How Do You Celebrate Love Day?

Valentine's Day is this Friday! Which means it's time to celebrate all the love we have in our life. But did you know that the US is not the only country to celebrate Valentine's Day? While we are off buying roses and cards for our special people, check out how these 5 countries celebrate Valentine's Day...


Spain
The day of love in Valencia of Spain falls on October 9th. This is known as the feast of Saint Dionysus. The festival is celebrated in most parts of Spain by making "macadora", a marzipan figurine. The figurines are made by men to gift to their female companions. There are also colorful parades that can be see down many streets in spain.

Denmark
Although Valentine’s Day is a new festival in Denmark, the country also celebrates the day of love like us on February 14th, but with a twist! In Denmark, Valentine’s Day is not limited to roses and chocolates. Friends and loved ones exchange handmade cards with pressed white flowers that are called snowdrops. Danish men also sometimes send women funny poems called "gaekkebrev", signed anonymously with a series of dots. If the receiver can guess who sent the letter, he’ll give her an Easter egg later in the year.

Japan
Japan does it quite differently. A part of the holiday is celebrated February 14th, where women buy gifts and chocolates for their male companions . Men can’t return gifts until March 14, which is
called the “white day”. In fact in Japan, almost every month of the year on the 14th day celebrates a different aspect of love. This includes a friendship day, kissing day, and hugging day.

Wales
In Wales, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in a very unique way. The country celebrates its day of love on January 25th, which is called the “day of San Dwynwen.” On the day, couples exchange unique and beautifully handcrafted wooden spoons to each other. This tradition has been in practice since the 16th century.

                                                                South Africa
South Africans don’t mind wearing their heart on their sleeve, literally! Following an old Roman festival called "Lupercalia", which is thought to be the predecessor to Valentine’s Day in general, Girls pin the name of their love or crush on their sleeve for the day, to make it known to all how they feel,




I hope you learned something new! This valentine's day maybe try out a new tradition, and don't forget... here at Camp Foley.. WE LOVE YOU!

TBT - Memorable Moments of 2012 (Part 3)

What better day than Valentine's Day to throwback to 2012 and hear what some of our campers LOVED about last summer.

Sofi Guzman (1st & 2nd session): "Camp this year was the best year. I loved Matoaka, my cabin, because of the people, and it was fun that we all stayed for 1st and 2nd session! The best moments I had in camp was going sailing with my friends. There wasn't anything new that I can remember, but I really enjoyed the whole month I was there and all the new experiences I had."


Jens Damgaard (2nd Session): "Well it was another amazing year! I went during a different session so that was really cool to meet a lot of new people. Honestly, the one huge thing that sticks out the most were my awesome cabinmates, and also being reunited with a counselor that I haven't seen in 4-5 summers... It was so crazy to see him again and really cool that he was my cabin counselor. Of course the activities were great, as always. I had a great time shootin' down at the ol' riflery range and blastin' some clays with Aaron at trap. As for banquets, the Roald Dahl theme this year was fun. Definitely the coolest thing of that banquet day was the activity where they turned the entire Wabi into the Chocolate Factory! I thought that was really cool and fun!"

Sam Munkeby (3rd Session): "This probably was my favorite year at Camp so far! The banquet was so funny especially when the counselors came out of the kitchen dancing like Whos! It was fun just being there with my friends; it didn't really matter what we were doing! I liked chilling on Foley Green and pretty much every activity I did, especially DRAMA!! All the food was amazing, and I ate so much because it was the best!"

We hope everyone is excited to get back to camp this summer  to enjoy all of the things the love at camp once again! If you won't be back in 2013, why not share with us what you loved about your years at Camp Foley?
 

How Fencing came to Camp Foley

Camp Foley is proud to bring you the history of Fencing...well, at least the history according to our most recent group of campers who attended our "Video Madness" class here at camp.

Check out this hilarious video created by our campers who let their creative sides run wild!

 

Stay tuned for more postings from the newest craze to hit camp.

 

- Ricky Searson, Assistant Director

"In Loco Parentis"

As a camp counselor, we are assuming an incredibly important role. Parents are giving us their children to take care of for the length of their stay at camp. The term used to describe this relationship is in loco parentis, which literally translates from Latin to “in place of a parent.” With this role in mind, it’s very important for us, as counselors to understand parents concerns and camp policies.

In Loco Parentis - In place of a parent.

It comes as no surprise that when parents entrust their most valuable possessions – their children - to the care of camp counselors, they undoubtedly have a number of questions in order to settle their anxiety! This can be a very stressful time for both the camper, and the parent, after all.

But fear not, parents… all our staff members here at Foley undertake extensive training and are carefully selected for their hard and soft skills (those physical ability skills and those relationship/interpersonal skills). If you have any questions that are burning in the back of your mind, I invite you to call the office. We would love to put your mind at ease.

Here at Camp Foley, our mission statement is to "partner with parents to develop confident, responsible and respectful youth who gain skills and have fun through a quality camp experience in a youth centered community." Working with parents to solve your issues and settle your minds is at the heart of everything we do. You can certainly rest a little easier knowing we are doing everything we can to create a safe atmosphere for your kids to thrive at Camp Foley.

- Ricky Searson, Assistant Director