Remember going to “camp”?
Life is crazy. Too often our definition of camping is mostly about squeezing a quality family activity in between swimming and piano lessons, dance classes and baseball games. Collecting the whole family, piling in the SUV, and heading to a campground for a weekend sometimes seems like an unachievable fantasy for urbanites or even suburbanites. Or maybe when you say “camping,” you’re thinking of setting up a tent at a festival to enjoy the music and events with friends who came with you and new ones you meet there.
But, another definition of camp has a bit more history to it. That’s looking at “camp” as in a place kids go for a week, a month, or the entire summer. While this is thought of in the past tense or as the plot of grainy old horror movies, many organizations continue to run such camps each summer. One is the YMCA.
While today’s summer camps tend to be focused on a theme like “horses” or “science,” the primary mission of YMCA Camp Piomingo is to get kids away from technology to experience, even immerse them, in the outdoors. It’s surprising how many of them have never experienced things like swimming in a lake or canoeing, or even hiking for that matter.
While out on the recent Field Trip: Bourbon Trail, the 50 Campfires team discovered YMCA Camp Piomingo near Brandenburg, Kentucky. Nick and the crewgot to check it out and reenact his days at “camp.”
You know what they discovered? Summer camp is still a fantastic way to introduce young people to activities outdoors!
