We had K&E’s Winter Weekend a couple of weekends ago.
Not the whole camp. Just 60ish seniors (13, 14, 15-year-olds) signed up for this summer. It’s a long-standing tradition here, and honestly, it’s such a culture builder.
Been 10 or so days, and it’s still fresh on my mind. But it was and is also a great reminder of why this place matters so much to these kids.
Let’s go old school, Bill Simmons-running-diary-style through this thing.
Friday 11:00am - Meet the NYC bus with Violet. Cold happy kids. Remind them to tell their parents they love them!
5:00pm - Buses arrive. Soooo cold, but everyone was geared up for the weather.
6:15pm - Dinner in the bottom of Cypress, which is normally the dance studio. Kind of a funky little spot. Only a handful of places at camp are 100% winterized so we make it work.
7:00pm - Sledding in the Hollow. All of these best friends just go to a sledding hill and mess around. Everyone’s dressed like a marshmallow because you’re out in the snow.
No one cares about falling because everyone looks like that kid in A Christmas Story who can’t put his arm down. Can barely tell who you’re even talking to.
8:15pm - Bingo in Cypress. The game works because it’s basically an excuse to talk to each other over a thing happening in the background. Just hanging out, playing bingo, winning a few prizes.
9:00pm - Somewhere around here Hut 6 and Juniper start figuring out how to be leaders. Hut 6 gathered everybody organically and tried to play Simon Says. Then they did this little rap battle thing. The rule was everybody has to be nice to each other, and in their own way, this is where leadership starts.
10:00pm - Back to bunks. Teenagers love having staff around, but only to a certain extent. They want to talk to counselors and directors, but they also want their own space. They stay up late catching up, reliving camp.
Saturday, 8:30am - Wake up.
9:00am - Breakfast in Cypress.
10:00am - Options for those who want them. Sledding in the Hollow. Sledding at JBF. Broomball on the pond. Kids going back and forth between them. It’s cold enough for fires on the lake.
10:30am - Pickleball opens. It’s indoors in the unheated dining hall, which is kind of cool.
12:30pm - Pizza lunch.
12:45pm - Giveaways and group photo.
1:30pm - We ran a “What do you want from this summer?”-session. Sat down with the kids to ask them their opinions on programs, traditions, stuff they want to ditch, stuff they want to come back.
2:15pm - S’mores by the fire on a frozen lake is pretty sweet.
3:00pm - Tackle football in the Hollow. This might be the best thing we do all weekend. Coed and everybody in their jumpsuits. Can’t move that fast. It’s just so fun and silly. Kids don’t get to play pickup tackle football almost anywhere anymore.
4:00pm - Sleigh or Nay which is a winter version of Yacht or Not (Sled Edition) where kids make sleds and then ride them. It’s very low stakes, very creative, totally silly.
6:00pm - Dinner.
6:30pm - Outdoor sledding in the Hollow in the dark with the big lights turned on.
7:00pm - DIY ice cream in the snow by Cypress.
7:30pm - Fireworks on the beach. So special to be at camp and there’s fireworks and it’s freezing but everyone’s out watching them.
8:00pm - Blacklight party in Hemlock. They’re bundled up because it’s not a heated building, but then it warms up because they’re all in there. First social as seniors for a bunch of them.
9:00pm - Chillin in Cypress and Scott played guitar upstairs. Totally optional. He’s like “I’m gonna go play guitar upstairs if anybody wants to come sing some songs.”
And the kids loved it. It was awesome.
Sunday, 7:15am - Pack up.
8:00am - Breakfast.
9:00am - Board buses. Kids hugging goodbye. Snap you later, see you this summer.
What I love about Winter Weekend after my second time through it?
First off, the K&E team absolutely crushed it. Scott, Sylvia, Sue, Geof, Landon, Jacki, Bob, DJ, Josh, Ali, Violet, Greg and everyone else put in so much to make this happen.
It’s a 48-hour sprint of 110% energy and it takes full buy-in from everyone.
What really matters though?
Sledding. Bingo. S’mores on a frozen lake. Tackle football. Scott playing guitar. None of it complicated, but the kids loved every minute because they’re with their best friends at the place that matters most to them.
The activities are great excuses to hang out. Bingo gives them something to talk over. Football gives them a reason to be outside, falling into snow. The blacklight party gives them a place to dance and be goofy together.
These kids went back to school these past weeks carrying camp with them. They’re texting about it. Already planning for summer.
And when June actually arrives, they’re not starting from zero. They’re continuing something that never really stopped.
Which is the way camp should be. And how it already is.
We got this,
Jack
PS - Let’s talk camp.
My favorite thing in the world, besides running camp, is talking to families about what camp will look like for your kids.
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