YMCA Camp Chingachgook
Alumni News

Dear Fellow Alums

Hey! Look! It's the Alumni! You guys were great!" a group of campers yelled while they jumped up and down and waved. They were referrring to our valiant effort in the war canoe race. With that greeting, five or six of us who were making soggy tracks toward the lodge realized we had just received the icing on our cake

The afternoon started with the Alumni feeling good about providing war canoes to the camp. Then, a valiant team of 12 Alums bravely paddled the Alumni war canoe in the inagural race against the staff, only to capsize. Undaunted, they continued to the finish line, vowing to return next year.

So, in the spirit of these campers, heartfelt thanks from the Alumni Council, staff, and most importantantly, the campers, for your generosity in giving to the war canoe project last year. This war canoes have had an illustrious history at Chingachgook and, thanks to you, that history has been revitalized and will live on.

This year, your Alumni Council will strengthen the program and spirit of Chingachgook further by embarking on our most ambitious and visible project to date. We are committing to a three-year project that includes the funding, desing, and construction of two major facilities: a new hiking center and a beautiful new chapel amphitheater.

Hikes have a long and rich history at the center of the Chingachgook experience, and they are major component in the development of the character and leadership skills at the very heart of the Camp's mission. So often, as alumni, we trade more memories of hikes than just about any other camp experience. The Hiking Center will serve as the meeting, planning and supply site for all hikes during the summer, allowing Camp to better organize, equip and educate the hikers. Likewise, Chapel has served as the venue for the illustration of, and the reflection on, the values that strengthen individuals and our communities. In the past, the chapel area has been moved, developed over, and lost. The new, permanent Chapel amphitheater will be a quiet, beautiful place to gather for chapel, vespers, or campfires, and the serenity of the setting will serve to strengthen the words we share, and the value of reflection at the end of a busy summer's day.

The Alumni Council asks for your involvement and generosity with these projects. Over the next three years we will need your support for each phase, from design to dedication. Both facilities will also enable Chingachgook to expand its offerings to families and groups during the other nine months of the year. We are committed that they be an example of the pride our alumni take in their camp, and the traditions that have served its campers so well, for so very long. we'll send you more information in the near future, and I can't stress enough that while your donations are so important to this important work, the meaning exponentially increases when we can hear from you, and best of all see you, at the Annual Summer Alumni Day. Join us for fun, activities, and friendship.