FALL - WINTER | OVERNIGHT CAMP NEWSLETTER
THANK YOU FOR THE BEST SUMMER EVER CAMPERS!
WORDS FROM THE DIRECTOR Greetings Alumni & Friends, We had a great summer at Overnight Camps Marston, Raintree & Surf. Our 140 program staff served over 3,460 individual campers with awesome camp experiences. We also welcomed a full return on international staff to bring their positive influence, representing 8 different countries and multiple languages. This summer, we worked with 15 different partners who connected us with children deserving of overnight camp experiences, including new military partners, a community we are especially proud to serve. The new camp activities and trips to Catalina Island were a big hit and we look forward to adding more options for campers in 2024. Outdoor Education and 6th-grade camps are back in full swing. It’s great to see students enjoying the mountains of Julian at Marston/Raintree and the coast at Camp Surf. At Marston this fall, we look forward to the opening of our long-awaited pump track, which folks attending our fall and Thanksgiving family camps can enjoy. At Surf you can’t miss the annual Beach Party coming up on November 4th. It’s fun and for a great cause. If you want to get more involved, we have workdays throughout the year and are looking for new board candidates. Let us know if you might be interested. As always, stay in touch, visit anytime, and reach out if you have any questions. In the spirit of camp, Jamie Cosson, Executive Director
PINES TO PALMS | MARSTON | SURF | RAINTREE
Every summer Sunday at YMCA Raintree Ranch, overnight campers gather around the campfire to sing songs, learn about Raintree, and get inspired for the experience and adventure they are about to embark on. During this opening, they learn that Raintree is much more than just riding horses. While at camp, long-time Raintree returners share the quote, “Come for the horses, and stay for the people”. Since 1969, Raintree has been a second home for countless campers and staff, offering a safe and supportive community to face new challenges, learn new skills, build lifelong friendships, and commit to personal growth. There is a certain magic at Raintree Ranch. It's a place that inspires all to be their most authentic selves and celebrates one another for exactly who they are. You can see it when the camper who was missing home the first two days finally comes out of their shell, or when a camper chooses an act of kindness inspired by one of their role models, or the excitement of each camper who earns the achievement of their “bolo” that week. Raintree staff remind each camper that sometimes the best place to find out who you really are, is to be in a place where they don’t have to be anything else; and to many, that is Raintree Ranch. Since its beginning, Raintree has always been the smaller “sister” camp of YMCA Camp Marston. It is smaller in program size and facility. Although significant improvements to the facility have been made in the past few years, Raintree’s facilities are in need of an update. We are hoping to update Raintree’s historic Ranch House with fireproof siding, as well as some significant repairs to the barn area and horse fencing. Raintree runs an incredible and life-changing program, and deserves the facilities to match. If you are interested in sponsoring a project or donating to facility repairs, please contact Executive Director Jamie Cosson at jcosson@ymcasd.org.
GREAT NEWS FROM OUR CAMPS
NEW & UPCOMING In April, Camp Surf hosted its First Annual Block Party with the local community and partners. As we prepare for Summer, we’re not letting the current water pollution challenges get us down. There will be expansions to our skate park and we’ll be ensuring ocean access this summer with off-site trips when the water is closed. For the first time since COVID, we’ll be bringing back historical off-site trips for Waterman and other villages. Camp Surf has been hosting monthly beach cleanups since January. So far we’ve had about 200 people removing more than 1,000 pounds of trash from our beaches!
www.ymcasd.org/camp
NEW & UPCOMING “The Smithy” That’s right! We are adding a blacksmith shop for our teen participants to learn the discipline of working metal. The Lake is back!!! I am so excited to announce that the lake will finally be back at Marston. After 3 long years with no water activities, they all will be back! We have Canoeing, Paddle Boarding, fishing and more at Lake Jessop.
