The History of Camp Pets!

Either Yogi or Kayzak...

How much do you love camp's dogs, Nike and Norm? I mean... they are playful, adorable and always provide some entertainment when they are around. Not surprisingly, Nike and Norm are not the first "camp pets." We thought we'd go back to the mid-70s and give you a little detail on the camp pets that we've had over the years.

In 1974, Tom Schmid (Marie's brother) got a dog for Christmas, who was named Yogi, and a few summers later, Kayzak joined the crew to accompany Yogi. Both Yogi and Kayzak were beloved by the campers and staff.

Buckley!

Flash forward 20years and camp has a new creature roaming the property - a fawn! Buckley the deer spent his first summer at Foley in 1996. Buckley was known to make appearances in the winter as local residents of Father Foley Drive have shared memories of Buckley following them around as they cross country skied on Whitefish Lake. Buckley spent a few years hanging around the area before moving on. It makes me wonder if there are any of Buckley's descendants roaming the woods behind the soccer field.

Casual Sheep outside the office.

Four-legged creatures aren't the only kinds of pets camp has. In the late 90s Foley was home to two birds: Ka-Kaik, a Red Tailed Hawk, and May-Goo, a Great Horned Owl. Both birds left in 1998, but for a few summers they were quite exciting. They lived in cages outside the wheelhouse. I know some alumni remember sitting around them for bird shows. What a fun learning experience! We also had a Boa Constrictor in 2000, named Taz! I wonder if he lived in the Nature Center with the other snakes?

Apparently we had some new four-legged friends in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While doing some research I found the following quote, "Sheep enclosure - Baaaaad idea." Not quite sure what to make of that but I'm sure if you ask Marie she'll give you the scoop! A few other creatures that you may not have expected to see at camp: Smiley, the alligator, and Stella, the hedgehog.

Stella the hedgehog.

Of course there are the old standbys that you can always expect to see at camp: all of the snakes inside the Nature Center along with some turtles in the enclosure outside. Hopefully the new Painted Turtle and Snapping Turtle, Muncher and Bowser, live a long and happy life at Camp Foley, or the surrounding area, just like Woody the Wood Turtle, who passed away in 2007.

What do you think about all of the camp pets Foley has had? Do you remember any other camp pets? One thing is for sure - I am willing to bet that the next 35 years will bring a variety of new animals to camp, even if they only stay a short time! 

 

How summer camp impacts kids...

This week we want the blog to focus on why summer camp is so important for kids. We have an article from Chicago Parents that talks about how camp impacts kids long term.

This article was written back in February before Covid-19 put all our lives on hold, but its interesting to see ow many things stated in the article are even more true today, in a time where we experience quarantine, social distancing, and wearing masks on a daily basis. 

We are linking an article written by staff members at Chicago Parent, a parenting resource website that focuses on families living in the Chicago area. This particular article interviews a mother who is sending her children to camp for the first time and looks at the research done by professionals, like Shasta Nelson and Colette Marquardt, who talk about the science behind why summer camp is beneficial for children. 

The article mentions the abundance of social media and screen time present in children's lives, and how a summer camp experience pulls them out of that trance and allows to broaden their world view beyond an iphone or ipad. Colette Marquardt, the executive director of the American Camp Association, Illinois, explains in the article, “The whole purpose of camp is about relationships and community building so the emphasis is about friendships, about learning to work with others, getting to know other people you never knew before that come from different backgrounds and locations,” she says. “There’s such a variety of people in this world and camp can provide a place for a really good mix of diversity that helps enhance a child’s life.”

 Camp Foley is committed to being technology free as much as possible, to give campers the best possible experience. Campers find themselves sitting together at a table, learning how to have a conversation and how to work together and work through conflict with people who might be different than them. Those are skills that they can take to college and into the workforce.

Camp Foley's plan is to come stronger in 2021 and to give our campers the best possible summer we can provide. After missing camp and the hardships of 2020, summer camp will be more important than ever before. 

Read the whole article here. 

A History of Clothing at Camp Foley

 We are continuing our History blogs with a particularly fun one today! We are going to travel through history and check out how the clothing trends have evolved over the last 95 years of Foley history. Trust me there are some wild outfits!!!!! Scroll down and take a look for yourself...

