Summer is getting closer and so is summer camp! To help make the transition to camp easier, we made a little packet with information about the summer for the staff.

We will start with pre-camp training on Monday after Father's Day 9 a.m. in Brookside Unit House (see the map). We recommend that you arrive the night before, to give you time to unpack and get familiar with the facilities. Breakfast will be served in the Dining Hall at 8 a.m.

We will have Lifeguard Training for all the staff who are interested in participating. If you are interested in the training, let us know so we can order books for everyone. During pre-camp training we will have Community Water Safety class for all the staff members. Both courses are American Red Cross courses.

The days will be long and hours many, but after pre-camp you will feel more confident about being a counselor and have developed a lot of useful skills. Pre-camp is also the perfect time to really get to know the other staff members and to build a strong team that will support one another during the rest of the summer!

Counselors stay in cabins with 8-10 children for 1 week long sessions. Some of the campers stay for 2 or 3 weeks and will either go home between the sessions or stay over at camp. Campers arrive on Sunday and leave on Saturday. Counselors have time off from Saturday approx. 12 noon to Sunday 12 noon. Also every day each counselor has 2 hours off.

All cabins have a separate room for the counselor. To make your room cozy and comfortable you may want to bring along a rug, fan and a reading lamp. We often move from one cabin to another, so pack in containers that are easy to move. For bedding you will need a sleeping bag or a blanket, pillow and sheets. It is nice to have sheets and blankets to make your bed and a separate sleeping bag or blanket for overnights. If you know any fun games, songs or know how to play an instrument, bring them along too. International Counselors will be provided with bedding and flashlights if needed.

On the following pages we have included an example of a typical day at camp & summer camp calendar and some other short articles to read. Enjoy your reading and if you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to call us!

We are looking forward to working with you!

Great to hear from you, here is some additional information! We can provide some things here so you do not have to squeeze them into your luggage! We wear tennis or running shoes, and a hard sole shoe if you are riding or backpacking. You can bring a sleeping bag, but if you like we can provide one (it will be just an inexpensive camp bag). We can provide sheets, pillows and blankets.  We also provide flashlights since it may be hard for you to replace your batteries here.

If you have a chance bring: (but don't worry if you can't or don't have time)

your country flag

you might bring coins or small amounts of paper money from your country to show or give children

songs and recipes

a few pictures from your country

a spice needed to make a special recipe, you might not be able to get the same spices you know here

Wake-up between 7 & 7:30 (yawn... you never feel like you got enough sleep.. must be an overdose of Oxygen?)

Flag ceremony starts off every day at camp. It is 15 min. before breakfast and every day a different counselor is responsible for it together with her campers. We will learn how to do it during Pre-camp.

Breakfast is at 8 or 9 a.m., depending on the kitchen schedule. (Kids seem to be awake enough to give you a hard time about your sleepy eyes and messy hair. Two things that camp does to you..)

After breakfast everyone does Kapers, the fun chores that help camp look good and function right. (Can be anything from recycling tin cans to feeding the baby calf.) And right after Kapers are done, there is Cabin Clean-up time! A half hour of time for you & your campers to make your cabin look shiny and polished in the hope of winning the Clean Cabin Award! The nurse will do a cabin inspection and reveal the winners during lunch.

The next in the schedule: morning activities for campers! Counselors each teach a session (or two) for the campers; archery, arts&crafts, drama, ecology, sports, outdoor cooking, dance, swimming, horse back riding, technical tree climbing, adventure, video making, camp newsletter etc. etc. It is your choice what you want to teach, we will help you to get the classes going and to find what you need!

After the morning classes, it is time to have lunch. (Camp cookies will be familiar to you very quickly and you will find they give you tremendous amount of energy at this time of the day!) After lunch it is time to slow down for an hour and give campers time to write letters home, read a book or make friendship bracelets. The youngest ones might even fall asleep for the hour, although sometimes it can take a while to make the little ones to settle down...

Swim time is after Rest Hour for half of camp and the other half will have Cabin Time. Swim time is the highlight of the day for a lot of the campers. Campers can try kayaking on the lake, build a sand castle, learn new strokes and just have plain fun on the beach! Swim time is usually 1,5 -2 hours long. Cabin time is a special time to do something really neat just with your campers, to take them for a hike in the woods, practice a skit for Closing Day Ceremony or play a fun game. This is the time when you can really bond within your cabin and to help campers become special friends.

