"Soup's On" at the 2010 Food Service Conference

This week Camp is in the middle of hosting the 2010 North American Camp Food Service Conference. Camp food service professionals from all over North America have gathered here on Lake George to talk about everyone's favorite part of Camp... food! The Conference features presentations on everything from vegan dishes to cheese steaks, not to mention the "food frenzy" creativity competition and mouthwatering vendor food show. Chingachgook is proud to host this forum for sharing ideas, recipes, and Camp stories from all over the country. Below Adventure Coordinator Madden Coghlan and Conference attendees enjoy the product of the Steak-Eze demonstration on Wednesday.

Inauguaral Adventure to the Pacific Northwest!!

Looming snow topped mountains, towering ancient pines, epic coastal cliff formations and one lucky group of Chingachgook campers! This summer, Chingachgook's Adventure Leadership Program will be heading to the great Pacific Northwest for two weeks of hiking, sea kayaking, wind surfing, playing and developing leadership skills in one of the most scenic regions of North America.

The inaugural Pacific Northwest Leadership Adventure will be a jam packed three weeks hitting some of the most unique places the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Here is a quick run down of the highlights of this exciting new program:

• 4 days of hiking and camping along the Pacific coast in Olympic National Park.



• 3 days with the awesome leaders from YMCA Camp Orkila sea kayaking around the serene San Juan Islands famous for thier concentration of Orca whales.




• All day trek to Camp Muir at on the face of Mt. Rainier at an elevation of 10,080 ft!





• 3 days of expert windsurfing instruction on the world famous waters of the Hood River Gorge!

For more information on this amazing trip, and all of our other exciting adventures contact Adventure Coordinator, Madden Coghlan at any time at 518-656-9462 x6646 or mcoghlan@cdymca.org

Walking in a Winter Chinga-land

Finally! After a long, dry month, Camp was covered with 16+ inches of white stuff between Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Many have never seen Chingachgook under the cover of this much snow! Take a look at how deep it got in the parking lot and the covering on the rocks and cabins in Junior Boys. We've waited a long time for snow, and now that it looks like a true Adirondack winter at Camp, it's hard to believe that the Summer is less than 4 short months away!

The dedicated program team braved the elements on Wednesday to groom the tubing hill in the Junior Boys Unit and make some trails in the deep snow around Camp. As it turns out, not only is this snow great for tubing, but it's also perfect for making snowballs, snowmen, and all sorts of winter fun. Hope all of you in the Northeast are getting out and enjoying the fluffy stuff while you can!

Above: Madden Coghlan and Ken Stannard, respective Adventure Coordinator and Summer Camp Coordinator test the snowball conditions on the gazebo bridge. Outdoor Education Coordinator Heather Siegel assesses the tubing hill.

International Staff 2010

We have hired a number of staff from around the world to work here this summer! Camp is very excited to have a very diverse group of counselors for the upcoming summer. Here is a list of our International Staff and where they are coming from! Enjoy.

Australia:
Ashleigh Smith
Thomas Schell
Hanne Pederson

Germany:
Antje Herse South Africa:
Michael Botha
Gareth Taylor United Kingdom:
Victoria Reid
Rebecca White
Dominic Mcleod Israel:
David Akilov

New Zealand:
James Harvey

Canada:
Kali Coll

Camp is on Facebook!

(click the photo or the link below to go to our facebook page)

You heard right! Camp Chingachgook now has a fan page on Facebook. Hundreds of your old Camp friends have already joined. You can now connect with Chingachgook in a new way. See what we're up to throughout the year, leave us a message, or reconnect with some old camp buddies...the possibilities are endless! You can even look at Camp pictures from various events. What a great way to keep up with what's going on at Camp. Become a fan today!

Fundraising Gala is coming up!

Mark your calendars! February 19th at 5:00pm.

For the first time ever Chingachgook is hosting its first ever Fundraising Gala! A silent auction will be going on throughout the night for various items that will benefit our Reach Out For Youth campaign. There will be a performance by The Last of the Mohican's...Chief Chingachgook himself may make an appearance!!! You don't want to miss this great event for a great cause RSVP NOW!

$35 per person includes $15 donation to the YMCA Reach Out for Youth scholarship program, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, and entertainment. Fort William Henry Resort and Conference Center is offering a discounted room rate of $79 for guests to spend the night (518-668-3081, mention YMCA when reserving).

Please R.S.V.P. to Aimee:
YMCA Camp Chingachgook • 1872 Pilot Knob Rd • Kattskill Bay, NY 12844
abousquet@cdymca.org phone: 518-656-9462, ext 6601

Here is the official flyer

Winter Women's Weekend

"Flashback to the 50's!"

This past weekend was our annual Winter Women's Weekend here at Chingachgook! Over 50 women from all over came for a relaxing getaway weekend here at Camp. Activities included a Zumba Gold dance session(pictured below), body sculpting, belly dance workshops, self-defense seminars, massages, beading, ice walks on Lake George, snowshoe hikes, as well as others. Yup, there was something for just about everyone! Our weekend was capped off by an amazing 50's themed sock hop on Saturday Night (pictured above!) The Pipekings provided some great live music as we danced the night away. It was a fantastic time had by all and we cannot wait for next year already!