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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Just what is a Work Weekend at Camp Wa Wa Segowea?

We'll be having our first work weekend this weekend, April 30th and May 1st and we'd love to have you attend! If you can't make this one, there's one in May (21-22nd) and another in June (18-19th). You can always check out the Camp calendar at the end of every blog post for dates.

Just what is a work weekend?

Work Weekends have been happening at Camp Segowea in some form or fashion for as long as the camp has been around. Friends of Segowea come up and pitch in whether it's a major project, a few minor jobs or even just general cleanup. The weekend could consist of moving things around; (boats, beds, tables, etc.) and then cleaning or any number of different jobs.

Back a few years ago, the weekend actually meant the whole weekend! Volunteers arrived on Friday night and stayed until Sunday night. Beds were arranged in the dining hall with a fire always going in the fireplace to keep warm. Meals were served and then later in the evening, many card games were played! (Hearts was a favorite back then) Many larger projects kept everyone busy. There were jobs like building Mt. Beacon, or renovating the Directors or Program Directors cabin. There were even specific jobs to do every spring and fall- Putting the shutters up and bringing in the docks in the fall and just the opposite in the spring. It was a chance to spend some time at camp, accomplish quite a bit, and enjoy the camaraderie of working together.

These days it's the names and faces that have changed, but generally the same work gets done. We're not building Mt Beacon again, but we're still renovating buildings, moving things around and enjoying the camaraderie. With everyone's busy schedules these days, a full weekend is hard to ask of someone, so even though we call it a work weekend, it's more of a "work day" or even a few work hours! The more people we have, the more gets done, and there's always something to do! The Property Director, Norm has broken it down even further-

Work weekend reservations required. Email or call Property Director Norm Button, at nbutton@cdymca.org or 413-229-9910. We start work projects at 9 am with three 2 ½ hour work sessions starting Saturday 9 am, Saturday 1 pm, Sunday 9 am. Overnight lodging available. Bring your own food. Complementary Saturday dinner for all participants at 6 pm. Work projects include landscaping, raking, cleaning, painting, trail and boat maintenance, wood and brush cutting, carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work.

So we would encourage you to see if you have a few hours, a day or even a whole weekend, to participate in our camp work weekends. If you can't make any of the scheduled dates and would still like to help out, please give Norm a call or email. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you, especially if you have those carpentry, plumbing or electrical skills! Hope to see you out there.

If you have favorite/memorable work weekend stories, please post them in the comments, We'd love to hear them!

Here's some pictures of work getting done on the work weekends through the years.

Working on the dock.



Playing cards in the evening.



Working on the waterfront.



Working on the chapel.



Working on the docks.



In the Kitchen.



Working even under the buildings!



Working on camp chairs.



In the chapel.



Doing the dishes. Everyone pitches in!



Working on the lodge posts.



Painting.



Posing after a busy day!



Working on the bunk beds



Cleaning away the cobwebs.



the latest big project- the Property Director's home.



Bringing in the docks last fall.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Camp Wa Wa Segowea - A Spring update!

The days are quickly going by as we're a month into spring already, and better than that, there's only 67 days till the first day of camp! That means one thousand, six hundred and eight hours or 96,480 minutes! Start counting down now! We have more and more campers signing up every day and registering for their weeks worth of fun, having great times, making new friends and enjoying the magic of Segowea. Just this past weekend, we were meeting new campers and their parents at the KidsFunPlaza Camp Fair held at Colonie Center. Camp Director Kat Fitzpatrick and a few volunteers talked about Camp to any and all people that visited the booth. Thanks to Liz, Lauren, Nancy, Chris, Lisha, Norm and Pat for spending some time and getting their hands literally dirty! There were a few other tables/camps/schools there, but we were told by more than a couple people we had the most "creative" and fun booth! Kids and parents alike came up to the table, attracted not only by the great display, but actual grass growing! We had a couple of bowls of dirt and some wildflower seeds for planting as well as some containers (and covers). The kids each scooped their own dirt and planted the seeds in the little ramekins, watered them and then put a cover on it to take it home to watch it grow. Many piles of dirt were given away that day! Thanks also to the folks at KidsFunPlaza for making sure we were all set throughout the day. It was definitely a success! (See pictures below)

Coming up next weekend, (April 30th-May 1), it's the weekend of firsts. Our first work weekend of 2011 will be on Saturday and Sunday. Norm will be keeping us busy with general cleanup and assisting on the Property Director's house. If you can volunteer some time, please consider joining us! Give Norm a call or email- 413-229-9110 or nbutton@cdymca.org. On Sunday as well, it's our first Open House! If you haven't see the camp and would like to, please RSVP to Kat Fitzpatrick at 518-656-9462 or kfitzpatrick@cdymca.org.