Before dinner there is about 45 minutes to help get campers ready, taking showers and hanging wet towels to dry, wiping the little ones’ sandy feet and so on. During dinner there will be a mail call for campers and counselors. Be careful with your letters so that campers won’t find out your real name before the end of the week.. they are pretty good at that!

Evening activities are for all of camp at the same time. CIT’s (counselor-in-training) will plan them together with the camper council during the first couple of days. Some examples of evening activities: Gold Rush, Road Rally, Beach Party, Mud Hike or Counselor Hunt. New ideas are welcome!

Evening snack, nurse’s round and showers will end the day. Counselors will help their cabins to settle down before lights-out. Every night there are three different counselors on "Taps", making sure that campers are OK in their cabins and sleeping. Counselors not on taps will have time off before returning back to cabins.

The YWCA of Metropolitan Detroit took it’s first group of girls camping in 1914 on Elizabeth Lake. The following four years the Detroit YWCA girl’s camps took place in various temporary sites.

In 1919, at the Carrigan site on Lake Huron (1919-21) the YWCA Camping enterprise was christened "Camp Cavell" in honor of Nurse Edith Cavell whose heroic patriotism so fired the imagination of the girls of the postwar period. Sleeping tents for one hundred and twenty-three campers were set up along "Cavell Boulevard", and for the first time a permanent though primitive recreation-dining building was erected.

In 1922, Camp Cavell was moved north to Lakeport. Riding and creative arts were introduced, Indian tribal organization effected and the first differentiation in age groups made.

In 1927, proceeds of the Women’s Building Fund campaign made it possible to purchase Camp Cavell’s present site on Lake Huron - 30 acres with 100 feet of lake frontage - 4.5 miles north of Lexington. Later 10 more acres were added which made 40 acres with 1400 feet of lake frontage.

By July, 1927, a spacious Recreation Lodge, Crafts Wigwam, a few cabins and a temporary dining hall were ready for Camp Cavell’s 14th season. Each year has seen additional buildings and equipment added - tennis courts, stables, dining hall, shower house, director’s cabin and additional cabins, and in 1958, three new Unit Houses, new Brookside Unit and a CIT cabin.

We now have 55 acres and 1800 feet of lake frontage. In 1963, during our 50th Anniversary Year, all new winterized Northwood and Southwood Unit cabins were erected as well as a new Health Cabin. Since then we have made camp more accessible and have added many exciting programs.

Camp is where a child can reach out for many special opportunities and experiences and hold onto them, as they continue throughout life. By providing challenges in an openly creative atmosphere and encouraging the positive development of the individual, children can develop a high level of self-confidence and self-esteem.

At Camp Cavell, the emphasis is on the small group. Girls are able to develop a sense of self, awareness of others, leadership skills, and the recognition of a need for open communication. As a group, the girls are able to plan and carry out various activities. This group process is aided by the leadership of a counselor. Adult role models are important. They see the whole child in every situation and are able to lend understanding and guidance, They are nature conscious and child centered, able to guide the group and assure individual growth.

The setting is natural and simple. Living close to the earth, girls have reoccurring opportunities to value being and to develop a real and sustaining spiritual base.

PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT - Camp Cavell provides girls and young women with a natural setting and promotes activities that encourage the development of well rounded individuals that can benefit society.

TIPS TO COUNSELORS

By Paddy Kane

That camps are primarily for campers.

That a counselor is, as the name implies, one who counsels.

That she has a definite obligation to the camper, camper’s parents and to God.

That she will win the confidence of her campers.

That all camp activities must be "camp-centered".

That her campers will look on her as a hero and she should never let them down in this belief.

That she must always show kindness, frankness, confidence, understanding and absolute honesty in all her relations with campers.

That should she have a camper she could easily dislike and should she sense that the feeling could be mutual - she must resolve that she and the girl are going to be good friends before girl leaves camp.

That she should make each of her campers understand that the counselor is happy to have that camper in her cabin.

That she should familiarize each camper upon arrival with the schedule of daily activities of the camp.

That she should take each new camper on a tour of the camp as soon as possible after the new camper arrives, pointing our the camp limits and the places where each activity should take place.

That she should see to it that her campers are clean - that they wash and brush their teeth regularly and take at least one bath a day.

That she should ascertain whether anything is bothering a camper - physically or mentally.

