With our Fall Open House on Sunday, I thought I would share a story from a camp tour in 1998.

My sister and I were signed up for our first summer at camp.  My grandmother, who had found the camp through the Quincy YMCA, wanted to take a tour. We must have had plans, because instead of taking the actual campers, she took my four year old sister Ryanne.

Ryanne was a very energetic and demanding child, so after about five minutes she was running the tour. She then proceeded to tell my grandmother that she was going to camp that summer. Unfortunately for my sister, four year olds were not allowed.  For the next three years, there were a lot of tantrums about Hayward.

In 2001, after years of hounding my parents, my sister Ryanne was old enough for camp. Well not quite, as her birthday wasn’t til the end of the summer.  So three days after her seventh birthday, she attended session 4 and has been there ever since!

I don’t recommend taking a tour three years early, but it’s always good to check out!

By Jessie Williams, Camp Hayward Director