Finally, time to go meet some new families and old friends on the road! Come rain, shine, sleet or snow Camp Friendship will be getting out to Richmond and Charlottesville camp fairs this weekend. It has been far too long and we are ready to talk summer camp with you. We invite you all to come out and see us this weekend at the Richmond Science Museum Camp Fair or the Albemarle Family Fun Fair & Camp Expo.
The American Camp Association has a great site dedicated to celebrating their 100th Anniversary, working and educating camps and camp professionals. I'd encourage everyone to go check it out.
Here's a quick video of our 1990's ACA National President and owner/founder of Camp Friendship, Mr. Chuck Ackenbom. Just a few words about his start in camping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sITRlUS3gFM
Thank you to everyone for stopping by and seeing us this past weekend. Camp Friendship was busy talking to new families and current camp families. It was really nice seeing all of you. I even got to meet families that had been campers 20 and even 30 years ago, who stopped by to say hello. 
The Bushor family even stopped by to visit with us at the Dulles Town Center, it was a lot of fun!
This weekend we are back on the road and we'd love to see all of you there. Liz and I will be at White Flint Mall greeting our friends and families on Saturday and on Sunday Chuck Ackenbom and Lauren will be taking over. Alina will be traveling down to Charlotte, NC to see our North Carolina families, so please stop by if you are in the area. Skye will be in Columbia, MD ready to answer any questions you have about our programs, specially riding camp programs. We can't wait to see you all there!
The Summer Camp Handbook is a great resource for all families interested or already participating in the summer camp experience. This book/website is updated and written by Jon Malinowski and Christopher Thurber. They have recently updated with an interview with Christopher Thurber so please check it out to learn more about the writer.
This handbook provides great information for all summer camp families ranging from day camp to resident camp, what to pack, safety/medical concerns, adult situations at camp and much more. In the hopes of helping our camp families make the best possible decision for their children's camp experience, we will be highlighting some of the best articles in the Summer Camp Handbook right here in the coming months.
In the meantime we'd like to encourage all families that are currently searching for the perfect camp or have already, to check out this great resource to answer some of those questions you haven't even thought of yet. The Camp Friendship MOM TO MOM page also has many more links to other informative articles, that will help in your summer camp education.
Please remember that while the Summer Camp Handbook is a fabulous resource it's not specific to any summer camp. All summer camps have their very own specific policies and for specific information on a camp's policies you should contact that camp or Camp Director with your questions.
The holiday season is underway in full force. Soon it will be all about friends, families, gifts, and more. As you go out looking for that special one of a kind gift this holiday season let me take a moment to tell you about a one of a kind gift you might want to consider this holiday season.
The Gift of Camp! Camp is a one of a kind experience for many children, an experience that not everyone has the opportunity to take part in. This year consider giving the "Gift of Camp" to a loved one. Instead of toys, games, or clothes, give them an opportunity to be themselves and make friends that will last a lifetime.
Camp offers children an opportunity to be themselves, to play out doors, and experiment with new activities and learning opportunities not available to them in schools. This year give the children in your life a gift they will always remember.
Want to be able to put your gift in a box? Camp is happy to help. Visit our website for a gift certificate for your Gift of Camp this holiday season. Don't pass up this great opportunity to share this fun, learning experience with your family and friends. Give the Gift of Camp Today!
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes To All
Cris
Alina here, bringing you a quick update from the Camp Friendship tennis courts! It’s getting a bit cold out these days but we are still having a great time on the courts.
I have been busy on the Camp Friendship tennis courts running clinics and private lessons for the local community kids and it has been going very well. Most of the students are taking lessons with me in order to prepare for the spring high school tennis season. I do a lot of on-court instruction, working with them on their skills, running a lot of fun drills and games and quick tournaments.
Modern tennis is much more athletic than it used to be. Players hit harder and practice more off the tennis court, working on their fitness and stamina. I make sure my students work on their fitness through weight training, running and some footwork exercises to improve their speed and agility on the tennis court.
