Mom.com checked in with Laurie Kaiden, Maine Camp Experience’s Director and Campcierge™ for her thoughts during Covid times about 4 Q’s to Ask When Considering Summer Camp for Your Child. Kaiden shares: “sleepaway camp might be the safest option” and “it’s the creating pods and bubbles, it’s the COVID-19 testing strategies, and keeping up on the latest information on when and how best to conduct those tests. It’s being diligent in outreach to public health experts.”
As The New York Times shares in this article, interest in overnight camp is very high as parents see the value of camp, and directors like Jon Deren of Camp Manitou, one of several Maine Camps that ran in 2020 and will in 2021, shares the importance of camp as "being a tech-free place where kids can be happy. Parents want their kids to have fun, given the lack of fun and isolation their kids have had.”
Maine Camps are highlighted in this Associated Press article about camps reopening this summer, giving kids a sense of "normalcy." Piece includes insights from Andy Lilienthal of Camp Winnebago & photos of Camp Fernwood, two of the many Maine Camps that ran successfully last summer. As a parent said, "I can't begin to tell you how good camp was for my son’s mental and physical health, and his childhood."
Learn how camps can run safely & successfully amidst Covid in 2021 as Camp Wekeela and other Maine Camp Experience Camps did in 2020.
If you’re considering sending a child to overnight camp, make sure their protocol is like Maine’s.” Read more in this New York Times Parenting article which includes CDC study findings about how Maine Camps ran successfully in 2020.
As we gear up and meticulously plan for Summer 2021, check out recent coverage about Maine Camps’ success in 2020 featuring camps including Wildwood, Manitou, and Wekeela.
Read more in:
The Wall Street Journal
Camp Business
ACA New England News
What schools can learn from Maine Camps which kept COVID at bay in summer 2020.
Maine Camps used a multi-layered public health approach to keep campers and counselors safe from COVID in summer 2020.
Maine overnight camps hosted thousands of kids and counselors and followed safety plans to mitigate COVID.
Laurie, our Campcierge™, shared with Parent & Family readers: how to know when your child is ready for camp, how to choose which camp, and how to prepare for overnight camp.
Maine Camp Experience is proud to welcome Camp Sunshine’s new leader. MCE looks forward to continuing its support of Camp Sunshine’s work to brighten the lives of families with seriously ill children.
It's always wonderful to hear stories about love and marriage stemming from camp. Like camp owners Beigette and Jim Gill from Fernwood Cove, as well as Jason and Leslie Silberman at Camp Matoaka, and Howard Salzberg and Lisa Wulkan at Camp Modin, there are many wonderful matches made and weddings held at these beautiful Maine camps.
Congratulations to Dan Isdaner, co-owner and director of Camp Mataponi, a Maine Camp Experience camp. Dan was awarded the 2014 Meritorious Service Award by the American Camp Association, New England (ACA New England) for his admirable service. His outstanding contributions include his leadership of the Camp Champions Committee and its success in providing summer camp experiences for children in need.
Maine camps have always been dedicated to engaging campers in social action. Maine Camp Experience and Maxcure Foundation brought Dunk Your Kicks to Maine Camps to help raise money and awareness to fight pediatric cancer.
Read more in:
Bridgton News
Portland Press Herald
Lewiston Sun Journal
Camp Manitou, a Maine Camp Experience camp, hosts the Manitou Experience, a program begun in 2009 that takes over the site for one week each August and hosts 300 grieving boys, ages 9 to 17. It's for young men who have lost a parent, sibling or other loved one. Wiley Cerilli, a volunteer counselor for the Manitou Experience, talks about the gratification of giving boys who've lost loved ones good therapy, good food, and good clean fun.
Maine Camp Experience is included in a feature about Maxcure Foundation and founder David Plotkin in the June issue of (201) Magazine (Bergen County, NJ). We're happy to have been included in the piece and even more glad to be in partnership for such a worthwhile cause. Last summer we collected well over 1,000 pairs of sneakers in the Dunk Your Kicks program and we hope to beat that number this summer with the 20 participating Maine Camp Experience camps. We look forward to welcoming David back to our camps this summer as part of the campers' social action awareness and participation.
Millburn-Short Hills, NJ Patch and Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch, NY feature information about Maine Camp Experience Win Tuition winners who won $5K Toward Maine Summer Camp Tuition in these posts:
Newsday features a list of the Top 20 Questions Parents Should Ask when seeking a camp match for their kids provided by Laurie, the Maine Guide for Maine Camp Experience.
Lifestyle blogger and Maine Camp Enthusiast Amy Selling shares her positive personal experiences with her son at camp in Maine in this LuluAndLattes.com post.
Maine Camp Experience’s Guide Laurie, who provides personalized guidance to families for camp research and visits to Maine, weighs in with advice for choosing the right camp for your kid and mistakes to avoid.
Maine camps spark creativity and encourage social responsibility. A 12-year-old camper from Camp Mataponi, a Maine Camp Experience member, created a unique pair of leggings with fashion designer Zara Terez. The young designer has decided that 10% of all proceeds will go to Camp Sunshine, a camp exclusively dedicated to children with life-threatening illnesses.
The camping industry creates fun for campers and brings people and money into Maine. Camp Modin's Howard Salzberg hired a company to recruit a flash mob, a massive group of seemingly random individuals who began break dancing and back flipping right outside Funtown Splashtown... right in front of the 400 astonished campers. Fun for campers, jobs for Maine. The lighting, the sound, and the transportation for the flash mob were all handled by Portland companies.
