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Email Story to a Friend June 16, 2006 Family camps: a taste of summers past Kids and parents share in the outdoor fun at facilities catering to both By MINDY POLLACK-FUSI Adults who attended sleep-away camp in their youth may fondly recall swimming in the lake, roasting marshmallows over a campfire, sleeping in pine-scented cabins and making lifelong friends. Well, those who yearn for the good old days don't have to forgo the experience just because they're all grown up. A dozen or more camps across the country cater to families all summer long. We're talking camp here, not camping. Lodges, not tents, are the norm, and you do few chores yourself. Meals are prepared by staff and served either buffet- or family-style. Some family camps offer lots of activities, from rope courses to horseback riding, while others are designed for relaxation. Supervised children's activities are usually available. And all camps are casual, though some offer more modern facilities and services, including rooms with private bathrooms, and spa or fitness services. Advertisement "It's the best of both worlds — you're with your kids all day, then come have dinner with adults," says Alison Tress, 61, who drives eight hours from her home in Rydal, Pa., each summer to spend time with her family at Migis Lodge, in South Casco, Maine. Migis is on the luxurious end of the family-camp scale. Founded in 1916 and recently renovated, it offers resort-like facilities and has a dress code for dinner jackets for men. Children under 5 are not allowed in the main dining room at dinnertime. Tress appreciates the "first-class accommodations, but casual, and with wonderful food. It's a camp for families without the color war." Color war — a popular camp tradition in which teams compete — still exists in various forms at many family camps, however, including one of the newest to join the scene: Shady Creek Family Camp in Nevada City, Calif. Founder Ken Crowley bought, renovated and expanded the facilities two years ago with "new cabins, new lodges — and it's not rustic" the way it was years ago when campers stayed in tents, he says. But, he adds, "We'll always be about campfires and talent shows and treasure hunts and archery and, more important than that, families reconnecting with each other." Families at Shady Creek can take the "Leap of Faith" ropes course, where they climb 55 feet into the trees, walk an 8-foot plank, and leap 10 feet out to catch a trapeze bar, all while relying on one another for support. Anna Yamaichi, 47, of Nipomo, Calif., discovered the camp last summer when her alma mater, Chico State, suggested it as a reunion site. She is now trying to recruit others to come enjoy what she and her family treasured. Her 5-year-old daughter, Sarah, can't wait to return to see a friend she made last summer. Many families return to the same camp on the same week, so kids and their friends grow up together. That's one reason why some of the camps tend to be well-kept secrets: When multiple generations return for reunions each summer, the camps stay nearly all booked up. Other family camps, however, actively recruit new people. One summer-long YMCA camp is Trout Family Lodge in Potosi, Mo., which also runs Camp Lakewood for children. One of the largest of all family camps, accommodating up to 500 people, Trout offers extensive traditional camping activities, including use of its Triangle Y Ranch, with more than 60 horses. There are trail, hay and carriage rides, and "cowboy campfires." Ann Sheets, president of the American Camp Association, which accredits children's camps, says family camp experiences are becoming more popular. But they're not easy to locate, and her organization's extensive database does not distinguish summer-long family camps from those offering only a short session for families. Many children's camps have long offered family weeks at the beginning or end of the summer, and some even offer adults-only weeks. Alison Tress, the Maine camper, had attended summer camp in Maine as a child and later sent her children to camp too. Then, when she turned 50, she asked her family — husband Manny and their six grown children — to indulge her in a celebration at Migis, which a friend had discovered. Tress, a marketing specialist, has returned each summer for 11 years. She relaxes lakeside, kayaks, walks each morning — and spends time with her family, which now includes 14 grandchildren, ages 2 to 15. On the Tresses' 20th wedding anniversary, their children presented them with a plaque installed at Migis Lodge on a bench overlooking the beach. "My kids know how much Migis means to me," says Tress. "It's Maine, a lake, my family being together; it signifies everything that's important to me in life." Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews Advertisement s Advertisement