Stories from Around the Campfire

Like adults who live their lives for Fridays at five, there are some kids who start school in September counting down the days to summer camp. Whether it means taking a break from the 'rents for a while, being able to raise hell and stay up late with friends, doing all sports all the time, or meeting new kids, camping is a much anticipated chunk of childhood.

Some of us at Dan's Papers are hardly strangers to the camp experience, although the experiences themselves may have been strange. And as we recount some of our memories of summer days, we ask our readers to take a moment to recall their own defining moments from summer vacation.

"I went to a week-long basketball camp at Stony Brook Southampton (back when it was Long Island University) with five of my friends when we were in middle school. We slept in the dorms and felt so cool and grown up." - Janine Cheviot, Features Editor

"One of my favorite camp pastimes was dance class. As a group, we would select a song and practice new dance moves - however silly or challenging. That summer we danced to "Circle of Life" from The Lion King. We made costumes and props and before I knew it, it was Family Fun Night and I was able to show my parents what I worked so hard on for the past six weeks. All the parents had fun and took pictures and now I will always cherish the framed photo of me as a hyena." - Victoria L. Cooper, Coordinating Editor

"I always had the sinking feeling that I was far too neurotic to go to camp. I preferred staying home reading grammar books, or swatting flies on the back porch in Pittsburgh (both great preparation for a career in publishing). I eschewed a Girl Scout sleepover because one of my troop leaders smoked - unacceptable by my standards. But one summer two of my older siblings had to go to summer school, so my mother made me go, too. The food smelled funny." - Susan Galardi, Managing Editor

"I went to the Dude Ranch - I don't remember where it was - when I was about 11 years old. I couldn't swim but I jumped into the water and started to go down. At first I panicked, then it all became very peaceful, and somebody pulled me out. Right after that I learned how to swim. And I got both of my sons involved in swim lessons before they could walk." - Kathy Rae, Publisher

"I went to Camp Normandie on Lake Champlain when I was eleven years old. It was a water skiing camp, and I spent all week trying to get up on one ski instead of two. My second to last day I did it, and the entire camp cheered when they saw me up. I haven't been able to get up on one ski since. But I'll never forget how loud my cabin mates screamed when they heard the news, you would have thought I had just won the Olympics." - David Lion Rattiner, Montauk Pioneer Managing Editor/Danshamptons.com Editor

"When I was 8 or 9, I went to a day camp in Queens. I loved it. I learned to swim that summer, and I went out on a sailboat for the first time in my life. I remember going under the Whitestone Bridge, feeling the boat on the waves, and actually smelling the sea. It was such a great experience. I couldn't wait until the bus came in the morning and I could go - I think my mother felt the same way..." - Richard Swift, Advertising Director

- Susan Galardi

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