The Tough Mudder adventure race is “Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet” and 8 of our staff decided they were up to the challenge!  On April 15th Brandon Dreffs, Tom Correll, Elizabeth Hudson, Shannon Raab, Jerrid Hunt, Adam DuCharme, Jason Carlisle and Shelly Hilton traveled to Amherst Quarry in Ohio to overcome the 12 miles and 25 military style obstacles as a united team.

It’s no secret to any successful camp that returning staff are the true goldmine of camp spirit and set the tone for a successful summer.  With a large percentage of returning staff, Camp Copneconic has once again begun its quest to search for dedicated and enthusiastic individuals to carry on camp’s traditions.

Many times throughout the year, I get to go out to schools for a Parent Presentation and talk about camp.  This is mainly to calm parent’s nerves and answer any questions that they may have for their upcoming 5th grade camping trip.  However, I view it as a chance to brag about how lucky we are here at Camp Copneconic. One of my favorite segments of the presentation is talking about our wonderful staff.

Each year, Camp Copneconic gives out Mock Awards to the staff as part of the end of summer Banquet.  These awards range from Best Co-Counselor to Most Likely to End up in the Health Center.  Two awards that stand out above the rest are the Fish and Giving Tree awards.  Staff are asked to seriously consider nominees for each of these awards, and take a moment to write a paragraph or so explaining why they think their nominee should be the recipient. This month we are recognizing the winners of the “Fish Award.”

Each year, Camp Copneconic gives out Mock Awards to the staff as part of the end of summer Banquet.  These awards range from Best Co-Counselor to Most Likely to End up in the Health Center.  Two awards that stand out above the rest are the Fish and Giving Tree awards.  Staff are asked to seriously consider nominees for each of these awards, and take a moment to write a paragraph or so explaining why they think their nominee should be the recipient. This month we are highlighting the recipients of the “The Giving Tree.”

This is my eleventh summer here (eight as a camper and third as a counselor), and even after all of this time, this place still amazes me. I think of camp as my second home. The activities never get old... you're always learning new things and growing in ways you never thought possible. It is because of camp that I have virtually shattered my comfort zone and am willing to do and try just about anything. Camp has allowed me to truly be myself and gain a certain level of confidence that I do not think would have been possible.

As summer is just around the corner, we continue to hire fun, mature and dedicated staff to work with our great campers. We are proud to announce the Day, Resident, and Partnerships Coordinators for the summer of 2011. These positions are key in the day to day successes at camp. They keep our campers safe and ensure they have a great time in all of our program areas! We have also selected a few staff members to share their reasons for coming back to camp this summer! Stay tuned next month for the reveal of our great counselors!

As spring arrives in Michigan, camp is hard at work hiring the great people that will be working with all of our amazing campers this summer. A key group of those staff are our area directors. We are pleased to announce the 2011 area directors for Day and Resident Camp!

As the Director of Summer Camps, I have the unique opportunity to meet and interview a lot of amazing young people with diverse backgrounds and experiences.  A big highlight of this process is traveling across the pond to England every February to Camp America’s London Camp Placement Fair.  It is here that we recruit and select our international staff from the United Kingdom.

The men and women of Copneconic recently finished an amazing MOnth of fundraising with a little help from some upper lip hair.  The event, called MOvember, lasted the entire MOnth, with many of the faithful men spending the MOnth growing out their most amazing facial features, the MOustache.  They sold bracelets, disc golf discs, t-shirts and had a couple bake sales.  They also ran a disc golf tournaments and grilled at BD’s MOngolian Barbeque.   To finish off the epic MOnth of MOvember, a great 80’s celebration was held where all the MOustaches were auctioned off.