Where, When and How Long?

By Asa Gallagher – Burgess Director

A huge part of any camp culture is the act of speaking about how long you’ve been attending your camp.  It’s a badge of honor to refer to the five straight years one might have attended session 2, or the eight years that you’ve come here with a friend, or maybe just the one summer you came and had the time of your life.  Whatever the amount may be, each of us is proud to tell stories about where, when and how long we went to camp as staff or campers.

I have worked at a number of camps in my life, but I tend to refer back to the year 1998 with the most frequency. In fact I can be downright annoying with the stories I tell from that one summer. It was the first year I worked at Burgess.  It was my first overnight camp.  I was a nineteen year old Cabin Counselor in that summer after my freshman year at Stonehill College.  It turned out to be a pivotal year in my life. It started off an incredible chain of events. Camp has shaped my career, my family, my friends, my connections around the world, my passion for the outdoors and for teaching.  I have known Burgess and Hayward for sixteen years.  I have worked here for nine seasons.  And 1998 was the start of it all. These are my numbers.  I know them without hesitation, and I know that somewhere in the back of your minds, you all know yours as well.

That’s me in 1998, in the front, with that full head of blonde hair and my arms to the sky.