Coming in May on the 14th & 15th (That's just 24 days or 576 hours or 34,560 minutes!) it's the Wa Wa Wally Waddle and Pasta Dinner! Saturday night is the Pasta Dinner, to be held at Christ Episcopal Church on Carroll Street in Poughkeepsie, NY from 5:30-8:00 pm. Then the Wa Wa Wally Waddle will take place on Sunday the 15th at Vassar Farms in a newly improved course layout. Registration is between 7:30-9:30 am and the 5K race/walk kicks off at 10 am. There's also kids events beginning at 9:30 am. For more info, visit the site- http://www.friendsofsegowea.org/waddle/ Hope to see you there!

Pictures from the KidsFunPlaza Camp Fair

Liz and Lauren getting ready for the kids.



A future camper!



Taking time to pose.



Nancy & Chris helping out.



Carefully placing the seeds!



Kat was not asleep- Trust me!



Mike, Lisha and Kat posing for a picture.



Parents & Kids alike got into the dirt!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Momentum is building for Camp Wa Wa Segowea's 2011 Summer Season!

With nice weather at Camp Segowea the last couple of days, the feeling is that summer will be here before we know it. And summer means camp! It's 77 days and counting for camp to open for the 2011 season and momentum is definitely building. More and more campers are signing up and registering for camp every day. The program is being worked on, staff is being hired and in 3 weeks, we'll have our first Open House of the season. There's 9 one week sessions of camp this year, improving upon the 7 sessions we had last year. If you haven't yet registered for the summer, do it today! www.segowea.org

This week, we've added the 2011 Camp Calendar to the blog at the bottom of the post. Check the dates and see if you can participate in any of the camp events! If you're in the Albany area this coming Saturday, April 16th, stop by the Camp Fair taking place at Colonie Center and say hello!

Also this week, for those that can't wait to see camp on May 1st, here's a few pictures mostly taken this weekend. As always, click on the pictures to enlarge.

New Camp Director Kat Fitzpatrick feeling right at home!



Progress on the Property Director's Home





In the woods, near Old Senior Village.



Taking a look out at the Archery Field.



Most of the snow is gone, now it's time for grass to grow!



Pretty soon, many soccer games will be held here...



and softball games...



and track & field events!



Back into the woods, there's Mack's Cabin, used now for storage.



Further in the woods is the Old Senior Village.



Back out on the main road, and going down the hill.



April 9th and the lake still has ice!



Buds on the trees are starting to come out.



Looking up the camp road.



Raymond Cabin through the woods.



The Estate- Down the road from Raymond Cabin.



Camp Director Kat's new summer home.



The trail to chapel.



The Lake through the trees.



There's still about 8 inches of ice in the lake!



Heading up the camp road, until next time...

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Camp Wa Wa Segowea- A busy Spring and animals too!

Here at Camp Wa Wa Segowea, we're having an extremely busy spring, followed by a very enjoyable summer! Many things are happening in the next couple of months and we thought we'd share them with you to hopefully partake in! In April, there's a work weekend coming up as well as a Camp Fair taking place at Colonie Center in Colonie, NY. Coming up in May, Open Houses will begin at Camp for all to see, The Wally Waddle and Pasta Dinner taking place in Poughkeepsie, NY and another work weekend at Camp. Here's the dates for all:

April 16th- Colonie Center Camp Fair- Colonie Center 10:00 AM- 8:00 PM

April Weekend- Camp Work Weekend (Date TBD)

May 1st- Camp Open House 1-3pm

May 14th- Wally Waddle Pasta Dinner 5:30-8:00 pm- to be held at Christ Episcopal Church in Poughkeepsie, NY

May 15th- Wa Wa Wally Waddle! - to be held at Vassar Farms in Poughkeepsie. Registration begins at 7:30 AM, Camp Open House 1-3pm

May 29th- Camp Open House 1-3pm

May Weekend- Camp Work Weekend (Date TBD)

We hope you can join us at any or all of these events!

All of these events help support camp in one way or another and we are proud to support it!
YMCA Camp Wa Wa Segowea sits on close to 500 acres in the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts. It is on this large property that we have a 23 acre spring-fed pond, a large variety of trees and flowers and a year round home for many amphibians, birds, insects, reptiles, fish and of course, furry animals! It definitely is nature at its finest! To see a red-tailed hawk, chipmunks scurrying about and many red efts, it would just be a normal day at Wa Wa. With that in mind, here's a few pictures of Mother Nature's finest seen at Camp Segowea through the years.

First, just a few birds...






Some of the insect world...





Some frogs and toads...






A couple reptiles...




Some more amphibians...




Some work done by the "locals"...




Our furry friends...







A couple fish...




And a couple turtles!





Okay, so not a real turtle, but a good cause coming up in May!