Other than working with our year round tennis student I’ve been participating in conferences and improving my skills. Last Sunday I participated in the USPTA Conference in Rockville, MD. 
The keynote speaker was Nick Saviano from Saviano High Performance Academy in Sunrise, Fl. Nick is a former Pro Player who has a great reputation among fellow tennis coaches. His modern tennis teaching methods have resulted in producing a lot of nationally ranked juniors and very successful pro players.
I attended Nick’s workshop on Perception and Anticipation tennis. The sport of tennis is becoming very fast these days with the balls achieving high speeds of 150 miles per hour. Having only a minimum time to respond it is essential for players to be able to determine where and how the ball will move and be completely prepared for a quick response. Nick shared a lot of great drills and techniques on how to work with players and achieve the best performance on court. The exciting thing is that these methods can be applied to teaching players of all levels and abilities. As a tennis teaching professional it is a great thrill to be able to obtain more knowledge and techniques that I can't wait to share with my students and campers. It will be great to have CF campers return to camp next summer for my tennis clinics.
About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in the Mid Atlantic USTA Tennis Championship for women over thirty. It was a great challenge and it’s exciting to announce that I won. Thanks to this win I’m now ranked #1 in the Mid-Atlantic ranking for women over thirty.
See you soon on the courts and around the campfire.
Alina
As always if you’d like more information about the CF tennis programs and summer tennis clinics go to www.campfriendship.com or email Alina at alina@campfriendship.com
We have heard it all before, outside play is very important to every child's growth and development. However experiencing and appreciating nature is just as important for your child and their development. Camp is a great opportunity to play outside and experience the best parts of nature but unfortunately you can't be with us all year. Therefore, I've got a few suggestions for quick outside play in nature that will get you out of the house with the family or just the kids can take part, even the teens.
1. Go To The Park - Now this is a given, take a day trip to the local park or just visit for a few hours with the family. Depending on the distance from your home this could be a all day event or just a quick visit to relax an unwind. You might even consider having a picnic.
2. Walk The Dog - This may not be necessarily a nature walk depending on whether you live in the city or in a more rural area. Either way this will be a great time to enjoy the weather (whatever that may be) and spend some time with man's best friend.
3. Take A Walk - This is a beautiful time of year, the leaves are changing colors and everything is changing in nature. It's a great time to put on a coat and go for a walk with the family. Talk about the seasons or just enjoy each others company. If you've got a preschooler and a 6 year old like me, get ready for a lot of questions and even some running. :)
4. Snow Play - Many of you will be, if you haven't already, experiencing a bit of snow very soon. There's no better time to go crazy at play than in the snow weather. The young kids will love it! Make a snowman, have a snowball fight, build a fort, go sledding, or have some hot chocolate on the porch while the kids play.
5. Family Vacation - The holidays are about to kick in and many of us will be visiting family members all over the country. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the natural wonders in the different parts of the country. Depending on where you are going it'll be a different experience outside, an experience you may have not really thought of much before. I can tell you I'm visiting Wisconsin for part of my holiday and that's way different than Virginia, a "White Christmas" for me.
These are just my suggestions to you for spending some time outside playing and enjoying nature. I'm sure you'll come up with your own in no time, but to get you started just go play, have fun outside and see what happens!
It has now been over 7 weeks since summer camp ended here at Camp Friendship and we are already missing you all very much. This month we will be holding our Fall Open House for our friends to visit and prospective families to come by and get to know us a little better. The Open House will be taking place on Saturday October 17th, 2009 from 12 to 3 p.m. This year's Fall Open House will be similar to our Spring Open House except that you will have the opportunity to meet our new Director, Samantha Leonard. Sam will be available for questions and will be giving camp tours to all interested visitors and families.
Many of our returning families are familiar with our Spring Open Houses, which we will still have in April, but this year we are starting a little early.
