This weekend was our annual Matawapalooza event.  This event provides campers, camper’s friends, and new campers an opportunity to experience overnight camp. We had roughly forty campers in attendance and they all had a fun-filled weekend. We started off on Friday with some name games in the cabin and came together in our lodge to enjoy a whacky-humorous camp-fire with staff.  We capped off the evening with a camp favorite, S’mores and headed back down to the cabins for the night. On Saturday, we had a delicious breakfast that got is pumped up for the day. We then had Hopi Hari (activity periods) where each camper had the opportunity to pick three out of the four awesome activities that we were running. The activities were: Climbing Wall, Archery, Arts & Crafts, and Juggling. A lot of the campers were really excited to try new activities and may have even found a new hobby. After lunch, we continued our Hopi Hari experience by running three completely different activities from; Black-top Hockey to Bracelet Making to a Nature Scavenger Hunt. Afterwards we played Matawa’s favorite all camp game, Capture the Flag! Of course the campers got a little muddy, but that’s what happens when you’re playing a fun game like Capture the Flag. It was then our time to depart ways, however some of the families that picked up their camper(s) stayed for our next event, Family Game Night!

Looking for great way to give back to YMCA Camp Matawa?

Join us for our

SPRING CLEAN UP DAY!

May 22, 2011

9:00 am– 3:00 pm

It’s time for us to get camp ready for the spring and summer seasons.  There is a lot of work to do and as the saying goes- “Many Hands Make Light Work.”  If you can lend a hand or two we would really appreciate it.  We’ll be doing all kinds of odd jobs that require all levels of skill.  So… kids are welcome (as long as an adult attends with them)!! 

Lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP to agappa@ymcamke.org.

What a great day at Camp Matawa! A group of 15 associates from Mid-States Aluminum Corporation (an aluminum design and fabrication company in Fond du Lac) were at camp for a day of planning and teambuilding. They spent the morning with leaders from Mid-States Aluminum and the afternoon with Wendy and Andrew doing some teambuilding and climbing. They blew through the Ping-Pong Ball Maze and completely wasted the Toxic Wasteland. Then we were onto the climbing wall. But, this was not your typically day of climbing! We challenged them to build a 25 word, 25 foot long sentence about the greatness of Mid-States Aluminum and Camp Matawa. The sentence then had to reach from the top of the wall to the floor. Here’s the catch: the group could only attach 2 words (pieces of paper) per pair of climbers. It was a challenge, but the amazing people of Mid-States Aluminum were victorious! Can’t wait until they come back next time!

The strange winter/spring weather (we’ve started calling it “sprinter”) this week did not put a damper on the awesome fifth graders from Indian Community School in Franklin.  The students and teachers have still had an outstanding time at Matawa.  They have done all kinds of cool activities: climbing wall, archery, survival, tracking, sledding, hiking, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, snow man building and more.  I know!  Where did they find all that snow!  And, just like last year (and several years in the past) they had conquered our Zero Food Waste Challenge.  That’s right, absolutely no food waste at all 6 of their meals!  That is amazing!  We already miss you, Indian Community School!

We can hardly wait for next week! Annie, Gappa, Jen and I are headed to the Mid America Camping Conference. MACC is a regional YMCA Camping Conference that is held every January and this year it is being hosted by YMCA Camp Copneconic in Fenton, Michigan (only 45 minutes from where I grew up and one of the camps that I worked at during and just after college!). We will be spending 4 days with the most amazing camp directors in the country and learning tons of awesome new ideas to bring back to Matawa. Although we are excited about all the learning that takes place, I think we are more excited to see our good old friends and make some awesome new friends along the way. It’s just like summer camp for us Camp Directors!!

Winter Camp 2010 was a great success as campers developed or reconnected their friendships that they made in the past. It started out with the campers meeting together in our warm Jack Blank Lodge, where we played large-group games such as; “Mingle, Mingle, Mingle,” or “Do you know your neighbor?” We continued with fun as we had our annual opening campfire, where the counselors performed their favorite skits and sang their favorite songs. We topped off our evening with a favorite camp snack, S’mores and headed back to our warm cabins for a long winter’s nap.

In the morning, we learned about each other and how we can have a successful week at camp by accomplishing teambuilding activities with our cabin groups, then with our villages. Later in the afternoon, we had a grand ole’ time with some of camps best activities; Archery, Arts and Crafts, and the Climbing Wall. Before dinner, the campers decorated their Winter Camp stockings! After dinner, the cabins were split up by cabin groups where they had some time with their counselors to be creative and create a cardboard toboggan. The campers had plenty of ideas and really wanted to “step out of the box” and designed some really cool toboggans. Afterwards, we played a very fun game of FLASHLIGHT TAG! Finally after a long day at camp, the campers had a snack and it was time for some shut-eye in preparation for the hills!

Wednesday morning, we were all set to go! We had some good breakfast, we all had our snow gear on, and everyone was in groups for our fun-filled day at Sunburst Ski Area. The tubers had a fun time going down the chutes. They were able to go down in groups of two to six tubers at a time. It was a tuberistic time! As for the skiers and snow-boarders, they had an excellent lesson taught by the Sunburst staff. They were then set off for the hills as some of campers practice mastering the bunny-hill and others went on more challenging hills. We soon came together on the bright, sunny day to have lunch. We were able to use the yurt to sit and have our bag lunches and have a warm cup of hot chocolate. Soon after, the tubers departed back to camp and the skiers and snow-boarders continued their adventures out on the slopes where they had a snow-thrashing time. The tubers got a little rest time and then got to play some indoor dodge ball. It was quite the competition between the two teams, however one of the staff member kept yelling “Jail-break.” Neither team won, but it was a fun time. Once everyone got back from Sunburst, we all came together for another hot chocolate break. We then worked on our New Year’s Resolution Magnets (by the way parents, yes a lot of them were serious about their resolutions such as; read more, watch less T.V., or even save money). Later we had our New Year’s Eve’s Eve’s Eve’s Ball, where a good time was had by all. We listened to some good music, we ate some of our decorated cookies, and danced the night away until the ball dropped at midnight (really 9:00 p.m.). By that time all the campers were exhausted from a fun-filled, exciting day and got right to bed.

