The dedication of camp counselors to our summer camp community

One of the things that I love most about our brother-sister summer camp is how dedicated our counselors are to our kids and the community. During each summer they work long days for one purpose: to help our campers grow and make as many friendships as possible. They are wonderful role models to our campers, and honor us by returning in large numbers year after year. Our camp counselors really are one of the best parts of our community.

While our Winter Weekend is a ton of fun, to be successful it also needs quality counselors who are eager to work and bond with our campers. You may not know that our counselors are so passionate about being with our campers that they volunteer to be a part of this weekend, and there is a waiting list to participate. THAT'S how much our brother-sister summer camp means to them. So let me introduce you to some of our amazing camp staff:

From left to right are Meg, Sophie, Julia and Jacqueline. Each has been a long-time counselor at our summer camp for girls, and each went to great lengths to be with us in New Hampshire this weekend. Julia and Jacqueline were fortunate enough to attend winter weekend's as campers, and are now paying it forward by volunteering to help out at this fabulous special event. Meg and Sophie were so excited about attending their first camp winter event that they flew in from the UK! By the way, Sophie is actually a second-generation member of the K&E family, as her mother was with us in the 80's! 

And it wasn't just the counselors from our summer camp for girls who made the long trek to be with us. JP (in the maroon jacket) also flew in from England for this event, and Caleb (sporting the beard) traveled up from Georgia to be with his campers. Dylan, the tall smiling guy in the back of the photo, took a weekend off from college in Rhode Island to join us as well. Josh and Sean love camp so much that they now work year-round in our camp office (nice job with the photo bomb, Head Counselor Courtney Chaloff!). 

Clarkie, who runs the oldest boys' age group, lives in New Zealand but made a stopover in London before making his way to New Hampshire so that he could spend the weekend with the campers he so loves. This will be the final Winter Weekend for these guys (they graduate at the end of this summer), and there was no way that Clarkie was going to miss this time with them!

Salvadore, the head of our cooking program, became our first staff member from Mexico ever to take part in the Winter Weekend. It was also his first time seeing snow, and his first time sledding. As you can see he took to it pretty quickly!

Elise, flanked by Sophie and Meg, also made a long journey, taking the train up from Virginia just to be with us. During the summer Elise is a unit leader at our summer camp for girls, and thankfully will be returning for yet another summer in 2016!

And while the lake was frozen solid, Keiran, head of the waterfront at our summer camp for boys, came by to hang out with his camp friends. 

Events like this remind us of how fortunate we are to have such a close, caring community. They also remind us how incredibly dedicated our camp counselors are to the campers and the mission of our brother-sister summer camp. It simply would not be the same without them.

Jason Sebell