Can you believe that in just 37 days camp will be full of happy campers? The pool and lake will be as busy as ever, our kitchen will be going non-stop, and our campers and counselors will be having the summer of their lives. Good Bye peace and quite and Say Hello to some SUMMER FUN! It’s going to be yet another amazing Camp Friendship Summer.
As we continue to countdown the days until camp starts we are still working very had preparing camp for your arrival. Some of our seasonal staff are already arriving and settling into their new positions. 
Zee our summer Challenge Director and year-round Groups Coordinator is back at camp after a few months home in South Africa. She’s back and ready for anything, but I’ll let her fill you in soon. Let me just share a little bit of what the rest of us have been doing.
Lets start with the office staff, these ladies are working very hard gathering every bit of information we need about each of our campers. Our office staff is the front line for camp, they are the ones who package and send out your parent packets, the first ones to answer any of your questions when you call, and so much more. Right now they are working diligently on sending out all parent packets but don’t forget if you haven’t received yours yet or have misplaced a form you can go online and retrieve it. Usernames and passwords have been sent out to access the parent handbook page but if you have not received yours call us and our office staff will be happy to set you up.
We also have our maintenance staff. They are working very hard making all the final preparations on the grounds all over camp. These guys have just recently finished installing the new A/C units in the Dining Hall, oh that’ is going to make for some refreshing meal times. Not only that but they have also finished work on the new Dance Pavilion, new floors and mirror walls. They’ve done a great job, and with a little help from Robin our new Camp Store Manager they also completed work on renovating Huntmaster’s Lodge which any riding campers will remember as their cabin. While you may not notice much difference on the outside once you enter the lodge you’ll be pleasantly surprised. So on to the rest of camp.
Our Kitchen Staff is hard at work preparing the dining hall for the campers’ arrival. Barbara our Dining Hall Supervisor is ordering food, checking labels, and stocking up for a summer full of hungry kids and staff. 
I’m sure we will have all your favorite meals this summer. Barbara and her staff also take care off keeping camp and all cabins on camp clean and ready, that in it self is quite the undertaking.
This year is a very important year for Camp Friendship because we are up for re-accreditation by the American Camp Association. So our directors are very hard at work making sure that every single piece of camp is up to par. This includes safety standards, staff certifications, food safety, and so very much more. It’s a massive project but one that we are all happy to be a part of. Camp Friendship has been ACA Accredited since our founding in 1966 and that’s not about to change.
Our Program Director on top of being knee deep in the staff hiring, and setting up our programming for the summer and all the groups programming coming up until camp starts is also busy helping with ACA re-accreditation. Lets just say she’s a very busy little bee.
As for me, I’ve got my hands in all kinds of pies. You could say I’m a Jack of many trades and a master of none. However my most important job is to communicate with our camper families and make sure you have all the information you need before arriving at camp. So if you have any questions please let me know. I’m also pulling out my camera and getting ready for the summer, I’m going to have a lot of photos to take.
Well I hope this update helps you envision some of what we are doing and gets everyone excited for another great summer at Camp Friendship. I have a few more things to share, as the summer gets closer so keep your eyes on this page for more.
Cris
Cris
alinaackenbom
samleonard