{"id":2683,"date":"2025-08-16T11:37:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chestnutlakecamp.com\/blog\/?p=2683"},"modified":"2025-08-16T11:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:37:39","slug":"campfire-tales-one-for-the-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chestnutlakecamp.com\/blog\/campfire-tales-one-for-the-books","title":{"rendered":"Campfire Tales | One for the Books (8\/16\/25)"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Aaron Selkow, Owner\/Director<\/pre>\n
There\u2019s a certain hum that fills camp in the final week \u2014 a sound that\u2019s equal parts joy, exhaustion, and an unspoken understanding that these days are numbered. It\u2019s the laughter that carries across the fields at dusk, the way voices in the dining hall hit a slightly higher pitch, and the quiet conversations between friends who know they\u2019re about to be apart. It\u2019s the sound of a summer\u2019s worth of living, pressed into its final pages.<\/p>\n
Over the past seven weeks, 654 campers have called Chestnut Lake home, and 246 staff members have poured themselves into making sure those campers had a summer they\u2019ll carry forever. That\u2019s thousands of moments spent connecting, millions of footsteps across camp, and more than a few well-timed reminders to \u201cplease put your sneakers on before going to tennis \u2014 Crocs are not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>We\u2019ve come a long way since the start of Second Session. Back then, the new campers were figuring out the map of this place \u2014 not just where things were, but where they belonged in it. In those early days, I wrote about how campers grow; constantly grow \u2014 but watching it happen is still like magic every time. The kid who could barely meet my eyes when they stepped off the bus is now belting out the Alma Mater at the top of their lungs (especially the \u201cI\u2019m Chestnut \u2018til I die\u2026\u201d part at the end). The first-time counselor who thought \u201cleading a bunk\u201d meant giving orders learned quickly that it\u2019s about listening, laughing, and sometimes sitting quietly with a camper who just needs to be heard.<\/p>\n
We had plenty of the headline events. Tribal returned with all its energy \u2014 a few days when camp split into Unami and Minsi, competed like their lives depended on it, and then hugged like nothing had ever been at stake. We had our helicopter landing, our massive fireworks, our banquets, our talent shows (some of which redefined the word \u201ctalent\u201d in ways I\u2019m still trying to process). These are the moments that make the photo albums and the highlight videos.<\/p>\n
However, as I wrote in an earlier blog post, the important information is often found in the spaces between. In the quiet moment before a bunk takes the stage. The counselor who notices the homesick camper before anyone else. The smile that spreads across a camper\u2019s face when they finally hit the target, make it to the top of the climbing wall, or just realize that they belong here.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a saying in Michael Thompson\u2019s Homesick and Happy<\/em>: \u201cCamp is not built on the big events, but on the thousands of small human exchanges that make children feel known, valued, and part of something larger than themselves.\u201d I think about that when I remember:<\/p>\n