Upper New York Camp & Retreat Ministries (CRM) is excited to announce that registration is now open for its 2017 Summer Camp & Retreat programs. Program details are available online and brochures were mailed this week! Brochures were sent to past participants and campers as well as all Upper New York Annual Conference churches.
“We are excited about the high quality and excellent variety of programs being offered this summer,” said Mike Huber,… →
Michael Thompson, PhD, draws upon his experiences as a father, school psychologist, and years of camping to write about something that everyone experiences at some point in their lives: homesickness.
In Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, Thompson helps parents and camp professionals see the value in helping individuals not only survive this common ailment, but to actually thrive from it. In short, to see… →
We’re currently in that time of year when schools and churches are starting to wind down for summer. But for those of us in the camping ministry, this is when we start to gear up for another awesome season of impacting the lives of young and old, neurotypical and differently abled individuals, first-timers and those who have been coming to camp longer than I’ve been alive! It doesn’t take… →
Ever wonder what you can do to be a leader at camp?
Every summer Sky Lake runs several weeks of active and meaningful Special Needs programs and we couldn’t do it without our Special Needs Assistant Personnel, or SNAPs, working with us.
SNAPs are older youth volunteers. Still considered as campers, SNAPs work alongside our counselling staff to gain leadership skills, make friendships that last for life, and spend time at… →
{register_now_button}Over 50 volunteers arrived on Saturday, May 7th for Volunteer Work Day 2016 and managed to complete almost all the projects we had on the docket for the day! Thanks to these fantastic volunteers for helping to clear the roofs and undersides of cabins; freshen up flower beds and the trysts; assemble a GaGa Pit; install new towel dispensers; clean out a squirrel’s hoard of pinecones; and most importantly—for… →
This article originally appeared in Upper New York Advocate, Vol. 8, Issue 2:
The legend of Harvey the Hippo – the unofficial mascot of Sky Lake – began with a song written by a summer staff member, Steve Hulslander, in the early 1970s. From the earliest days, countless campers have taken to this 4,618.5-pound hippo, who, according to the song, manages to consume 200 pounds of food every day.
In the early 2000s, the legend began to… →
Thanks to Joan Newlon, Executive Assistant for Upper New York Camp and Retreat Ministries, for this update:
The Lakeside Nature Trail, to be named in honor of Jim Krager for his 45 years of ministry at Sky Lake, is getting some exciting upgrades thanks to generous donors.
Thirty-one (31) interpretive panels and mounting posts have been purchased and placed. The first batch of signs were placed along the trail last autumn, and the… →
Providing intentional opportunities for campers to play a leading role in building a supportive community is an integral component of most any camp experience, but especially here at Sky Lake. We make it a habit to continually dream of new ways to enhance this experience and estimate that we use approximately 47 pounds of scrap paper each year just jotting down ideas. (Okay, so we don’t really know for sure how much… →
Soon after reading Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder for the first time a few years ago, there was an incident in our camp garden. A group of elementary-age campers were helping to harvest some carrots. One camper in particular was totally overwhelmed to learn that these orange root vegetables grew in the ground and that after a quick rinse in the back sink… →
It never gets old. It really doesn’t.
Without fail, time and time again when I’m talking with past and present campers about their Sky Lake experiences there is a common thread that weaves its way through the vast majority of these personal stories. And that is the idea that “I was able to be myself at camp.”
I’m no different. I too had the same exact experience as a… →
Can’t get that song out of your head? Interested in what other songs we sang in Chapel throughout 2016? Well look no further! Below is a list of all the songs we sang in Chapel this past summer. If you’d like to listen to all of them on YouTube, we’ve created a playlist HERE.
1. Alive by: Hillsong Young & Free
2. All The Poor and Powerless by: All Sons and Daughters
3.… →
To view the complete newsletter click HERE. “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” - Abraham Lincoln There are numerous references in the Bible addressing the Christian’s commitment in various aspects of life: to our families, neighbors, employers, the church, our health, and in all things we do and say (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 31). But the Bible also teaches that the chief commitment of our lives is to God. Jesus said, … →