Fridays with Franky: Stay in Touch this Summer!
Good morning, it’s me, Franky! There sure has been a flurry of activity around camp… Staff training is nearly complete! We have done a lot in the last 9 days–learned about servant leadership, mindfulness, dining hall procedures, and much more! Some of our staff spent 3 days training hard to become lifeguards and completing the lifeguard challenge and everyone has been working hard to plan activities.
This all means you (or your camper!) will be arriving very soon to spend the summer with us. You will get to spend 2, 4, or even 6 weeks experiencing all that is WeHaKee, seeing friends and making new ones! We want you to have the best experience you can, and to experience it fully.
Last Sunday in the blog, Bob explained why we need to unplug and how we do that here at WeHaKee. It means some restrictions on personal electronics and communication devices. You should definitely read his post. It is very thorough and could answer any questions you might have about unplugging–how to do it and why it matters too!
So how do we stay in touch with our loved ones at home? And for those of you sending a camper, how do we stay in touch with them so we know how their summer is going? Bob mentioned the emails parents can send that will be printed and put in the campers’ mailboxes, and I wanted to talk a little bit about sending a good old-fashioned letter!
We are very blessed to be able to connect with people all over the world today. We can have friends and family very far away and still build relationships due to the technology available to us. At camp, we want to focus on the people present so we can build relationships here. You can still reach your far-away friends and family with some really personal and fun though. And I have my Top 5 Tips for sending a letter from camp to help you:
- Pack stamps and stationary.
Be prepared with a little writing kit. If you forget something, don’t worry, you can get WeHaKee notepads and stamps at the camp store! It might also be fun to pack things like crazy stickers to put on your letters. You can keep your family guessing as to what your letters will look like! (Who knows, maybe they will send some back!)
2. Write about your day.
Everyone will want to hear about your amazing time here when you get home. If you write a letter to them about specific things you liked and did each day, they will know what questions to ask when you get in the car, off the bus, or off the plane when you get home! This way you won’t forget to tell them about any moment.
3. Share the journey
It’s not just your parents or the people you live with at home that want to hear from you. Gather addresses (maybe make your own address book!) before you leave home so you have a way to send letters to anyone who wants to hear about camp. Maybe you have a friend who is curious and has never been to camp, or an aunt that went to camp when she was young.
4. It doesn’t have to be words!
You can share art and drawings too. If you’re not much of a writer you could even make a little comic about your day! Even just a list of the things you are doing is fun to see!
5. Ask for letters back
It’s really fun to receive mail at camp. It’s good way for you to share your life at home with your new friends at camp. Your friends and family should send mail to:
{Your Name}
WeHaKee Camp for Girls
N8104 Barker Lake Rd
Winter, WI 54896
Parents, family, and friends of campers–you can watch our social media for happenings at camp. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest. There will be blog posts here too. But your camper won’t know you saw a picture of them canoeing until they get home–so tell them you did! Nothing beats the connection a letter can bring.
See you at camp!
