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Tak Talk Blog- Camp Takajo – July 18, 2016

By July 18, 2016 January 4th, 2019 Tak Talk
Art Center at Camp Takajo for Boys in Naples, Maine

What a day! I always chuckle when families who have never visited Takajo comment on how “one-dimensional” our camp program is. “Takajo’s facilities are amazing, all they do is sports.”

Over my twenty-eight years as director, I have heard this countless times, except from families who send their children here.

Camp Takajo for Boys in Naples, MaineWe are proud of our well-rounded program and believe it has much to do with a child’s success in camp. This afternoon, we experienced our first round of thunder boomers, so we quickly sought cover. We are fortunate to have tremendous indoor space so that, in the event of rain, the boys are not secluded in the bunks with little to do.

We have incredible hobby activities here at camp. For example, a music building with thirty instruments in-house for our campers to try. Three counselors in the music program introduce our youngest campers to the joy of playing an instrument while working with our more experienced musicians, who come to camp with a love for this art already inside them. We have sixteen counselors who work in the pioneering program, teaching campers how to pitch a tent, cook over an open fire, climb our fifty-foot climbing wall, or soar through the trees on our high-flying swing. We have close to 100 trips that leave camp over the course of the summer. These range from day hikes to extended overnights, canoe trips, and whitewater rafting. All of our pioneering staff have received trip leader’s certification in the state of Maine and are trained in CPR.

Our Arts Center houses Ceramics, where our boys work with clay; Crafts, where they build projects such as lanyards and papier-mâché; and Art where our campers learn how to draw and paint. Across from the Art’s Center is the Radio building where campers love to DJ on the camp radio station. Heading down Hobby Lane is the Woodworking building. Here, campers get to be creative– building slot cars, toy boats, paddle tennis rackets, and mini boxes. We have a camp newspaper, which gives our campers the opportunity to report on all the events in camp. This newspaper comes out weekly and is a wonderful way to chronicle the events of the summer. Our photography program teaches the fine art of taking pictures, capturing life’s moments, and in our case, sharing them on the website for the parents to enjoy. Videography is an enjoyable hobby where our children record incredible events in camp and spend time editing all the footage together to form a final video that will be sent home as a video yearbook.

We just picked the cast for the Junior Big Show, Aladdin, which will take place on the Takajo stage in two weeks. In the meantime, the seniors are putting the finishing touches on their show, Damn Yankees, which will take place on Wednesday evening.

While many of our boys enjoyed their time on Hobby Lane, we had other campers who participated in inter-camp games and tournaments in our region. We participated in an 11-and-under soccer tournament, 15- and 13-year-old basketball games, 12- and 15-year-old archery, a climbing competition, and two golf tournaments in Naples. At the end of this exhausting day, our 15-year-old boys headed to Camp Vega for a dinner dance, while our 13-year-old boys hosted the ladies of Tripp Lake Camp.

Rain or shine, with every waking moment, your boys are fully engaged and having the summer of their lives.