Every Sunday of the summer camp, we welcome our campers with the registration process. It is not the most fun day of camp, but it is the day we take care of all the details so that the rest of the week campers can focus on their daily activities. After Sunday, there are no waiting in lines except for meals, and a camper has a schedule of their entire week.
Registration officially begins at noon. Here are the things you can do in advance to make registration a smooth for you.
1. It is important that campers eat lunch before they arrive. The first meal we serve at camp is dinner at about 4:30pm
2. This first room at registration will take care of Health form, payments, campsite assignment, camp store account and the optional seaplane ride. Some of you may be thinking if I have sent in all my payments and paperwork, I can fast track past a few of these steps. Although that sounds great in reality having each camper stopping at each station in the line helps us to double check that all information had been received and is correct. We still encourage you to send things in advance as these campers typically move through the line twice as fast as those that still have items to accomplish.
3. The swim test is next so you should have your swim suit and a towel handy. Some campers choose to wear their suit under their cloths so they are ready to go! The swim test helps us to make sure that campers are proficient swimmers when participating in water activities such as the ski boat, kayaking and the deep section of the swimming area. Campers can choose not to take the swim test but this will just limit their activity choices for the week to those that take place on dry land.
4. After the swim tests, camper are given the time to change and dry off and then head to the scheduling room. Here all campers select their personalized schedule for the week. Some activities are required, but for the most part campers choose what things they want to do while they are at Oswegatchie. We do our very best to make sure that all campers get the opportunity to do the activities that they want most. However, a class may fill and a camper will be asked to make an alternative choice.
5. After campers have made their schedule, they join the rest of the campers that have completed their registration process on the field or on the porch. Staff are there to interact with campers and start to help them loosen up and enjoy the adventures that are about to come their way.
All this is done by 4:00 PM. Many campers, who show up before Noon, will be done with all this by 1 PM, giving them social time to start meeting others. At 4 PM, the bell rings, campers get in their campsite groups, and we start the rest of the orientation process. First will be dinner, then camp wide tours, all camp at the fire pit for rules and staff introductions. By 7:30 they are heading to the store and then to their campsites. Oswegatchie staff help transport all gear to the campsites, and the week is off to a good start.
Registration day is not the most fun for campers, parents or staff. We know that waiting in line is not the first thing that a camper wants to do when they arrive for an exciting week away from home, but we take care of all the business on Sunday and it frees up the rest of the week to be focused on fun and activities. Thanks for your patience in advance on registration Sundays.
Registration officially begins at noon. Here are the things you can do in advance to make registration a smooth for you.
1. It is important that campers eat lunch before they arrive. The first meal we serve at camp is dinner at about 4:30pm
2. This first room at registration will take care of Health form, payments, campsite assignment, camp store account and the optional seaplane ride. Some of you may be thinking if I have sent in all my payments and paperwork, I can fast track past a few of these steps. Although that sounds great in reality having each camper stopping at each station in the line helps us to double check that all information had been received and is correct. We still encourage you to send things in advance as these campers typically move through the line twice as fast as those that still have items to accomplish.
3. The swim test is next so you should have your swim suit and a towel handy. Some campers choose to wear their suit under their cloths so they are ready to go! The swim test helps us to make sure that campers are proficient swimmers when participating in water activities such as the ski boat, kayaking and the deep section of the swimming area. Campers can choose not to take the swim test but this will just limit their activity choices for the week to those that take place on dry land.
4. After the swim tests, camper are given the time to change and dry off and then head to the scheduling room. Here all campers select their personalized schedule for the week. Some activities are required, but for the most part campers choose what things they want to do while they are at Oswegatchie. We do our very best to make sure that all campers get the opportunity to do the activities that they want most. However, a class may fill and a camper will be asked to make an alternative choice.
5. After campers have made their schedule, they join the rest of the campers that have completed their registration process on the field or on the porch. Staff are there to interact with campers and start to help them loosen up and enjoy the adventures that are about to come their way.
All this is done by 4:00 PM. Many campers, who show up before Noon, will be done with all this by 1 PM, giving them social time to start meeting others. At 4 PM, the bell rings, campers get in their campsite groups, and we start the rest of the orientation process. First will be dinner, then camp wide tours, all camp at the fire pit for rules and staff introductions. By 7:30 they are heading to the store and then to their campsites. Oswegatchie staff help transport all gear to the campsites, and the week is off to a good start.
Registration day is not the most fun for campers, parents or staff. We know that waiting in line is not the first thing that a camper wants to do when they arrive for an exciting week away from home, but we take care of all the business on Sunday and it frees up the rest of the week to be focused on fun and activities. Thanks for your patience in advance on registration Sundays.
Robin Waite,
Program Specialist & Administrative Assistant
Program Specialist & Administrative Assistant
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