Check out campers “dunking” their “kicks” (aka donating their used sneakers) at Camp Runoia. This summer, campers throughout Maine sleepaway camps have been participating in this social action initiative through a partnership between Maine Camp Experience and Max Cure foundation to help fight pediatric cancer.
Maine camps are committed to engaging campers in social action and providing them with the opportunity to help others. This summer through a partnership formed by Maine Camp Experience, the Maine camps are teaming up with Max Cure Foundation's "Dunk Your Kicks" program to help fight pediatric cancer. Kids at Maine camps are donating their used sneakers to help raise money.
Read about the program kick-off at the camps in this Sun Journal article
Meet the 2013 "Win Tuiton" winner. The Patch of Half Hollow Hills introduces Jordyn, the third winner of Maine Camp Experience's tuition giveaway. She's going to camp this summer, and we're starting Win Tuition all over again this fall.
Sending your kids to an MCE member camp for the summer can foster independence, skills development, a love of nature, a lack of dependence on technology...and all around the best summer they've ever had.
Parents, your kids get to spend their summers at camp. Ready to join them? Watch the Today Show to see Travel + Leisure editor Sarah Spagnolo talk about Maine camps and Family Camp in Maine as a fun, affordable getaway for the entire family.
The Greater Portland Convention + Visitors Bureau suggests camp in Maine as a super summer experience. Excellent activities for the kids at camp; restaurants, B&Bs, and shopping for the parents everywhere else. Maine has a little bit for everyone.
Remember that article on Travel + Leisure that featured Maine camps? We thought it was pretty great, and apparently the Today Show did too!
See #5 on the slideshow for a beautiful shot of Wyonegonic Camps and a great story about the family camp program at Camp Kippewa and other Maine Camp Experience camps!
“Riverside Elementary fifth-grader Annie Frey had been lobbying her parents for a turn at sleep-away camp when her mom, Melissa, spied an ad right here in Greenwich Magazine...”
Family Camp was featured in the March edition of Travel + Leisure. Family Camp was featured as a Best Family Getaway — oh yes, you know it's true!
Jaed Coffin of Maine Magazine shows how Maine camps are shaping young boys into men by uplugging them from the modern world and teaching them the traditions of old-fashioned America.
Julie Callahan recommends Maine and MCE camps to fight the forces of summer boredom. The exceptional environment and the member camps’ perfected practice of camping combine to provide the ideal summer getaway.
Bon Appétit Magazine showcases some of the camps that have raised the bar in terms of camp food. Growing food on site for camp meals, and learning how to cook; It's all a part of summer camp!
Esther Sung talks about the trend in camps toward culinary excellence and the opportunity some campers have to learn to cook!
How do you choose a summer camp? How should you choose? Should you tour? If so, how should you go about it? What do you look for? MomTrends.com gives you tips and advice and recommends The Maine Camp Experience as a great resource for answering all your questions about camp.
Michael Thompson made his first New York City appearance which was generously sponsored by the Maine Camp Experience. See how this event went, and what Michael has to say in his new book “Homesick and Happy”.
Listen to the podcast here (or click the link below to download podcast directly)
Homesick and Happy: A Parenting Conversation and Book Signing
Michael Thompson, Ph.D., renowned author and psychologist, discusses his newest book and how time away from parents can help kids grow.
May 6, 2012
The Maine Convention + Visitors Bureau Awarded Maine Camp Experience with the Lighthouse Award in early 2012 for outstanding leadership in promoting Maine as a tourism destination while enhancing the quality of life for all Maine people.
Capabilty Mom recently wrote about The Maine Camp Experience on her blog.
It features the great wonders and destinations in Maine you should visit.
You can see the complete guide here or order a printed copy here.
For just the Maine Camp Experience article, click here.
The site I Love Newton recently wrote about The Maine Camp Experience here, and gave away copies of “Homesick and Happy.”
Ron Bancroft reports that Maine Camps contribute more than $449 million to the state’s economy each year.
“Experience at summer camp in Maine often leads to lasting ties with the state — either from those who return in the summer as adults or those who end up moving to Maine year-round...Maine camp life is an experience that endures. Friendships formed there often last a lifetime, and the bonds to Maine bring people back.”
Here are a wide range of photos to choose from.
Contact Laurie our Maine Guide - laurie@mainecampexperience.com – for the latest camp news and trends, interviews with camp directors, campers and families, and much more!
24 Reasons Everyone Should See Maine Before They Die
- from BuzzFeed
The Hottest Restaurants in Portland, Maine
- from ZAGAT
10 creative ways Maine restaurants are serving up lobster
- from USA Today 10Best
The Best State in the USA for Your End-of-Summer Getaway
- from Thrillist
Maine Is the Best-Ever Vacation Spot
- from Bon Appetit
36 Hours in Portland, Maine
- from The New York Times
Love Letters: Portland, Maine
- from The Huffington Post
On Maine's Slopes, Plenty of Elbow Room
- from The New York Times
In Maine, Walking Where Waves Moved Winslow Homer's Brush
— from The New York Times
Black Point Inn: A Classic Maine Getaway
— from the Huff Post Blog
Rachel Carson’s ‘Rugged Shore’ in Maine
— from The New York Times
36 Hours in Midcoast Maine
— from The New York Times
Restaurant Report: Long Grain in Camden, Me.
— from The New York Times
Art-Filled Weekend in Portland, Maine
— from the Fodor's Travel Blog