That she should see that the campers write home regularly.

That a counselor’s ultimate aim is to have harmony in her cabin.

That she must check her campers daily for signs of complaints common to youngsters such as colds, sore throats, constipation, etc., and report same to the camp nurse.

That she apply the same discipline to a camper that she would want her younger sister to receive from another counselor.

That she should never lose her temper or self-control when correcting a camper - never use harsh language or loud tones, but correct kindly and controlled manner.

That the counselor should never strike a camper under any circumstances.

That while thinking of discipline, explain to a camper why this action was wrong and why she is being corrected. Always do this private.

That some campers will at times do "strange" things that may surprise you. These are usually attempts to gain attention or affection.

That you will find some girls are starved for affection. This will give you an excellent opportunity to find out something of the home life of the girls, as well as many other bits of information that will aid you in advising and helping the girl.

That you know where your campers are at all times.

That you have a genuine fondness for children. It must be genuine. Youngsters can spot insincerity a mile away.

That you try to adapt yourself to your campers and not make them "get used to you" or take the consequences.

That the counselor should watch her camper’s appetites. See that they eat enough. If they do not, find the reason!

That a counselor should have a fund of stories for bedtime and for rainy days. Avoid ghost stories. They are harmful to certain girls.

That a counselor should have enough sleep. Otherwise if might affect her disposition and her campers will suffer for it.

That you should be an apostle of good example.

These tips, plus a sense of humor, courage and the ability to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" should give a counselor a happy cabin in a happier camp.

No camp is better than it’s Counselors, and the Counselor who uses four magic words, "Come along with me", is the one who must truly build the interest of the group and contribute to the growth of her campers. This sharing, this positive approach, is the key to success as a Counselor. Happiness is liking what you do, not doing what you like.

The happy Counselor, then, is the one who enjoys doing things outdoors with children. She realizes that for the staff, camping is not a vacation, but a responsibility. It may be recreation, as hard work may be great fun, but it is primarily conscientious, tiring and professionally technical work.

It is living together, too, not in the known and secure atmosphere of the home. But without privacy, in a setting where only her bed and a shelf or cupboard really belong to the Camper. The constructive Counselor, then, keeping to the spirit of giving, rather than seeking for herself, keeps her personal problems for discussion with the Director or Unit Leader. She keeps calm to help the campers feel she can offer them security through her own equable approach to the problems of the day.

Besides general attitudes toward camp life, the Counselor will find that she is being taken as an example in care of quarters and equipment. Since camp property belongs to all, it is important to develop in all a sense of responsibility for it’s care. Some camps especially stress this training as a part of good citizenship.

For the good of the entire group, we must have a few rules. The Counselor who does not understand the reason behind every rule should seek clarification from the Director, but in the meantime carry them out.

Activities are the means to an end, not an end in themselves. It is well for a Counselor to find out how activities have been handled in the past, and relate the experiences of other seasons to the current one.

The Camp Director sets the stage for good leadership through her attitudes toward ways of work. The Counselors actions sets the tone for the campers. Before going to sleep each night, think of one girl made happy that day through your efforts.

Being a succesful Counselor involves many things. Certainly the ones that follow need to be included.

Learning by doing is a vital educational process in every walk of life. Participating in activities with the campers perhaps goes without saying, yet sometimes the inexperienced counselor misses many of the real joys of her camper relationships through failure here.

The Counselor must remember that she is working with individual campers, as well as groups. She will be on time, remembering that one minute of each of fifteen campers’ time that is wasted through tardiness is throwing away fifteen precious minutes.

Since she constantly serves as an example, she will observe the rules and regulations of the camp, and contribute to the loyalty and spirit of Camp.

She will realize her responsibilities in the field of activities, not expecting Campers to do anything she is unwilling to do. She will enrich her summer’s experience by making many friends among the counselors rather than remaining with one small clique.

She will always keep her word to campers. She will always keep her word to staff. She will handle her table responsibilities as a challenge and a game; meal times can be among the pleasantest of the day as all sit in a relaxed atmosphere, discussing their accomplishments and dreams.

Gentle maintenance of good manners contributes to a pleasant shared experience. The Counselor will use her free time wisely, and keep an eye on her own health and appearance. She will learn from others - from Director, the Campers and the Nurse - all who share with her in using their originality and initiative to make the camp experience an unforgettable one.