By hosting this extra Open House a little earlier in the season we hope to give our families and prospective families an opportunity to take advantage of our early discounts, payment plans, and time to really explore their options at Camp Friendship.
This even will also be a great opportunity for groups interested in our facilities and services throughout the rest of the year. Our conference center services are available for church groups, youth groups, school groups, family reunions, and many more special events. Our directors will be available to answer questions about our year round services.
As usual we will have camp tours, opportunities to meet our directors and owners, refreshments, snacks, and a camp video so you can see what camp looks like in the summer. If we are lucky we will have some current families and friends stop by and visit us during the open house. It would be a nice treat to see many of you on Saturday and we look forward to a great turnout for our Fall Open House this year.
See you soon!
Camp Friendship would like to invite all of our camp families and interested families to host a Camp Friendship Open House in their own homes. Yup, we want to pack your house full of families interested in the camp experience... just kidding! Let me tell you how the In-House Open House works and how it will benefit you and your friends.
First and foremost an interested Open House host will have to invite a minimum of three new families who may be interested in the camp experience at Camp Friendship. A Camp Friendship staff member, usually our Director or Assistant Director, will come to the host families home with a small presentation for all families in attendance. Now here's where your first benefit kicks in, our Open House host will automatically be discounted $75.00 off of their child's camp tuition for the upcoming summer just for hosting the Open House. It doesn't matter if any families sign up for camp or not, we are just happy for the opportunity to talk about our camp.
Now if this little In-House Open House really gets exciting and your friends really feel Camp Friendship is the right fit for their children and lets say all three new families sign up for a Camp Friendship summer. Now our host family would receive a FREE WEEK OF CAMP for the upcoming summer! This free week of camp is only available if the three new families that sign up were in attendance at the host families Open House.
Camp Friendship is excited to extend this offer to all of our camp families, so please call us to schedule your In-House Open House. Let Camp Friendship share your overnight camp experience secret with your friends and family today. Call us at 1.800.873.3223 or email us with questions or comments about our In-House Open House. We will be monitoring this post as well so feel free to drop us a comment with questions or suggestions.
See you soon,
Cris
Summer camp is over and the kids are back in school. We are all getting back into our old routines, no more running around to activities, no more playing tennis, dodgeball, or slip n slide. All of those fun and challenging activities are gone, well until next summer at least. So what now? What will our campers do to stay energized, active, and healthy to get through the school year attentive and full of excitement?
Well I've got my top 3 basic tips for helping our campers stay healthy and active after summer camp.
- Breakfast! - Here's the most important part of any child or any persons day, breakfast. Eating a well-balanced healthy first meal of the day will keep you energized and focused right up to lunch time. It will keep your child from overeating during lunch as well. At camp we serve three hearty meals a day, starting with breakfast. Sometimes it's hard to make the time to sit down and have breakfast during the week, but we think it's very much worth it to make the effort.
- A New Activity - The summer was full of different activities for our campers to try out. We have so many different ones your camper may not have tried all of their favorites. This is a great opportunity to reach out to your community and check out a new activity for your child. You may even consider trying it together. Look into your local YMCA or the local paper for community sports or activities. Here at Camp Friendship we offer Tennis, Riding, Gymnastics, Dance, and Cheerleading all year for our local community. I'm sure there's an equal opportunity in your community.
- Variety - At Camp Friendship, our campers are allowed to choose what activities they want to participate in, they are presented with many options during meal times, and they even can choose to have some downtime during the day. As they say, variety is the spice of life. When it comes to meals, sports, activities, and life give your child choices. Limit their options to the best of each that you can offer but let them have a variety of healthy options to choose from.
These are just 3 simple suggestions to help keep your kids healthy and active after all of the excitement of overnight camp has slowed. We hope this bit of information will prove useful in your everyday life after camp. If you'd like to read about a few more suggestions, please check out this article, on
kids staying active or
healthy lifestyles.