News
Register Now for Work Weekend
Please fill out this form to register for Spring Work Weekend:
Come See Camp – Open Houses
come See
how much fun
camp really is!
Are you interested in registering for the 2013 camp season at Hi-Rock? Have you already registered and would like to get a sense for what camp is like before the first day?
Join us for one of our Camp Open Houses:
May 11, 2013: 9am – 1pm
June 2, 2013: 9am – 1pm
If you cannot make it to one of our open houses, please contact camp to schedule a tour: info@camphirock.org
Learn about camp at a local information session
learn more
about summer
at Camp Hi-Rock
Join us for our upcoming information session:
Valley YMCA (Ansonia, CT) – Saturday April 20, 2013 10am – 12pm
If we are not scheduled to be in your area (or you cannot make it to any of the above scheduled sessions), please contact camp about setting up a home visit. Our Camp Director will travel to your home to answer questions, show the camp video and slideshow, and bring registration forms and brochures. This is a great way to get a group of families together to learn about Hi-Rock – kids love to go to camp with a friend!
March to Camp: Parts 1, 2, 3, & 4
March to Camp:
Part 1
March to Camp:
Part 2
March to Camp:
Part 3
March to Camp:
Part 4
Work Weekend Date Announced
Spring Work Weekend
April 26-28, 2013
Join us for a weekend of reconnecting and rebuilding! We are looking for a few (or more!) good men, women, and kids to help get camp ready for the spring group camping and summer camping seasons. It is time for us to bring the cabins, hiking trails, dining hall, and flower pots out of hibernation. The weekend is a great way to reconnect with fellow Hi-Rockers, current staff, and the camp you love. Come for the weekend or come for a day, we will provide lodging, food and a warm fire to relax by in the evening.
Please RSVP to David Bjorklund (summer@camphirock.org or 413.528.1227 x13)
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS – Chris Licht
Chris Licht
Hi-Rock alumnus, 1981-86, Chris Licht has been in the news recently for accepting the position of Vice President of programming at CBS News. Chris is also known as the co-creator and original executive producer of MSNBC’s successful “Morning Joe.” Just before his move to CBS, Chris had a harrowing experience that drastically changed his point of view. Last spring, Chris suffered from a brain aneurysm that nearly took his life. This experience motivated him to write the book, What I Learned When I Almost Died. The book recounts how his outlook on life, and what matters most, changed after it was almost cut short.
We are happy to announce that Chris recently accepted an invitation to become a YMCA Camp Hi-Rock board member! Camp was a special place for Chris and we had the chance to hear why. The most memorable aspect of Hi-Rock was “the exposure to all different kinds of people from different backgrounds that you don’t get in a small town.” Chris was able to make friends with a “diverse group of kids.” At camp, Chris also “fell in love with waterskiing.” Every summer he could not wait to get to Plantain Pond and ski. This sport defined a lot of his young life. In fact, Chris holds the record for the youngest barefoot waterskier at Hi-Rock, mastering this difficult technique at just 10 years old! What does Chris miss the most about Camp Hi-Rock? “The vibe, the great energy. It’s too bad you can’t carry that to other parts of your life… everyone being there to experience new things in a safe environment.”
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS – Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga
By now you surely have heard of the quirky, pop- sensation Lady Gaga, but did you know that she was once a camper here at Hi-Rock? By the age of 4, Gaga taught herself how to play the piano and ten years later she was performing solo at a nightclub. She studied at NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts, and was later signed by Akon which led her to release her debut album, The Fame.
We know a lot about the Lady Gaga who we see in the media, but what was she like when she was a camper? We asked Hi-Rock alumna, Brooke Beebe, Gaga’s counselor, a few questions about the now pop-star’s time as a camper at Hi-Rock. Back then, from 1999-2001, everyone knew her as a kind, fun Algonquin camper named Stef. Lady Gaga was like many other Algonquin girls. She loved sailing class, arts & crafts, and of course, getting ready for the social. Stefani was “always happy to help” her cabin mates. Other girls were often “borrowing clothes from her, [and] she did their hair and makeup. [Stefani] loved to help people feel their best.” Even then, her sense of style and helping others feel good about themselves was obvious.
Brooke tells us that Stefani “loved camp and always wanted to be a counselor. She would have been a great one. She was very nurturing.” As many of us can relate to, Hi-Rock was a home away from home for Gaga. “Camp was a pretty special place for her growing up, it was a relief for her to come out here and be a different person for the summer. She always wanted to stay longer.”
Gaga was dedicated to music at a young age, and began to pursue it more seriously during her teen years. Although everyone knew her as a camper who loved to sing, no one knew how hard she had already been working on her musical career. Stef was “always singing,” Brooke recounts. After lights out in the cabin, Brooke, and her co-counselor Regina, had to tell Stef to “stop singing, we are going to get in trouble.” Her response? “One day I will be famous” and she continued to sing from her bunk.
We are very proud of her success as a musician. She is an inspiration to other Hi-Rockers to follow their dreams.
Tell us what you think of camp!
Tell us what you think of camp and you might find yourself featured on the website!
Chips & Splinters
Check out the latest edition of Chips & Splinters, our newsletter, to see what’s been happening in the Hi-Rock world.
Read the most recent issue of Chips & Splinters.
Not Your Grandfather’s Bug Juice
When Don Hutchinson, Hi-Rock alumnus and member of the Plantain Pond Mortgage Club, visited Hi-Rock this summer for the first time in years, he had his heart set on a cup of good old fashioned bug juice!
The juice he was served did not resemble that which he recalled from his youth. This past summer, Hi-Rock stopped serving traditional bug juice, a concoction comprised primarily of sugar and food coloring and offering little nutritional benefit. Parents cheered and campers seemed to barely notice as the infamous “blue juice” was replaced with 100% fruit juice from apples, grapes, cranberries and oranges and a larger dose of water than is suggested by the manufacturer resulting in a less sugary and more nutritious drink for all.