The BEST Summer to be a New Camper - New Camper Blog Series

Hello new camper families! It’s my favorite time of year again…time for our New Camper Blog series! Every spring, we count down the weeks until camp by posting a new blog each Tuesday that focuses on a topic geared specifically towards our new camper families. Whether it’s more information about making a cabin request or suggestions on what to pack for Rest Hour or even more detailed information on food allergies, we’ve probably covered it at some point in our new camper blog series (you can see our entire archive of new camper blogs here).

Today, we are kicking off with details on why this summer specifically is the very BEST summer to be a new camper family. Let’s go!

Reason #1: Everyone is confused. What a way to start the list, huh? As a new camper family, it’s natural to have LOTS of questions. It’s only normal when you’re new at Greystone. Well this summer, with all of our updates to our normal camp routine, it’s going to feel like every camper is a new camper in some ways. No one is going to know how the schedule works. No one is going to know where to go for Evening Program. It will be difficult to even tell if a camper has been to camp before, because every part of camp is going to be a new routine for everyone. New campers aren’t even going to feel like new campers; they are going to feel like everybody else!

Reason #2: You’ll receive more communication from us than ever before. Because of the changes to our camp routine, we’ll be sharing and communicating more than ever this spring. We want you, and ALL of our returning campers, to know what’s coming, so you’ll be receiving so much more information than what is even normal for us (and we are a camp of many words to start with!). As a new camper family, you’ll be learning right alongside families who have been attending for 8+ years, and we will send you many updated communications along the way.

Reason #3: You won’t even realize what you’re missing; it’s all going to feel great! For some of our returning campers, camp is going to feel different in some significant ways. But for a new camper? It’s just going to feel awesome! Because you’ve never eaten in our Dining Hall before, you won’t realize that it feels different to eat outdoors (in our new al fresco dining area). Because you’ve never been to Carnival, you’ll just embrace the new way of doing things as AWESOME, without comparing it to anything else. You get all the joy and fun with every new thing you do; it will be great!

Reason #4: You’ll get to experience two years worth of exciting in your very first summer. We love doing new things at camp, and the Miller family (who owns camp) pours so much time and resources into improving what we do. When we had to cancel our 2020 summer, we were already well into planning, purchasing, and pouring into that summer…and all of a sudden, those plans were just put on hold. Well, once we started planning for summer 2021, we didn’t just roll over all of those 2020 plans and call it a day. Instead, we started fresh again, as we brainstormed many new ways to make this summer the best. So, you’ll be getting the incredible things we had planned last summer (like our new bouldering wall at High Adventure) combined with new things this summer (like our Farm Barn and Waterpark adventure course)…no new camper group has every enjoyed this much NEW in one summer!

Reason #5: We’ve thought about YOU more than ever before. Our new camper experience is always a big priority for us, and we spend a lot of time every year thinking through how that transition to camp is going to go. This year? Take what we normally do and magnify it abundantly! Because we’ve been running camp for many years, we have the general sense of how it feels to be a new camper during numerous moments in camp. But this year specifically, we have been thinking and talking about how it will feel to be a new camper with every single decision we make. Because we are thinking through things so meticulously, new campers are on our minds more than ever, and the new camper experience is being refined at every turn. We have no doubt that this is only going to make the experience that much better in every way!

There are so many other reasons why being a new camper is the BEST, but these are just a few that come to mind. We will dive into some topics a little deeper in the coming weeks, so check back here every Tuesday as we post our new update in our New Camper Blog Series. We cannot wait to welcome you to camp for your first summer at Greystone!