On our last day, we woke up and had a camp favorite: French toast sticks for breakfast! All the campers were energized as we went out to finally try our toboggans! It was quite the competition as the boys of Spruce West were first up. Their toboggan went two inches. Birch East was the next to give it a go and their toboggan went a solid foot and a half. It was the Trekker boys turn and their toboggan went roughly a foot. Then it was Birch West and their toboggan went a solid three feet. Of course, they saved the best for last and the Spruce East boy’s pulled off an amazing feat by their toboggan going six feet. It was a quite difficult time for sleds going down hill as most of the snow was melting quickly by the seasonally warm weather that was taking place. But everyone had a good time constructing their toboggans and a humorous time testing out their creations. Next, it was time for our annual snow sculpture competition. It was a close competition yet again, as the Birch East girls won the competition by making three snowmen having a snowball fight. Afterwards, the campers discovered that the Gappa Grinch stole all of the stockings from Annie Claus and they had to find the them. All the campers had to search with their cabin groups by the clues around camp that eventually led them to their stockings. After lunch, we then had our snow activities, where the campers went in rotation with their village groups each trying out: snow-shoeing/tracking, cross-country skiing, and sledding. It was a good time for them to try something new as most of them enjoyed the cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. Unfortunately the fun had to wrap up as the campers had to pack-up their belongings and bring them to the lodge and have our last meal together. Winter Camp 2010 came to a close and it was a fun, exciting, creative, hard-working, relationship-building, successful time and we, at YMCA Camp Matawa, want to thank you for making YMCA Camp Matawa your Winter Camp choice.

Have a safe and wonderful NEW YEAR and we hope to see you again!

We’re excited to announce that the 2011 Summer Camp Program Guide is now available. Check out our website www.matawa.org for more details.

We look forward to seeing you at camp next summer!

On behalf of the YMCA Camp Matawa staff, we want to wish your family Happy Holidays!

The holidays can rush past us, but we hope you take some time to relax, unplug, and even connect with old camp friends this season!

What’s on our wish list this year?

• We’ve been asking Santa all year to have lots of our camp friends join us at Winter Camp December 27-30!
• We have our fingers crossed that all of our generous donors to the Strong Kids Campaign know just how much we appreciate them!  If you’d like to see our “Nice” list, click here!
• Even camp staff like hand -me-downs for the holidays! If you have any new or gently used equipment you would like to donate, we’d be happy to take it off your hands. Things like:

o   Lacrosse Equipment

o   Snow Shoes

o   Skateboards, helmets, pads

o   Cross country skis and boots

o   Pool cues or Pool balls (for carpet ball!)

o   Tents or other camping equipment

·         And our biggest wish is that you will join us for Summer Camp next year!  2011 is YMCA Camp Matawa’s 15^th summer and it’s going to be amazing!  

Come celebrate the holiday season with the YMCA at a special Admirals game on Friday December 3 at 7:00pm.

Tickets are just $16 per person and $4 of the proceeds go directly to helping send kids to camp through our Strong Kids Campaign!  Plus as an added bonus there will be a special concert after the game by the Village People! 

To buy tickets you can go to Ticketmaster online and use the special offer code YMCA or fill out the form online and send in by mail!

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I want to thank all of you for being a part of the Matawa family! We are so lucky to have such amazing and supportive campers, parents, donors, staff, and alumni!

Thank you Campers: for being a constant example of the Spirit of Matawa! We love to hear how you are taking what you learn at camp and using it in “the real world.” From singing camp songs, to hopping the tables at home, to telling your friends and family to “get their elbows off the table,” you find little ways to share the Matawa experience with others. We hope that year round you win the Golden Broom for having the cleanest room at home and continue to show why you earned your Four Core Value Patch during your week at camp!

Thank you Parents: for choosing Camp Matawa! We know that there are tons of options for how your kids spend their summer and how you spend your dollars, so we appreciate you choosing Matawa! Thank you for your constant feedback and support. Our parents help us identify what we do great and should continue, but also ways we can continue to improve from one year to the next. We value every relationship we have with parents from those we connect during drop off and pick up in the summer to those who are active volunteers year round!

Thank you Donors: for helping give the gift of Camp Matawa! We know that camp has the power to change lives and people and we want every child to experience that. You help us share the Spirit of Matawa with families that would otherwise not be able to afford it. You truly embody our vision to provide a welcoming atmosphere and a sense of home to more kids and families each summer!

Thank you Staff: for making Camp Matawa the best camp in the nation! Our year round staff answer phones and connect with families, facilitate programs and connect with participants, keep camp going with excellent maintenance and housekeeping, and cook good old’ camp food in the kitchen. They keep the camp feeling going all year round!

Thank you Alumni: for spreading the word about camp and helping us celebrate 15 great summers! For such a young camp, we have a great history filled with amazing people. Thank you for your continued support of camp and staying connected by visiting, volunteering, donating, and telling others about the camp experience!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Thank you for your impact on camp!