The Ghosts of Summers Past...

Every season there is a final campfire whose embers die down as the last huzzah echoes across the lake. All the costumes and props are packed away, the magic of camp stuffed onto a crowded, dark stage. The book of the Book Wyrm shut as this chapter has come to a close.

But there are still whispers, visions, imaginings...is camp haunted? I mean, if any camp were to welcome a haunting, it would be a LARP camp, but no. These are not the poltergeists and phantoms that pair so well with pumpkins. No, these are the memories, lessons, and guides from the ghosts of summers past.

Camp has come so far from our first forays, where we had fewer than 30 campers for a mere week-long overnight. Yet the shape of it -- it's phantasmal form -- remains the same and guides us. I remember what went well, where we struggled, and where we imagined we would go. I can still see our first campsite, the schools that hosted us for but a brief single season, and the ones we held onto as long as we could. I remember East Boston Camps, where I met, proposed, and married my partner. I remember the grief of nearly losing it all to Covid, and how hard we worked to protect those embers to fan the flames back to where we are now.

I remember our first overnight staff team -- a few of whom still help behind the scenes on our board. I remember those staff who are no longer with us but have left an impact still. And I remember the heroes. Many have moved on to do amazing things, and many others return to guide the next fledgling heroes themselves. In fact, the image here of our ghostly and ghastly Vander Decken and Flying Dutchman showcases exactly that: former heroes returned to their favorite summer haunt, one as staff and the other as a Counselor-in-Training.

These ghosts -- the people, stories, and camp seasons that have come before haunt us in the most wonderful way. They remind us that what we do matters. They may be intangible and sometimes invisible, but each camp season stays with us -- a friendly ghost -- pointing the way forward. These spirits of our seasons since have allowed us to build our community, grow our programs, and pierce the veil of the future to see what futures -- what dreams -- may come.

May your October be filled with the best kinds of ghosts, and may the embers of summer keep you warm as we dream and prepare for the summer to come.