Camp Promise-East 2018 was nothing short of extraordinary! It was so much fun to see old friends and meet lots of new faces. The whole week felt like one big exclamation mark because the energy was high and everyone’s spirit soared all week long.
And honestly, so did the mercury! It was the hottest week of camp we’ve ever had. As soon as we figure out how to control the weather, we’ll be billionaires and won’t need to keep fundraising for camp (in the meantime, please continue to make donations). We went from trying to hide our sweat stains to competing to see whose were the biggest. From hydration stations and misting fans, to ice cream surprises and popsicles, we tried to get creative when it came to staying cool.
Camp by the numbers
- 8th year of Camp Promise-East
- 13 states and 2 countries represented
- 19 hospital beds rented
- 29 Firsts logged
- 33 campers
- 69 volunteer staff
- 102 smiling faces, daily
This year’s theme days included Cabin Color Day, Animal Farm Day, 1776 Day, Under Construction Day, and of course Camp T-shirt Day. We had a rockin’ speakeasy themed Casino Night where one of our campers took down the house, everyone cooled off with a Carvel ice cream surprise by Keyan and Heinen, and we all got Sharpie tattoos from our friends at Propaganda Tattoo in Manchester, CT (shoutout to Erica, James, Alin, and Kelly for coming back for the 3rd year in a row!). And, of course, we ended the week with a legendary luau themed dance party.
Highlights included
- Belly flop contest
- Surprise smoothie truck visit from Life Bowls
- Adaptive cycling and adaptive archery (thanks, Dana, Cullen and Nate from New England Disabled Sports!)
- Baby goats (thanks, Dave and Tamra of Guardians Farm!)
- Baby pigs (thanks, Ray from Sugar Ray’s Perfect Piglets!)
- Sparklers and fireworks for the Fourth of July
- Competitive boat building and racing
- A two-and-a-half-hour talent show (our campers’ve got TALENT!)
We also made Camp Promise history by introducing the first ever Red Cabin, and were able to celebrate the following Firsts that both campers and staff accomplished:
Campers
- Meeting my counselor
- Coming to camp (4)
- Going fishing
- Hitting the target at archery
- Making a marble tree (2)
- Eating a hash brown
- Writing something in color
- Making a candle
- Doing adaptive cycling
- Going to Arts & Crafts and enjoying it
Staff
- Swimming with my campers
- Receiving a promposal
- Trying La Croix seltzer
- Coming to Camp Promise (2)
- Eating chicken and waffles
- Going to Andover, CT
- Eating falafel
- Doing archery (2)
- Eating a s’more
- Holding a sparkler
- Getting pranked by my campers
Thanks to all of our donors, vendors, and sponsors for making this such a magical week. And most of all, to our staff. We were so privileged to work with an incredible team of counselors, unit leaders, ProLo, and medical staff. They all took a week out of their busy lives to volunteer with us and they worked so hard to make it a great week for our campers. On behalf of our campers, their families, and the entire camp office, THANK YOU!
Want to catch up on ALL the fun? Check out our daily photo albums on our Camp Promise-East Facebook page.
–Post by Libby Brockman
