Camp Wa Wa Segowea: The Next Step

Greetings from Wa Wa!

The following letter is being sent out to potential interested parties.

Letters of Interest Requested

September 29, 2012

Are you an organization looking to expand or enhance programming in a beautiful outdoor setting? Here’s an opportunity to support your agency’s mission and enrich children’s lives by partnering with Camp Wa Wa Segowea.

Camp Wa Wa Segowea is located in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachusetts on approximately 500 wooded acres surrounding a 26-acre spring-fed lake. Camp Segowea has operated for more than 90 years as a summer camp for children. It is conveniently located about one hour from Albany, NY, Hartford, CT, and Pittsfield, MA. Our recent Capital Campaign has resulted in significant improvements to the facility. The grounds include a main lodge, dining hall with full service kitchen, nature lodge, athletic fields, 11 cabins made of American Chestnut, two, two-bedroom director’s cabins, a bathroom and shower facility, winterized health lodge, outpost camping areas, outdoor “Chapel,” campfire area with benches, five Adirondack lean-tos, hiking trails, and a waterfront including two swim areas, sailboats, rowboats, and canoes. The camp can accommodate approximately 90 children.

We are currently accepting Letters of Interest for potential partners interested in:
(A) Leasing the land for seasonal camp or retreat offerings
                             or

(B) Working together with the governing board to run a summer camp.

Letters of Interest should be emailed by November 1st to campwawasegowea@gmail.com.

Letters of Interest should include:

 Contact Name

 Agency /Affiliation / Organization

 Address

 Phone Number

 Email

 Website

Briefly describe your organization and intended use of the property. Include target population and estimated number of people who will be on site. Describe why this location would be advantageous to your organization for this particular program.

For more information about the camp, go to www.segowea.blogspot.com or Camp Wa Wa Segowea on Facebook. Any questions about the Letter of Interest should be emailed to campwawasegowea@gmail.com.

Thank You!

Smith Park of New York Board

Here's a map of Camp and a Building Inventory.

      (Click to enlarge map)

BUILDING INVENTORY USE                                       CAPACITY

Smith Lodge/Dining Hall              Recreation Building, Kitchen & Dining              100 people

Cabin Row (11 Chestnut cabins)      Camper/Counselor Bunks                         8 Campers/ 2 staff each

Beacon                                          Restroom & Bathhouse                          100 people

Nature Lodge                           Arts & Crafts/Activity Area                         10-12 people

Raymond Cabin                                  Staff Housing                                         2-4 people

Keller Cabin                                       Staff Housing                                           2-4 people

        

Hart Lodge                              Staff Housing/Camp Office                               4-5 people

Page Lodge                                    Staff Housing                                          2-4 people

Thomas Estate                           Overflow Housing                                        4-10 people

Senior Village                           Adventure Program                            2-4 people per Lean-To

(5- Adirondack Lean-tos)

And some pictures of what we have available!

                                                        The Main Lodge

The Dining Hall

The Kitchen

The Nature Lodge.

Athletic Fields

Cabin Row

Inside the cabins

Keller Cabin

Beacon (Restroom and Bathhouse)

Chapel

Council Ring

Senior Village

The Waterfront

Camp Wa Wa Segowea: A Century of Community

Hello Friends of Segowea!

This weeks blog post comes all the way from Rochester, NY by Camp Alum, Lisa Perks.  Lisa and her husband Josh (another camp alum!) live there and they organize, run and even race in the Wa Wa Wally Waddle, camp's biggest fundraiser for the year which takes in place in May.  They are also members of the Friends of Segowea Alumni Council and are very much involved in the planning of the 100th Anniversary of Camp Wa Wa Segowea in 2013, which is the focus of this blog post.  Lisa is organizing a "Design the Camp Anniversary T-Shirt" contest, and am pleased to have her write this weeks post!

Hello Wa Wa's, 

My name is Lisa Perks, and I went to camp in the '90s and early 2000s. I'm currently helping to plan our epic 100-year reunion for next summer. We are looking for your help with a fun part of the planning: 

Calling all artists, designers, and creative types for a Camp Segowea 100 year reunion t-shirt contest!    Designs must be related to the reunion theme Camp Wa Wa Segowea: A Century of Community.    Bold designs using only two colors are preferred. (Small details will not print well.)    Designs that incorporate some of the classic camp t-shirts and signs (three hikers, the lodge- see pictures below) or present a new take on them are also welcome.   The t-shirt image will also be used on our "save the date" post cards to be sent out in the fall.  The contest runs until October 23rd.  Send designs to friendsofsegowea@gmail.com.  The designs will be posted to our camp facebook page for voting.   Thanks and stay tuned!

We also want to thank the volunteers coming out for the workdays this past weekend.  It was a very productive weekend and we lucked out weather wise!  It was nice out Saturday, but rained pretty hard on Saturday night. However come Sunday, it was a gorgeous sunny autumn day!  Below are a few pictures.  If you missed this one, don't worry, there's another one coming soon!  In October, the weekend of the 20-21st, we will also have the final work day/weekend.  Save the dates now and hope to see you then!

                                           All the docks are in and most of the boats are stored.

Some volunteers' drying clothes.

Boats over the ditch to prevent leaves falling in them.

A beautiful weekend at Wa Wa!

Camp Wa Wa Segowea Fall Happenings!

As you may or may not know, Camp Wa Wa Segowea and the Capital District YMCA have been in a three year contract, which resulted in the camp re-opening in 2010 and continuing to serve children for the summers of 2010 through 2012.  We worked together those three years to give many children the opportunity to truly enjoy a Segowea camping experience. Now that our contract period is coming to an end in December of 2012, the CDYMCA has let us know they have decided not to renew with us, as they are planning to concentrate their efforts on other programs. 

The Camp Segowea Board of Directors, which is Smith Park of New York and Massachusetts, have already begun plans for a transition to new management going forward.  Smith Park board members participated in a four-hour strategic planning session last weekend with an outside facilitator to explore the options before us and develop action steps and timelines for moving forward. We will be sure to keep you informed as things progress. 

We feel confident in telling you that Camp Wa Wa Segowea will be open next summer for its 100th Anniversary year, and we are excited for this new opportunity for growth in our heritage!

Should you have comments or questions, please email us at campwawasegowea@gmail.com.

Thanks always for your interest in Wa Wa.

Sincerely,

Chairman John Fisher &

Smith Park of New York Board of Directors: 

 Mike Bruns

 Elizabeth Carivan

 Wyeth Drummond

 John Dunn

 Lily Easton

 Lou Falk

 Tom Harvey

 Beth Hodos

 Linda MacIsaac

 Amy McPheeters

 Michael Page

 Jeff Raymond

 Darlene Ward

 John Witter

Smith Park of New York Mission Statement

The mission of Smith Park of New York is to ensure the continued existence of Camp Wa Wa Segowea. We will do this by maintaining financial and administrative support; as well as upholding the vision and goals of Camp Wa Wa Segowea. 

The first work weekend of the fall is also taking place coming up on the 22nd and 23rd of September.  If you plan on attending for the day, for the weekend, or even just a few hours, please let us know.  You can contact us at campwawasegowea@gmail.com or sign in to the Facebook "Work Weekend Event". 

http://www.facebook.com/events/101550603332764/  

All are invited to attend as there's plenty of work to do!   We need to bring in the docks and the boats, pack up the books for the reading corner, paint cabin floors, pack up kitchen items and many other projects.