The Norms - New Camper Blog Series

Bedding: While we offer a camp red blanket and sheets for you to use, the majority of campers bring their own bedding. Most bring their own sheets and a blanket or comforter. You need to bring your own pillow, but most girls also bring a few stuffed animals or a decorative pillow from home. There is no need to go overboard, but when talking the “norms”, most girls bring a few things for their bed.

Pictures: We allow you to decorate your bunk space with pictures. Most girls do end up bringing a picture collage or individual pictures. It’s rare to see a bunk with nothing hanging up.

Shoes: We recommend bringing 1-2 pairs of tennis shoes. Most girls bring 2 pairs, so they can rotate in case their first pair gets wet. Speaking of getting wet, we recommend water shoes, and the number one kind of water shoe we see are Chacos – it’s the “norm” around here for sure. Close seconds include Tevas and Keens.

Backpacks: Campers need a backpack or tote to carry their things. The number one type of backpack we see is a Kavu style – it’s a tad smaller, but easy for girls to carry. You’ll see a good mix of bookbags and tote bags as well.

Green & Gold: With our two camp teams, we ask that you bring a green or gold shirt with you (or purchase one on Opening Day from our Greystone Store once you know your team). Most campers bring or purchase a few extras as well. A great place to look for suggestions is in our blog from last week.

Crazy Creek chair: If you are coming to one of our longer sessions, you’ll see almost everyone with a Crazy Creek chair. This is an optional item on our packing list, so it’s not required, but as far as “the norms” go, many girls love and use their Crazy Creeks.

Number of bags when packing: This is a tricky one to pinpoint “the norm,” as you see a wide range here. If I was taking a guess on the total number of big bags you see, I would guess 2 per person. At our shorter sessions, it may be less, but often at our longer session, you’ll see a trunk and duffle, or two big duffles. It is hard to say exactly, as really depends on the camper, but that’s a good general norm.

Arrival time: We open our gates at 7:30 a.m. and let girls start walking to their cabins by 8:30 a.m. Most of our campers are in camp by 8:30 a.m. If you want to walk up to your cabin right at 8:30 a.m. when we release you, you’ll want to be pulling into camp no later than 8:10 a.m.

Bedding: Most families carry their bedding items to their cabin. This is a smart move so that you can go ahead and make your bed, without having to wait on our trailers to drop off your luggage at your cabin.

Heading to the cabin: With the way we assign bunks at Junior, June, and August camps, many of our campers will walk up the hill with their parents. You will see some of the older, returning campers run up to their cabins (as they are so excited!) but “the norm” these days is to not worry as much about racing up the hill.

Mail Bins: This is a parent-specific norm, but most parents stop by our Office on Opening Day to put letters in Mail Bins we have on the porch. You can drop letters for the first 4 days of camp, making sure your daughter will receive mail those first few days. You can bring pre-written letters or use some of our camp postcards we have available for this purpose.