The 57th Summer Is Here!

June 8, 2014 by Don Gentle

FINALLY!  I cannot believe how much I wanted camp to start this year!  I am so excited that camp finally opened today!  It takes so much to get here that when the last few days are approaching it is almost too much!  Thanks to everyone for making it a great opening day!

I sure did enjoy meeting all the parents and campers this morning!  The rain ended just as the first parents were coming up the road!  The clouds made way for wonderful partly cloudy skies all afternoon.  I must say it could have been the smoothest opening day I have ever experienced.  I did my best to let the expert staff do their role and spent my time meeting new campers and catching up with returners.

As many of you know, Zoob and I stepped up to a new role this year as Directors.  While not a lot has changed, it definitely has a different feel.  I must say, that it is hard to believe that this is my 21st summer.  Zoob out ranks me by one; coming in at 22 summers.  We make a pretty good team and we certainly still enjoy having Hank and Townsend around to help us out. Townsend is still very much part our dream team, and while Hank tries to focus on other ventures, we look to him for guidance often.

I felt the need to catch a little bit of that summer camp spirit by making an excuse to get pictures of our CTs (counselors-in-training) and headed out of the office.  I sure do love this place!  I am still impressed how quickly boys can catch up with old friends like they just saw each other yesterday.  I’m even more impressed how well these High Rocks boys welcome in new boys to make them part of the pack.  It sure does make me feel good to see these boys play together.

Zoob and Woody have assembled an incredible staff! They make a pretty good team too!  We have been very fortunate to have plenty of applicants to choose from.  After many personal interviews, reference checks, and just plain good profiling skills, Woody and Zoob have created the best staff possible for 2014!  For this session we have 148 campers, 79 staff members, and 6 counselor trainees. Most of our staff are returning counselors or former High Rocks campers; 51 of the 79 staff members are returning for the second summer or more!   If you would like to know a little more about our staff or your son’s cabin counselor visit our 2014 High Rocks Staff page.

Please remember not to send packages of any sort. Packages will not be delivered to campers (if there is a birthday, call us for instructions). If you need to send a forgotten item of clothing, medication, etc., call our office first & then send the item to the attention of our office staff. We will open the package and deliver the item.

The link below will take you to today’s picture gallery. It is a password protected area, so please enter the password you were given on opening day or what was mailed in the parent guide.  There is no username required, just enter the password. The page should open to a new window that is just a slideshow.  You will notice that our website and picture gallery is very user friendly on most any device, including mobile and tablet devices.  In order to enjoy your viewing experience of the gallery, please take these recommendations:

• Once you get to the page, scroll down until you see the bottom of the slideshow window.  Click on the last icon on the right, it will allow the slideshow to expand into the whole window. Use this option for desktops and standard laptops.
• For tablets, phone devices, and other screen enabled devices, tap the middle of the slideshow once to enlarge it.  This will also give you navigation options.  Typical swipe navigation will work as well.
• The slide show has a self-play option, but you can advance through as fast you wish by using the navigation or swipe options.
• If you have any problems getting the picture gallery to work, please e-mail me at don@highrocks.com or visit this post I put together to help folks out.

Beginning tomorrow, I will put the picture link at the top of each post so you can find it easily.  While I did not get to see everyone, it was a pleasure seeing so many returning faces as well all the new families today.  We’re looking forward to a great session. Be sure to visit often to check out pictures as the session progresses. Feel free to add any comments to the daily posts as well.

Take care,

Don Gentle
Director

 Today’s Pictures