NEW YEAR'S EVE BASH, BREAK CAMPS & HOLIDAY PARTIES OH MY!

Camp is swinging in to the New Year in high style!

Today all the decorations went up in the lodge. It looks completely stunning. The tree is trimmed, the fireplace has it's stockings hung with care, and most importantly the rocking chairs are set up to enjoy the warmth of the fire.

Next week we will be having our HOLIDAY BREAK CAMPS. After the last couple of months with only one camp, everyone is thrilled to have more kids coming back! The horses have been lonely the last couple of months without their riders... and Jamie and Kassi (while incredibly kind to the ponies) are only two people!

The sledding hill is looking great, there should be a ton of snow and ice to make belly slides phenomenal!

After break camps are done, we have a one day turn-around to RING IN THE NEW YEAR! If you need a place for your camper this New Years check us out! We will have video games, snacks and everything you need for a perfect Ball Drop!

Lastly, before any of the fun with campers starts, camp is hosting our HOLIDAY STAFF PARTY! Staff, both past and present, are reminded that they are invited to come out to camp this Sunday the 19th from 4-6pm for our Holiday Party & T-SHIRT EXCHANGE! Hope to see ya'll there.

Have a safe, warm and AMAZING holiday!

THANKSGIVING BREAK CAMP, PIRATE WEEKEND AND MORE!!!

This last weekend camp was overrun by smore-hungry pirates! We all polished our swashbuckling abilities and made our new eye patches! Everyone left with a definite feeling of accomplishment after we climbed the indoor high ropes and had a great time.

Thanksgiving Break!

WHEN: Wednesday November 24th 8:30am-4:30pm

We are gearing up for our first break camp of the fall! Thanksgiving break camp will be a blast with tons of fun turkey treats and crafts, climbing and a massive capture the fish game at the end of the day!

STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!

When: December 19th from 4pm-6pm

Where: The lodge @ YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin

Come on out past and present staff for Manitou-Lin's staff Holiday Party! What better way to ring in the holidays by spending an evening with friends from the past, present and even future!

We will be having a t-shirt gift exchange so bring a new or gently used t-shirt to exchange with fellow staffers. Share food, fun, memories and Holiday wishes while we eat food, drink from our keg of rootbeer and have a great time!

RSVP to jotis@grymca.org!

Free Fall Family Day

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Bring your family and friends out to camp for a festive fall event. From 1:00-3:00pm we will have hayrides, pony rides, rock climbing, fall crafts, pioneer cooking and more! Hope to see you at Camp!

Hello Fall! (Good-bye Summer...)

It's SEPTEMBER... so I guess we have to say good-bye to summer. As summers go, this one was AWESOME. If you were here, you know! You experienced it! If you weren't here, summer was full of happy campers, wonderful counselors and hot, hot weather. We loved campfires on the shores of Lake Barlow and time on the skate park and then speed boats. More kids came to camp this year than last year- so that's great too!

If you're missing camp and wishing you could be back here- join us for some of our fall weekends like Skate Camp, Horse riding weekends and Halloween weekend! Also, you can hang out when school is not in session at Thanksgiving and Christmas Break Camps. And don't forget to put New Year's Eve camp on your calendar- it's a great chance to meet up with your summer friends!

We miss you already!

Don's Big Day

Last week, our beloved Don celebrated his 60th. The campers had to tell him how much they appreciate all that he does for camp with cards and a cake.

Thanks Don!

Session 3 at Camp

The weather is perfect and we are having a great time this week. We have Day Campers, Water Sports Campers, Skateboarders, Overnight Campers and Horse Campers keeping us busy. We also have 6 friends from Spain with us for the next 2 weeks working on their leadership skills in our Counselor in Training Program. We have 8 more weeks of summer camp so make sure to come see us soon!

Skate Park!

The ground is levelled and Camp Manitou-Lin is ready to have the concrete pad poured for our new SKATE PARK! Whoo-hoo! Sign up for summer day or overnight camp at 1-888-909-2267

Check in day video for Overnight Camp!

Hi Camp Parents! If you are interested in what to expect on your camper's first day of camp we have a video you should watch! We've posted it to Youtube and it will take you through the check-in process when you arrive Sunday at 2pm!
Please check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCAt4NdVKyg

F3 Energy: New MSU Extension Program

The MSU Extension office has started a new program with Manitou-Lin's Master Gardener, Maribeth Secord: F3 ENERGY!

This innovative interactive youth gardening program also includes nutrition education and entrepreneurship! Participants are given the opportunity to develop their own business and to sell produce to area restaurants or farm markets, and to showcase their projects at the county fair.

Meetings take place in Manitou-Lin's children's garden where participants maintain their crops. Head over to this gorgeous garden, located near the Day Camp pavilion, to see the FRUITS of their labors!

COME VISIT THIS SUNDAY MAY 16th from 2-4pm DURING OUR OPEN HOUSE!

