canadian university, sent in for the application, applied and even raised the necessary funds to participate in the program, all on his own.
After watching Grant this past summer, not attending camp, I know that there is no way that he would have had the confidence to sign up for a ten month voyage had he stayed home every summer.
Camp Thunderbird has been a wonderful experience for my boys. It is owned by the same family who founded the camp over fifty years ago. In fact, it is the same camp which I attended for a number of years as a child.
For those of you who have thought about summer camp for your kids and are concerned about them being away from you for a couple of months during the summer, think about what they did yesterday, or the day before. Tyler watched the sun set over a beautiful Canadian lake to the cries of a loon as he relaxed after a day's paddle on crystal clear waters with nine of his buddies and two counselors.
Sure Jacque and I miss them, but they will come home with memories and experiences to last a lifetime.