1930s
Entering the 30s with our oldest pictures we have in our archives, you can clearly see the style of the time. In the 1930s, the athletic body seen on boxers, swimmers, and Superman became the ideal men’s shape. Clothing reflected this new silhouette with extra broad shoulders, thin waists, and wide legs. Everything was big, tall, and surprisingly comfortable, as the looseness of clothing made it easier to work and play. This rang true in the Camp Foley Community during the 30s as well. You can check out Father Foley below and some of his counselors, they all have sturdy wide legged pants and button up shirts, perfect for looking like a camp professional and like a manly outdoorsman at the same time!

Father Foley and staff looking sharp in 1930

Young Boys at Camp Foley boxing in the 30s... in Khakis! 

1940s

Now we head into the 40s, where things start to look different. WWII fabric rations limited cloth to make suits but not style, and most clothing got simpler as the supplies needed to make different clothing was instead repurposed into uniforms or turned into medical supplies. We see some of our first Camp Foley Merch in the 40s, with simple designs on a basic shirts, because of rationing from World War II. Thanks to strict military rules about pants, when people came home from war they rebelled against the fashion norm and began cuffing their pants, and even buying them too long on purpose. Men were tired of scratchy uniforms and confining suits. The freedom that casual clothes brought was a big sigh of relief. Hawaiian shirts, for example, were worn all day, and even during nights, in the summer.

Campers and a counselor sporting a "cuffed pant" look

Early Foley Merch shirt says "Father Foley Camp"

The Boys in line for Canteen serving LOOKS

1940s Swimsuits!

1950s

Here we are in the 50s, and things get fun! 1950s men’s casual clothing had a huge variety of options, with bold splashes of colors and overwhelming use of new textures and materials. The cost of clothing plummeted after the war, and new synthetic materials made clothes easy to wash and wear.  The button down shirt was a year round style in both long and short sleeves. Shirts came in plaid, plaid, plaid, and more plaid. Belts are still very popular, and becoming thinner to pair with more slimmed down looks. The shirts the camper and counselor are wearing might look familiar. because that design was brought back for our 95th anniversary!

This Shirt look familiar?

Check out all that flannel

Father Foley is really pulling off that belt!

1960s

 And just like that we made it to the 60s! Things get colorful and bold. Informal is in and formal is OUT. People started dressing down and wearing less suits and more casual clothing. 1960s  shirts included classic dress shirts, casual T-shirts, beatnik turtlenecks, Large collar button down shirts, and sporty  polo zip shirts were popular, with slim fits and bold patterns like stripes or polka dots. 

Some color to show off the color of the 60s

Campers sporting some bold patterns while admiring Sail Trophies

Camp Staff aerial pic showing off the new staff shirts

1970s

Rolling right into the 70s, we finally have girls fashion too! We also transition into more color photography. This gives us the opportunity to see some of the great camp merch in its full glory. The 70s was a decade with no one style of fashion. Walk a block or so on any big city street, you would see people wearing block-print  dresses, tight tie-dye T-shirts and hip hugger jeans, handmade hippie attire, or big boots and disco outfits. Wide bell bottoms can be found on some campers in this decade, but you will definitely see DENIM! Denim jeans, denim shirts, denim jackets and more!....

Girl Cabin posing, the yellow and navy shirts are retro staff shirts

Should we bring this design back?

The 50th year t-shirt, with matching shorts!

Campers rocking the DENIM

1980s

Welcome to the 80s! This decade was known for bright colors, big statements, and BANGS! We can see campers and staff with big hair to match bright colored t-shirts and high waisted jeans and shorts. The vintage red Camp Foley t-shirt featured below shows the style of the time, with a big fun graphic on the front. It became very popular in the 80s to wear tees with different logos, the most popular being Coca Cola and Nike.

A typical 80s day at Camp Foley

All the BANGS!

How cool are these shirts?!

1990s

And now we come to a particularly fun decade, the 90s! The shirts are too big and the shorts are too long. Ripped and distressed jeans were worn by many, and baseball caps were always worn backwards. The 90s were all about grunge, it became a big deal to find and wear grandpas old flannel or go thrift shopping. Hip hop artists hit a high popularity in the 90s, leading to many young people wanting to looking and dress like them. The 90s fashion trends followed the kids all the way to camp, and in the pictures below you can see campers buying Camp Foley merch that is 2 or 3 sixes too big, remember the shirt got cooler the bigger it was! 

They could've walked off the set of Full House

Can't get more 90s then a neon jacket around the waist

Baseball caps worn backwards ALWAYS!