Camp in the Rain

Rain doesn't stop much at camp! This week we have students from Rockford Middle Schools and they are braving the wind and the rain! We have had Hot Chocolate for them to warm up and have been drying lots of wet shoes and clothes. Students are still participating in canoeing, high ropes, archery, climbing wall and zip line, outdoor living skills, arts and crafts and teambuilding classes.
Tomorrow's forecast.... SUN!

FREE CAMP for RN's KIDS!!!

If you are a Registered Nurse who is able to volunteer to live on camp for 1 week this summer here is a DEAL for you! We need RNs to be onsite while we have campers for 11 weeks this summer. In exchange for the RN dispensing medications, cleaning scrapes and dealing with a wee bit of homesickness ~ TWO of the RN's children (or grandchildren) can come to YMCA Camp Manitou-Lin for FREE that week! Overnight campers (age 7-14) will stay in a cabin with their counselor and day campers (4-8 yrs) will stay in the infirmary with their parent the nurse.
The week runs Sunday at noon until Friday dinner time. The service you provide is worth so much to our campers and their parents and we appreciate that you are considering donating your time and talents!

Please contact Karin Denman at (888) 909-2267 or kdenman@grymca.org to secure a week.

B-93 Family Day this Saturday from 2pm-5pm!

Come out to camp for this free family day. We will have plenty of activities to do and learn more about our summer camp programs. Activities will be from 2p-5pm. The activities are free and there will be snacks and lunch to purchase. Proceeds benefit Camp Manitou-Lin.
Hope to see you there!

White Elephant Sale is THIS Fri- Saturday!

Early this morning Summer Overnight Camp Director, Adrienne Sipkovsky joined YMCA Service Club members Henry Capogna and Bob Williams at Clear Channel Radio 1230AM to tell West Michigan about the White Elephant Sale. This is the 72nd year of the sale and all the profits go to YMCA Camp Maniou-Lin! Come out this weekend to a new location.

3450 Plainfield Ave. NE - Grand Rapids, MI

Friday April 23rd 8am - 8pm* AND

Saturday April 24th 9am - 3pm

We have items from BOATS to BOOKS and they are all going for cheap! For more details or to buy a $5 ticket to get into the sale early go to http://www.ymcasale.com/.

Thanks for the Safari animals!

For one of our games this summer we needed some BIG safari animals! So we contacted Kellogsville High School and got some help from their art students! We were so excited about the bright, colorful animals they sent us that we thought we'd share them with you! Enjoy!

Three important letters for camp parents: ACA

It's the middle of March and it's time for us to really 'pound the pavement' and tell people about our great summer camps! Did you see us at the Rockford Expo or the Centerpoint mall this weekend?

Hundreds of campers talked to us about their favorite things to do at camp ~ (swim in Lake Barlow and riding horses topped the list) and many parents spoke to us about how we choose our counselors, financial aid and how we keep our campers safe at camp. I found myself reassuring parents with these three letters... ACA.

For those of you who don't know- the American Camp Association has been improving the quality of camping programs for 100 years through it's accredidation program. Each camp is visited by two camping professionals and evaluation is an all day proccess, preceeded by months of gathering supporting paperwork into giant binders. (If you're ever in a camp director's office keep your eyes open and you're bound to spot one!)

YMCA Camp Manitou-lin is proud to be one of over 2,400 ACA-Accredited® camps that meet up to 300 standards for health, safety, and program quality. Our 2009 visit results came back this fall and Camp Manitou-lin score 100% in 9 out of 10 categories! Great news!

Parents: the ACA website gives great advice about summer camping so if you have time head over to http://www.acacamps.org/ and check it out.
Have a great week everyone!

Spring is here! The snow is melting, the mud is thick and robins were spotted at camp this morning! While we are currently finding all sorts of treasures that have been buried in the snow all winter long. But the important thing is that SPRING IS HERE!!!!

We have been out promoting camp for a while- but we are ready to spread the word more that summer camp at Manitou-Lin is the place to be! If you want to help tell others about camp and save money in the process- click here! Scroll down to the second paragraph.

We are excited to plan for our new SKATE PARK this summer. It will be built this spring directly next to our Archery Range on main camp. Campers can sign up for this specialty day camp or overnight camp program.

But most importantly- come out to camp this spring! Our Open House dates are a great chance to see camp, meet staff and learn more about our programs.
Sunday March 28th 2:00-4:00
Sunday April 18th 3:00-5:00
Sunday May 16th 2:00-4:00

No School? Why not come to camp!

On Monday, camp was alive with the sound of campers! Many schools were off on Mid-Winter Break so Camp offered a Break Camp Day. Some campers came for the sledding, snowshoeing, and climbing, while other came for the horse back riding.

Horse Campers played games on horseback, had 2 riding lessons and made a craft. Day Campers sledded, played broomball, climbined our indoor high ropes and ended the day with smores.

It was a great way to spend a day out of school!

Snow Day at Camp!

Welcome to our new blog!!! We hope to keep you up to date on all the happenings at Camp. Although it is not summer- we are still busy! Check us out!

Camp did not miss the massive amount of snow that came down the last few days! We were snowed in until our hero Don, plowed us out. The camp dogs loved frollicking in the snow though!