September Update: What’s Happening at Meadowbrook?

We miss the sounds of happy children, Lunch Pavilion cheering, Lifeguard whistles, and T.I.G.E.R. spirit at Meadowbrook…but we hope everyone’s transition back to school was successful.

While we have moved from our blog to facebook status updates for much of our electronic communication, we will still update the blog with larger pieces of information, like this.

So, what’s been happening at Meadowbrook since Camp ended?

We are already very busy getting ready for the Summer of 2012! There is no off-season at Meadowbrook!!

We started by welcoming back many Campers to our Valley Brook School. One of the differences here at Meadowbrook is that we are a year-round youth-development facility for children. We have lots of blue MCDC backpacks in the halls of Valley Brook. All of the preparations that we do to change Camp back to School (waxing all of the floors, painting, landscaping) also benefits our Meadowbrook Campers. We also did a lot of wall repairs in our Pre-K changing room as we prepared for Valley Brook School.

We have chosen to do a lot of work on our pools this year, and we have started now instead of waiting until Spring. Rain aside, we emptied both the main pool and upper pool. They are being scrubbed, power washed and have fresh coats of paint and tile work. Now we wait for a solid week of dry weather for a second coat of paint and then we refill and cover for next Summer. From there, we will move to improving the deck surfaces around the pools this winter.

Our landscaping crew has also been hard at work. The very hot and dry start to the Summer took it’s toll on many of our grassy areas. We have done lots of thatching, aerating, fertilizing, seeding and haying to get everything back to beautiful for the Summer of 2012! We have also improved some of the gardens around buildings and will continue to plant throughout the fall.

Another Meadowbrook Difference is that ALL of our Staff re-interview every year. We start with our Leadership Team (editorial comment: the largest and best in the industry). Many have already been in to see us, some spending several hours reviewing programs and Staff and brainstorming ideas to make the Summer of 2012 even better!

Generally speaking, our facility has not had too many problems with all of the rain we have been getting, including the hurricane. But we have had a few issues, most notably erosion on the road between our two lakes and a little flooding in the basement and garage at the Camp house. We did lose some carnival games, special events supplies, and furniture; but we are happy to report that all of the Meadosaurus bones that everyone found during the Summer of 2010 were saved! We will be spending time during the next few weeks rebuilding both the road and basement so that they will both be ready long before the Summer of 2012!

Finally, September is a busy month for giving back. We are very focused on practicing Generosity from our T.I.G.E.R. program. Throughout the month, Roz has been attending meetings for S.C.O.P.E., where she sits on their Board of Directors. She also worked on and presented at the American Camp Association (ACA) Day Camp Conference. Our Office Manager Marty also designed and moderated a session at the Conference. Four of us attended and it was a chance to learn what is going on at other Camps as well as share our best practices with the industry in hopes of more and more children having meaningful Camp experiences for years to come. Meanwhile, Jed has also been busy as a chairperson planning the ACA Fall Management Conference and the ACA Tri-State Camp Conference. He also has been fulfilling his Board position with the NY/NJ Section of the ACA.

Looking forward, we are excited to see all of our families at Meadowfest on October 16^th at Camp. Come enjoy a great fall day at Meadowbrook with lots of fun activities. This is also a great opportunity to earn referral discounts with our SWAP program. We encourage you to bring along friends and neighbors who may be interested in sending their Children to Meadowbrook next Summer. When they enroll and list you as the referring family, you receive a $200 discount on Camp for your family!

As always, we thank you for the confidence you place in us and for allowing us to share the wonderful Meadowbrook experience with your children. As always, if you need anything from us, have any questions, or we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to give us a call in the office. We are available all throughout the year for all of our Meadowbrook families!