Check out that oversized Camp Foley Tee

2000s

So close to our own decade, but its surprising how much was so different just 10 to 20 years ago. The early 2000s trends still included things carried over from the 90s, like oversized shirts, and jeans, While these trends are similar, the jeans are a little more fitted and the shirts a little less giant. The Foley Merch takes on its most modern look with with soft colors and clear font. Girls replaced tube tops with camis and tanks and boys stopped wearing so many cargo pants and flannel and went for more layers and comfy clothes here at camp. 

Some Fun Early 2000s Foley Merch

Baseball caps are still in!

Remember those "kinda mean" shirts we all wore in 2004?

Every girl has done this to her shirt at least once between 2000-2009

2010s

We have finally arrived in the present! You don't need me to explain the trends of today, just go look in your closet. But one of the greatest things about Camp is that campers don't feel pressured to follow any one fashion trend. They come to camp to be campers and get away from all the expectations of fashion. We encourage all our campers to dress as silly as possible for camp events, like the camp Dance, 4th of July, and our big end of camp celebrations at the end of each two weeks. It is so cool to see how the campers fashions have changed over the years, but one thing that will never change is that camp clothes will ALWAYS be in fashion. 

How many different accessories can you spot?

Taken at the Safari Banquet in 2017

All that DENIM! Could be the 90s

A Smile is always a fashion trend at Camp Foley 

Mental Health, Camp and What We Are Doing to Help.

In April of 2019 I had the opportunity to be trained as a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor. Mental health has always been something that I have paid attention to and wanted to educate myself more about. As the number of young people that are presenting with depression and anxiety have grown, it has also something that has effected our program and the young people we serve.
The week long course was full of ups and downs, emotions, hard learning and practice teaching an 8 hour course.

The concept of the class is simple: if you walk in to a grocery store and fall down and physically hurt yourself there are probably lots of people there that have been trained on what to do to help you. They took First Aid. They know how to respond until more help comes. And these aren't professionals, they are people just like you that have done a little extra training to help their community. Now picture yourself in that same grocery store and you have a panic attack. Fast breathing, vision gets blurry, world seems like it is closing in on you, maybe you are a bit disoriented. How many people around you know what to do? How many people offer assistance?

Youth MHFA is aimed at adults that work with youth aged 12-18 (so parents, teachers, camp directors and staff, police officers).

It is about:
Empathy and listening
Being an advocate
Finding resources for someone in need
Educating yourself on some common signs and symptoms
Love and kindness
Having conversations with loved ones and strangers about mental health

It is NOT about:
Being an expert or diagnosing illness
Knowing what to do in every situation
Learning every illness and how they all work

Because at Camp Foley one of our main Mission Statements is to Partner with Parents, we want to offer you the chance to attend a YMHFA course that I am teaching on March 20th at the Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka. 

If you have an interest, please email me (Alli) and I will pass along the details of the course. The course costs $45 but to show our dedication to this important topic we are splitting the cost with our camp parents, offering it to you for $25.

If you can't make that date, let me know....there are other classes around the country that you can take.

Looking forward to continuing my education and hope you will, too.

Alli Faricy, Director

Thinking About Summer Plans? We Know We Are!

Our mission here at Foley is, 'We partner with parents to drive campers to grow, gain grit, investigate, and build independence.' But what does that truly mean for me (the parent)?

As parents, you are probably starting to get to the end of your summer planning and beginning to finalize all the plans for the family. Why not make camp a part of those summer plans?! Summer camp is a benefit to your child's growth and development, but it's also a benefit to you - the parents!

You might be thinking: "So what do I, as a parent, get out of this summer camp thing?"

Your kids are experiencing an intentional, individualized, structured few weeks away from home that gives you (the parent) the benefit of having more independent, confident kids. The article above has a great link for parents on how to prepare both themselves and their children for summer camp. The list has applicable ways to get ahead and lay the groundwork for a successful time away.

A safe environment for kids (and parents) to take risks is proving to be a much needed aspect of our lives. We know that homesickness is natural, but so is kid-sickness. Parents, you are definitely going to miss your kids, but it's a great opportunity for you to also take the risk of sending your child to a place that positively shapes them. Sending your child to a place where they are safe, cared for, and encouraged to take risks allows that room for growth and independence that we at Foley strive for.

The article, Anxious Parent? Sending the kids to camp can be great for you, too, from the Boston Globe goes into more depth regarding the benefits of summer camp for both you and your kids.

