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Do you know that feeling you get when you drive down the long dirt road towards the entrance of camp? As you get closer and see the trees, smell the raw nature, and feel the excitement? It’s hard not to get butterflies in your stomach as you approach the front gates of camp.
I still get butterflies every time I turn down Perryville road driving towards the entrance of Tamarack Camps.
I know others get that feeling too, driving into their camp. There is just something so special about overnight camp. It’s as if your senses know that you are gearing up for something amazing.
Years after I worked at Tamarack as a college student, I felt disconnected from my camp community. During my summers not at camp, I would think about and be reminded of camp constantly. Every time I spent time outside I would be reminded of camp. A leaf would blow in just the right way or a smell would waft by me, and I would be flooded with a camp memory.
When I learned Tamarack Camps was looking to expand their commitment to exceptional inclusion programming, I practically leapt at the chance to interview. I remember trying to explain in words why working at camp again was so important to me and struggling to adequately communicate my excitement. My feelings for camp go so far beyond words.
Now, as I approach my 3rd summer in this role, I feel blessed to have the unique pleasure of watching campers become transformed by camp. They gain independence, friendships, have endless opportunities to stretch themselves, and push past their limits to feel more at peace than they may feel the other 341 days of the year.
Our support structure at Tamarack Camps works beautifully in extending this experience to our campers with disabilities. But I found myself asking, what should we do when camp is just too much?
What do we do when camp stops feeling welcoming and only feels overwhelming? Or when the very sights, sounds and smells that make camp so special cause one of our sensory- sensitive campers to become overloaded and lose the ability to be their best self?
It was clear we needed to create an escape when situations like this arise. We needed to create a safe, quiet place at camp for those who desperately needed time to take a break from the very long camp day. This is how the idea for the Sensory Garden was born!
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