From July 1 through Aug, 23, children in Williamstown can get the quintessential, 1980’s-movie-esque summer camp experience without having to leave town. Camp Squankum, Monroe Township’s summer camp, is entering its 13th year serving the community.
Anne Bracarello, the camp director, has been involved with the camp since it was created in 2006. She’s been director since 2015. She said last year 280 campers registered for the summer.
“What’s been happening is a 22 to 25 percent increase every year,” she said. “Our partnership with the school makes it very easy for us to expand if necessary. The possibilities are endless.”
The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday at Williamstown Middle School. The days are planned and run similar to a school schedule. Bracarello said they use the classrooms at the school, the gymnasiums and the fields at Owens Park. In fact, one of the crowd-pleasing events is the campout at Owens Park.
“We do a campout every year where we actually camp out in Owens Park overnight,” she said. “We take over the park, close it down to the public and it’s just the campers and people from camp. We do activities all night long. We set up tents and actually camp.”
The eight-week camp has different themes every week and has activities based on the theme. For example there’s holiday week where every day is a different holiday; and the Olympics where the bunks are broken into countries and competitions are held all week long.
As far as themed days go, Bracarello noted twin day where campers dress like other campers, crazy sock day, crazy hair day and even dress like a Disney character day.
“Last year we did a Disney character breakfast,” she said. “The staff dressed as Disney characters, did autographs and made Mickey Mouse pancakes. Our staff is really devoted to this camp.”
In addition to the weekly themed activities, day trips are scheduled for the campers. Trips to St. Matthews Baptist Church for the pool and bigger trips like Splash World in Clementon are crowd favorites. This year, Camp Squankum will have a split trip where younger campers will go to Story Book Land while the older campers go to Clementon Park.
Camp Squankum is a camp for Williamstown, by Williamstown. Bracarello touts, “Most of our staff, our head counselors are certified teachers that already work in our district or local districts nearby us.” This familiarity provides a safe environment, according to Bracarello.
“We’re very quick to respond to parents’ concerns,” she added. “We have an ID check system. From the moment they walk in the door, we treat them like they’re our own children.”
The camp finds a way to balance safety and fun for the campers. Bracarello said everything they schedule has the campers’ likes and dislikes in mind.
“We try to do age-appropriate activities for them,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve heard a camper ever say ‘I’m bored,’ or ‘I don’t want to go anymore.’ I don’t think I’ve personally heard that. The kids have a great time. The way things end up happening at camp, not only are they making memories that they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives, but some of them are making friends that they have for the rest of their lives.”
Her statement rings true for the counselors.
“Even our staff, we are about the kids, we see them out in the world because we live here in town,” she said. “It’s a great time to see the kids and see them growing up and seeing them improving in their lives. Everything we do, we keep them in mind. We even take their suggestions.”
Registration for camp can be found online at mtprnj.org under the ‘Camp Squankum’ tab. Campers can register for certain weeks of camp, it is not an eight-week commitment. Bracarello recommends registering as early as possible because of the trips; the camp has a set number of tickets for certain events. With registration campers are given a T-shirt, a cinch bag and a ballcap. Campers should bring a waterbottle and lunch every day except for Friday because camp will provide pizza for lunch. If registered before July 1 campers will receive a discounted rate of $155 per week after July 1 campers can still be registered at a rate of $173 per week.
