They say it takes a village to raise a child. Like many familiar sayings, it has endured because there is a great deal of truth behind it.
For six and a half weeks each summer, your son becomes part of a community unlike any other. While he may spend most of his time with counselors, they are only one piece of a much larger picture. Our counselors and activity instructors are, understandably, the most visible members of our community. They teach boys how to throw a spiral, rig and derig a sailboat, hit a backhand, get up on waterskis, or climb a rock wall. But, the skills themselves are rarely the most important lesson.
At our 14-and-under home baseball game this morning, the bleachers were filled with campers cheering on our team. One of our youngest boys leaned over and asked me who we were playing. After I told him the name of the opposing camp, he quickly replied, “They stink.”
Before I had a chance to respond, our baseball coach, standing on the third-base line in the middle of coaching the game, calmly looked over and said, “No they don’t. They’re a great team, and we’re lucky to have a great game against them.”
The young camper immediately looked back at him and quietly said, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
The exchange lasted no more than a few seconds. The game continued as if nothing had happened, but everything had happened.
That coach could have ignored the comment. Instead, he recognized a teachable moment and used it to model the kind of sportsmanship we hope defines every Takajo camper. Along the way, our counselors teach sportsmanship, honesty, and courage—not through speeches, but through the countless moments that make up a summer.
Our Health Center staff contributes in a different way. A visit may begin with a scraped knee, a sore throat, or an upset stomach, but it often ends with something much more meaningful. Boys experience patience, compassion, and reassurance from adults who take the time to listen as carefully as they treat. In doing so, our nurses and doctors teach love and tolerance, reminding every camper that he will be cared for and respected, no matter what kind of day he is having.
Some of the most influential members of the Takajo community work almost entirely behind the scenes. Our kitchen staff serves hundreds of meals each summer, greeting campers with familiar smiles and creating a dining hall that feels like home. The maintenance team repairs bunks before anyone notices they need attention and cares for the grounds that generations of campers have enjoyed. Our support staff teach loyalty and integrity, demonstrating that caring for a community means taking pride in your work and leaving every place better than you found it.
Our office staff answers questions, solves problems, and provides a reassuring presence for campers, parents, and staff alike. Through every interaction, they teach friendliness and tolerance, showing that every person deserves to be met with warmth, patience, and respect.
Finally, our administration has the privilege of helping guide the direction of our community. Every decision is made with the best interests of our campers in mind. They teach magnanimity, reminding all of us that true leadership is measured not by authority, but by generosity of spirit, humility, and a willingness to put the needs of others before your own.
For nearly eighty years, Camp Takajo has been guided by the twelve Takajo Arch Ideals. These Arch Ideals are reflected in thousands of ordinary interactions every summer—in the way a counselor handles defeat, a nurse comforts a homesick camper, a cook greets a boy by name, or a staff member quietly does a job that makes life better for everyone else.
By the end of the summer, your son will certainly remember the big moments: the game-winning goal, his first successful waterski run, the campfire, and the friendships. What he may not realize is that, along the way, he has also been quietly learning from dozens of adults whose names may never appear on a schedule but whose example helped shape his experience.
At Takajo, every person has a job to do. Whether they are in a bunk, on a dock, in the kitchen, in the Health Center, behind a desk, or repairing a cabin, they all share something else in common. They are helping raise a community of boys who are becoming the kind of men they see every day.
