You ask, we deliver…
Every summer at the end of each session, we have the campers fill out an Input survey. We ask all kinds of things, like what was your favorite activity, best evening program, favorite counselors etc. We also ask the camper to list anything they would like to see added to camp. Over the years camper suggestions have been the catalyst Foley admin needed to add some of our favorite things to Foley. Scroll down and see some of the great things added to camp all because of the campers…
Morning Fun!
That’s right! In 1951, campers requested extra time for swimming during the day. We already had a version of “free swim” in the schedule, and kids had free time to swim for 45 minutes before dinner. With this
feedback in mind, the schedule for next summer had an extra 45 min of free time added before lunch. Thus morning fun was born! Camp Schedules change through out the years, and we now have a completely new schedule than we did in the 50s. Not the mention there weren’t even girls here at camp yet to enjoy Morning Fun and Free Swim! With our new improved schedule, we no longer have morning fun, as campers opted for more time in the mornings and at rest period. Stay tuned to see if Morning Fun makes a reappearance in the coming years!
Paintball
I think this is the most well known camper suggestion. For years campers would request paintball as an activity. Finally, in 2005 all their dreams came true! Now Paintball is one of the most popular activities at camp! We have two full courses and the program has been going strong for almost 18 years!
A different Canteen set up
That’s right! After hearing about the long lines and huge waiting periods campers were facing when free swim hit, canteen was changed for good! We moved it from happening right after 5th period during free swim and mail time, and created a special canteen time right after 4th period. The line has changed too. What took the longest was marking off everyone with their canteen number to keep track of how many canteens each child receives. Now we made the switch to an honor system
and a bit more supervision around the candy itself, and the whole thing has now become a win win! Less paper work and shorter lines for the kids!
Some fun odds and ends
Here is a rapid fire of some of the smaller but no less exciting things that campers have requested over the years…
- Longer shower curtains in the girl’s shower
- Cheese added to the Tin Foil Dinner pack out for wolf campers
- Longer rest periods
- More sleep in days
- A fan in the crafts building
- More epees and sabre in fencing
We can’t wait to see what the campers will write on their 2023 surveys!