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Check out our latest Briarwood Bugle! You can read it below or see it in glorious color and with photos here.
Briarwood Bugle 2022
Week 3
From Mike and Matt
We had another great week, with art and sports and swimming and leagues and gaga and Briarwood’s Fishing Derby and bunk show practice and on and on. It is such a gift to see the smiles and hear the splashing and laughter every day.
Can you believe that two weeks have already passed? Of course, we prefer to look at things as we’ve got 75% of Briar-awesomeness left!
And speaking of Briar-awesomeness, we’ve got lots more on tap for next week. In addition to our regular spectacularness, Briarwood’s Gaga Tournament, 2nd year CIT trip to Hershey Park, Super CIT trip tubing down the Delaware, Wednesday Themeday, Hawaiian/Tropical Day and much, much more! Join us! And if we can editorialize for a moment, we are very lucky to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. DON’T FORGET WE ARE CLOSED ON TUESDAY, JULY 4th. Have a great weekend!
Notes from the Lifeguard Chair by Rob Resnick, Briarwood Pool Director Greetings from the pool staff! Camp is off to a great start and our campers are improving rapidly. Water safety is a major part of what we do at Briarwood and our lifeguards here have more than 80 years experience lifeguarding here (yes, seriously). We get a lot of questions about deep water testing for kids as well as some other items so we thought we’d write a quick note here.
• Lower pool deep water testing requires treading water for one minute, front crawl 15 yards, back crawl 15 yards, jump in and swim under water 15 yards.
• At the upper pool, due to the depth of the water, you must be Level 3 or higher to swim in the deep water.
• No snorkel goggles at free swim.
• We know some campers complain about instructional swim. Parents, please encourage your camper to keep trying. It’s an important life skill and we’ve been teaching it well for years!
MEET THE NEW BRIARWOOD STAFF!
SAM LEVIN is an amazing addition to our Briarwood family this summer. He attends Muhlenberg College during the school year. The reason he loves working at Briarwood is due to all of the fun activities happening here at camp. His favorite food is pizza and if he could go anywhere in the world he would go “all over” Europe. The last book he read was “Fahrenheit 451”. A fun fact about Sam is that he has his own radio show.
LUCAS HUBBARD joins the Briarwood crew for his first summer. During the school year, Lucas attends Regent University where he runs track for his school team. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach and hanging out with friends. His favorite things at Briarwood Day Camp are the kids and the iconic “jumper”. If Lucas could go anywhere in the world, he would go to Wrigley Field in Chicago. Most people don’t know that he was born in Las Vegas. If Lucas could be any animal he would be an eagle.
DANNY SIMON is another fun addition to the Briarwood team this summer of 2023. He is 19 years old and attends Liberty University. During the school year he likes to participate as an active member of his church. His absolute favorite things about Briarwood are the AMAZING staff, campers and FUN environment that camp provides. His favorite TV show is Impractical Jokers and if he could be any animal he would be a panda.
KELSEY HODGES debuts at Briarwood Day Camp for her first summer as senior counselor of the Gazelles in Upper Camp. Her favorite activity at Briarwood is Archery! During the school year she is an athletic trainer for Virginia Union University. The last book she read was “The Great Gatsby”. If she could go anywhere in the world it would be Florence, Italy and most people don’t know that Kelsey loves to paint!
JES EVERILL joins the team here at Briarwood at Lower Pool. She has 2 dogs named Kaia and Ruckus and also owns a Ball Python, named Ferdinand! Her favorite parts about working at Briarwood are the fun energy, getting to know all of the campers and the genuineness of the staff! During the year Jes likes to volunteer at a local farm and do yoga. If she were an animal she would be a wild horse. If she could go anywhere in the world it would be either Australia or New Zealand.
The Jovial Jaguars! By Nate Frankel The summer has officially kicked off and we are thrilled to have a group of guys who love to have fun and try new things. We have an eclectic mix of kids who enjoy everything camp has to offer, and that has been exemplified during these first two weeks. Ryan has been a star wide receiver on the football field, and Mikah has been one of the best Gaga players in all of camp. Ethan perfected the right zoom floom technique to maximize splashes, and Dean exhibited incredible form in the pool. Daniel was the best player in dodgeball, and Dylan is one of the best all-around athletes in the entire camp. Colin looked like Mbappé during World Cup and Hunter looked like Devonta during football. Chase showed off his skills at tennis and Brandon kicked butt in the grand Gaga championship. Liam had great hits in wiffleball and Adrian hit the farthest tennis baseball home run in recorded history. Stone has proven to be a great all-around athlete, and Jacob continues to be the best wiffleball player in camp. We’re also looking forward to hanging with Grant in the weeks to come. With our JC Nick and a great group of guys it is sure to be a wild summer filled with great times (and lots of duck-of-the-days)! We are pumped for the future!
SOME FRIENDLY BRIARWOOD REMINDERS:
• If you want to reach your camper’s counselor during the camp day, call the office at 215-598-7143 and we will gladly relay your message. Please do not TEXT or CALL your child’s counselor directly during the camp day. Our counselors are busy watching children and we have asked them not to check their phones during the day.
• Early and Late Care is available from 7:30 am—6:00 pm sharp. Please call the office if you will need this service.
• While it never rains at Briarwood, in the event of a passing shower, please send your camper with the appropriate rain gear should the forecast call for rain.
• Camp is for sneakers! Crocs, sandals and flip flops should only be worn to the pool
• Apply sunscreen daily prior to coming to camp.
• Please label all clothing and personal items. That said — and because we know kids — our Lost and Found is located by the Sports Center on Upper Field.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO CAMP IF HE/SHE IS NOT FEELING WELL.
Camp will be CLOSED on Tuesday, July 4th! Enjoy your holiday!
Important Dates
• July 3rd-July 7th – GAGA tournament week!
• July 3rd-Red White and Blue Day
• July 4th-Happy 4th of July! Camp Closed
• July 5th-Wednesday Themeday Hawaiian/Tropical Day
• July 5th-Hershey Park 2nd Year CIT Trip
• July 6th-Bowling and Laser Tag- 1st Year CIT’s and Tubing Trip for SUPER CIT’S
• July 10th-21st-TIE-DYE Weeks at Nature **Don’t forget to send in something white to tie dye (like a shirt, shorts, socks or a pillowcase)**
• July 11th-Lower Camp Bunk Show at 10:30 am
• July 12th-Upper Camp Bunk Show at 10:30 am
• July 12th-Wednesday Themeday Disney/Marvel Day
• July 14th-Halloween in July
• July 17th-Second Half Begins>
• July 17th-21st-Briarwood Mini Golf Semi-Invitational Tournament
• July 19th-Wednesday Themeday Crazy Hat Day
• July 20th-Make up Picture Day
• July 21st-Goofy Day
• July 25th-Busy Bee Show and Breakfast at 10:30am
• July 26th-Busy Bee Show Rain Date
• July 27th-Carnival
• August 1st-Mystery Day
• August 7th-Briarwood Birthday Celebration
• August 9th-Wednesday Themeday-Briarwood Spirit Day
• August 9th-CIT/Super CIT Dance
• August 11th-Last Day of camp early dismissal at 2:30
EARLY DISMISSAL NOTE: Early dismissals after 2:45 pm can be very difficult because the “regular” car line begins filling. If you’d like to be sure that you can “get out” before 3:00 pm, please try to arrive before 2:45 pm. Thanks!