Veronica Chooses Camp

In a little over three months I will arrive to my second home. I'll get to see the campers that I've known for eight years now, and meet new campers that will soon become my friends in the next amazing four weeks.

Cabin Hiawatha 2017

Every summer I leave my home in Florida (leaving the CRAZY 95 degree heat!!!!!) and head up to Pine River, Minnesota. I've been doing this every summer since I was born. I have never spent a summer in a place other than Whitefish, and I wouldn't ever want to change that. For as long as I can remember, Foley has been in my vocabulary. My mom was one of the first girls to ever attend and I have had countless cousins as campers and counselors. So going to Foley was always sort of like a family reunion, but not just family, it's also reuniting with the people I made amazing friendships with in the past eight years.

Veronica flying high over her paradise. 

Yes, eight years. I'm going into my junior year this fall so this means that 2018 will be my final year as a camper. This brings me nearly to tears looking back at all the amazing memories, friendships, meals, banquets, trips, and everything that makes camp, camp. Over the past eight years I have spent 30 weeks at camp. That’s a really long time, and many people ask why I would spend all that time at a summer camp when I could be spending time at the beach, traveling, or my favorite “how can you spend that much time without your phone?”

You see, these few weeks at Foley provide me with life skills and experiences you can't get anywhere else.

You have to learn how to live with 12 other girls, embrace your crazy side, and you get to be the absolute best version of yourself without judgement. I get to make friends with people that have had such a great impact on my life. I find myself at a loss for words when describing how amazing this place is. It is my home away from home, my happy place, and truly is a paradise. You get to forget about the worries of everyday life and just live. Being at camp is like living on cloud 9.

Foley offers so many opportunities for campers that we would never have the opportunity to do, both in regard to activities and friendships. The friendships I have made at Foley are cherished and reminisced upon year round. Every year is a new adventure, with new friends to be made, new banquet themes, staff, and you have become a year older.

So why do I love camp? That would take over a day to explain but I’ll shorten it up. It's all the LIT days, the cabin agreements, the Grand Dance Festivals, the trips to tree houses, CDOs, Friendship Campfires, tater tot hot dishes, canteens, canoe trips, lip syncs, evening programs, free swims, and the most amazing people you will meet.


Knowing that my time as a camper is coming to a close I realize how much camp helped me grow as a person, both inside and outside of camp. Camp Foley is not only a camp, but a home. So make it a great day or not… THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

-Veronica

Veronica will be spending her final summer in camp as a CIT (Counselor in Training), with her focus being on ensuring younger campers can build meaningful  connections just as she has over her eight years in camp. Her leadership can be seen in all aspects of camp life, from cabin living to her knowledge and skill on the rifle range. Come grow at camp this summer just as Veronica has.  REGISTER TODAY! 

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

One of Camp Foley's best traditions (in my professional opinion) is it's birthday tradition. I love when the entire Dining Hall sings "happy birthday" to someone as they stand on a milk crate and followed by the counselors surrounding the birthday camper and singing the staff birthday song. Who can resist ominously chanting, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we hate do it, but we must we must," as campers and counselors follow the birthday boy or girl to the lake to be thrown in by his or her counselors? Follow all of this up with a special Foley birthday cake - amazing! Guest blogger and 2013 counselor Melissa Martutartus recalls the birthday of one of her 2012 campers.

Melissa helping to throw Jessica into Whitefish Lake.

I have many favorite moments that I can recall from my first summer at Foley. I love the fact that there are so many traditions that one would only understand having gone to Foley. One of which is to be thrown in the lake on your birthday. It was one of my favorite moments, being a new counselor, that I was a part of throwing my camper into the lake. It made me feel like I helped make Jessica’s day even though she knew it was coming. However, it made my day even more because the entire camp was watching. I felt as though it is an honor to throw someone into the lake. And since Jessica was a member of my cabin, we were able to laugh as a cabin about it that night together! 

-Melissa Martutartus

Have you ever celebrated a birthday at Foley, or  might you be a first-timer camper this summer and have this tradition to look forward to? Do you have another Foley tradition that's your favorite?