Summer camp. Those are two words that both children and parents look forward to, because it’s a vacation for both. Children get a chance to spend three or six weeks away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, and parents get a chance to spend three or six weeks in their own home away from the hustle and bustle of their children.

Summer camp can be a very important experience for a young child. Summer camp gives children something that is unexplainable except to those of us who have been to summer camp. Whatever it gives, it certainly gives something rewarding and memorable.

I spent the summers of 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 at Camp Vacamas in West Milford, New Jersey. Each summer I would look forward to going to camp. I would pack at least a month in advance and count the days until it was time to get on the bus.

Camp Vacamas was a wonderful place to spend the summer. We had no television, no soda, and no “junk food,” and I didn’t care. There was so much more to do. Like swimming and socials and arts & crafts and campfires and so many other things that I still miss. But, most importantly, I miss the people.

I must have met a thousand kids between those four summers. They were my bunkmates, my friends, and my girlfriends. How I can remember so many memories of the times I spent at camp. At camp, I experienced many firsts; my first time swimming in a lake, my first campfire, my first dance social, and my first kiss. All of these experiences were wonderful and were made possible by summer camp.

Recently, there was a movie that came out about two couples who met at summer camp and many years later decided to go back to camp for the weekend. Hearing of the movie, I took their advice and called Camp Vacamas and I plan to go back there in a few weeks to visit. They say you can’t go back again, but I want to re-visit some of those memories that I had during four summers of my life.

For those of you who have never gone to summer camp, send your children. No matter where you send them, they will get a lifetime of memories in one summer that they will never forget. For those of you who have gone to summer camp, call your old camp and arrange to visit it. In most cases, they will love to hear from you and will probably let you visit.

And if any of you out there went to Camp Vacamas in 1984, 1985, 1986 or 1987, write me, I would love to hear from you.