The Summer Camp Blog

Musings on camp and education that are both entertaining and informative, offering a great reminder of what camp is all about and why the summer camp experience is so important for our kids.

Meet the Camp Director

Vinny painting a scene set

Vinny Alexander, the Chair of the Performing Arts Department at The Harvey School for the past 12 years, has been actively involved with the Harvey Cavalier Summer Camp for more than 20 years. He assumed the role of camp director this past summer, following in the footsteps of his mentor and friend, Chris Del Campo, who started the Harvey Cavalier Camp in 1996.

We hope you enjoy his musings!

Making Memories - A Summer Camp Tradition

By Vinny Alexander, Camp Director

Camp Memories Last a Lifetime

I was fortunate enough to attend a summer camp when I was growing up in the 1970s. While camps have changed a great deal since the decade of bell bottoms, tie-dyes, and the intense battle between rock and disco for the airways, the memories of my summers in a New York suburb are as vivid as the experiences were almost 50 years ago. Summer camps create a lifetime of memories.   

Thanks For The Memories

The camp I attended spent a great deal of time and energy on Color Wars, a private camp phenomenon that consisted of dividing the entire camp into two teams, each under the moniker of one of the camp colors. The Red and White teams spent the last two weeks of camp competing for bragging rights that lasted the entire school year. There were Dodgeball games and competitions in softball, Red Rover, Man Hunt, and swimming. The culminating event of Color Wars was the “Camp Sing.” Both teams produced musical parodies of the summer’s highlights and performed an original, moving camp alma mater. The all-in emotional ride that defined Color Wars included winning events, competing against friends, hearing the summer’s sentiments in song, and realizing that September was fast approaching. As I said goodbye to the summer, I welcomed the memories to come. I cherish all my summers, and to my camp, I say, “Thank you.”  

A Vivid Memory 

One year, the camp director called us all together for a meeting which was interrupted by a raucous commotion overhead. All of the counselors and staff were dressed in costumes, staging a war between the Red Devils and the White Angels on the roof of the camp’s canteen building, a stunt designed to kick off the Color War Games. As a young person watching this fantastic battle unfold on the rooftop above me, I swore my allegiance to camp life.  

Memories Start at Goodbye

In 1971, The Jackson 5 sang “Never Can Say Goodbye,” a song that ironically was neither disco nor rock. Despite the song’s title, saying goodbye is a reality of summer camp. The relatively short span of time that camps occupy of the 12-month calendar heightens the experience and makes saying goodbye or at least saying, “Until next summer,” a very sensitive, emotional, and powerful moment. Saying goodbye may be tearful, but it is also the moment when memories are formed.  

Memories at The Harvey Camp

As the director of the Harvey School’s Summer Camp, I am always conscious of the fact that whatever activities I plan or whatever programs I offer, I am contributing to a future adult’s summertime memories. I am also aware that these memories begin on that last day of camp. Sad to leave behind the special dress-up days and dances in the gym, campers hold on to summer fun by storing away memories. They look back over the past few weeks of tie-dying T-shirts, painting pictures, or making pots in the ceramics studio. As they say goodbye they secretly wish that their group could have just one more shot at winning the scavenger hunt or compete for one more round in the Gaga Pit. “Wait, before we leave, let's perform that popular dance craze or sing our group song.” Whether it is on the shores of a lake, the depths of the woods, or on some sprawling campus like we have here at Harvey, summers at camp create a lifetime of memories that are treasured forever and always.