Camp

Camp is one place where folklore is intentionally made. From the campfire songs to the every day goings-on of the camp, every aspect is all about tradition. I’ve been attending Camp Interlaken JCC since 7^th grade. While every year there are new pieces to everyday life, the traditions, for the most part, remain in place. Each summer, as I board one of the five buses leaving from Milwaukee, I remember how much fun I had and how many memories were made the previous summer, and how all of that is going to be repeated this year. Even after waking up at six o’clock in the morning to get to the bus stop can’t put a damper on my happiness. After a six hour long bus ride of catching up with old friends, singing camp songs, and guessing who your counselors are going to be, it is time to run off the bus.

This moment is possibly one of the most exciting of the summer. Counselors are standing there, holding signs with your grade’s name on them, jumping up and down screaming, and generally being so excited that the campers have finally arrived! This is one of the many aspects of folklore that is portrayed by camp. The biggest aspect of folklore shown at camp though would have to be the opening campfire. It is one tradition that doesn’t change. No matter who the director of camp is, they know that this is one tradition not to be meddled with. Every cabin gets to pick one person to speak at the campfire, and when that person is done speaking, they throw a stick into the fire. After each age group has gone, we sing a few campfire songs, and they are usually the same ones every year; songs that everyone knows and loves, and that have meaning for the camp and for all the people that go there. Of all the folk groups I am part of, camp is the most prevalent one in my life. It has shaped who I am as a person, and who I am going to be. The friends I have made there are ones I will keep for a lifetime. The people that I spend four to eight weeks every summer are the ones that are truly part of me and truly know who I am. These are just some of the many reasons that camp is the biggest folk group in my life.