Parents, including our own Beth Foster, consistently see a difference in their kids when they return home after time spent in camp.

So, as you finalize those plans, think Camp Foley. Give your kid the gift of camp, complete with lifelong skills, friendships, and memories. Give yourself the gift of risk-taking growth, practice coping, and time doing what YOU would like to.

Register today for Summer 2019 and experience the benefits of camp for you and your child!

Thanks to Camp

"Let's face it. The impact of camp can be hard to explain. We know it's more than s'mores, games and crazy costumes." - Canadian Camping Association

Here's a shout-out to our neighbors to the north. The Canadian Camping Association put together an incredible video, "Thanks to Camp", that beautifully portrays the wonders of summer camp.  Individuals from across Canada submitted their iPhone footage which was ultimately compiled to create this masterpiece, and let me tell you, it just warms your soul.



If this video inspires you, please create your own #thankstocamp and post to our Facebook wall. We would love to see and hear how Camp Foley has impacted your life.

Grateful for YOU

In 2016 we had a lot to be thankful for, from completing our 92 summer serving youth, to welcoming many new campers in to our Foley Family, to having the opportunity to cuddle with Nike and Norm on the daily.

Always at the top of the list is our entire Foley Family. We are infinitely grateful for the incredible campers, staff, and alumni. You are the reason camp has such a feeling of "home."

The Foley Family is spread far and wide across the world, which is a beautiful thing. We enjoy celebrating with you all in spirit and were excited to receive photos from current and past Foleyites. Below are few of those photos!

We look forward to seeing where 2017 takes each of you!

Pippa, a staff member in 1999 and 2000, and her family pose for
a photo near their home in South Africa. Happy Holidays!

Lilly, camper for 10 years, celebrated on the slopes in Colorado.

Former campers and staff Diego, Claudia, Mauricio, and Regina
sent their holiday greetings from Rome. 

Hally, a staff member in 2014 and 2016, celebrated back home in Australia
by putting "another shrimp on the barbie." 

Louise, a current camper, had a frosty time decorating cookies
for Santa with her younger cousin near Minneapolis! 

Peter, a long time camper and staff, celebrated
with his preschool students in the province of Sanmatenga.



Explore CAMP FOLEY and REGISTER your child today. 

Top 7 Reasons to Register EARLY for summer 2017

Camp allows youth to unplug for the summer, spend time outside, and develop friendships with other campers from across the country and around the world. The experience sets to stage for a lifetime of personal growth and development, both in physical and mental skills. Register today to secure your spot at Camp Foley in 2017 and enjoy the following benefits of early registration!

1. Registering early saves you money – take advantage of the opportunity to receive 5% off total tuition!

Photo by Portia F

2. Camp dogs Nike and Norm are anxious for a camp full of loving campers. Registering early guarantees Nike snuggles if you desire. Catch Norm if you can!

3. Camp is a safe environment for campers to be brave and strive to achieve goals. A summer at Foley provides the opportunity to grow grit and investigate independence in an endlessly supportive environment.



4. Love being out on the lake? Hop onboard the highly

anticipated new pontoon and enjoy the beauty of The Whitefish Chain while cruising in comfort.

5. For returning campers, registering early also locks in your position to participate in a special events focused on your favorite activity. You won’t want to miss out on this experience!

6. Take part in hatching painted or snapping turtles and, if the timing is right, be involved in releasing these adorable critters into the wild!

7.Join the summer 2017 Foley Family and make countless, priceless memories and friendships.

Thomas Jefferson said it best, “Never put off for tomorrow, what can be done today.” Register for a summer at Camp Foley TODAY and benefit from the perks of early registration.

Register here today!

I is for Immersion

Camp has its own special culture; traditions and history help to create an atmosphere that draws families back year after year, and our campers love feeling like a part of the Foley family. In fact, when campers leave home and arrive at camp, they may find that they are immediately immersed in camp life and camp culture, surrounded by songs and games, and already in a completely new mindset.

We take this concept of immersion to an even higher level. Campers come from all over the world for the Camp Foley experience, and while their hometowns range from Buenos Aires to London to Tokyo, Foley becomes their new home. International kids beam with pride as they see their English improve, and American kids make friends from across the globe that they’ll remember forever. Through everything, we see unity in the spirit of camp. Our campers know that when they arrive, they will find a home where they are immersed in not only culture and language, but also true camaraderie.