For many of us, fall is our very favorite season to be at Camp Surf. The sun is shining; sunsets are AMAZING; the ocean feels clear and refreshing. We have a busy September and October full of schools, scouts, and families. We’re looking to triple our work with local South Bay students in our after-school programs, allowing us to keep excellent program staff through the winter. We will be hosting an inclusion training and family retreat in October run by our very own Y of San Diego County CRS team through a grant from the San Diego Resource Center. As we wind down the fall season, we like to end it with our annual Beach Party fundraiser, raising donations for program improvements and camper scholarships. We hope to see many of you there!
GREAT NEWS FROM OUR CAMPS Camp Surf - Fun, Surf, Sun! Looking back, it was an amazing summer full of fun and learning, challenges and successes. More than 1,500 campers joined us this summer for overnight and day camp, many attending multiple sessions. We hired 12 international staff, the most in our history, highlighted by many coming to us through a new partnership with the Y of Mexico City, as well as Germany, Canada, and Columbia. We’ve welcomed several new partners to bring kids to camp, including working with Operation Purple, which offers military kids a free week of camp. Additionally, we grew our skate park, embarked on several off-site trips, and added 9 very successful weeks of specialty day camps – 3 each of “Marine Science”, “Skate Surf and Scoot”, and “Shipwreck Survival”. We’ve worked to overcome increased water closures by busing campers to other local beaches. Cross-border water pollution continues to be possibly our biggest challenge to enrollment and program missions. In June, Camp Surf hosted approximately 30 organizations, government entities, and communities from across Southern County in a roundtable to discuss the effects water access and pollution are having on youth and community programs. We were able to come together to draft a letter signed by almost 50 non-profit and community entities (and growing!) asking Governor Newsom and President Biden to declare a state of emergency so we can finally deal with this crisis appropriately. We’re committed to working together, compiling and sharing resources, and working to increase and protect access to a clean ocean for all South Bay youth and communities. If you live in California, you can help by keeping this issue at the forefront of all of your local and state representatives. Let your national Representative or Senator know that this is an important issue in need of funding.
UPCOMING EVENTS Camp Surf Sept 22 : 39th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day in collaboration with I Love a Clean San Diego Oct 31 : Annual Halloween Carnival community celebration Nov 4 : Beach Party Under the Sea fundraiser event – register or make a donation now at http://ymcasd.org/beachparty! Nov 17-19 : Military Family Weekend Nov 19 : Free Friends and Family (FAN) event Camp Marston Oct 27-29 : Halloween Family Camp Oct 29 : Ribbon Cutting Pump Track Nov 24-26 : Holiday Family Camp
NEW & UPCOMING CONTINUED Astronomy. Camp has always been an amazing place to see the stars. Julian is an “International Dark Sky Community” which means we get some of the best views of the stars in the whole country right here! We have always taken advantage of that by looking at the stars and telling the stories of the constellations. This year we will be adding an incredible telescope that will allow us to tell these stories even better. This scope will have Wi-Fi Connections to iPads so that the whole group can see what is happening inside of the telescope in real time. Pump Track. While this project was delayed last summer, it will be here this summer! This amazing concrete pump track will be a great place for our campers to bike and expand their adventurous side while at camp. Axe Throwing. Sounds crazy I know but here at Camp we already do so many range sports! We are adding this exciting activity to our Archery, BB Gun, and Slingshot Paint Ball ranges. Just another awesome thing you can only do at camp!
WISH LIST Camp Surf: Tents for overnight camping trips (10 @ $170ea) Volleyball Nets (3 @ $200ea) Shed (1-2) for storage in villages Camp Marston: Yurts for teen camper village Soccer balls and playground balls Canoes, kayaks, paddleboards for the lake Sound system and projector for Holmes Lodge Macroscopes for OE Pond Ecology
NEW AND UPCOMING New Shade Structures at the tack up area. We have a beautiful place to tack up the horses to get them ready to ride! Bathroom Renovations in the Ranch House! Yeah, we needed it, and they are here! Poop Dragon re-doo.... You may have noticed that we have had some out of order bathrooms near our arenas. That was an incinerating toilet that never worked. we have replumbed it and repurposed it so we will have much nicer bathrooms around camp!
Outdoor Education at Marston With summer ending and kids across the county going back to school, Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch have transitioned to our Outdoor Education program. San Diego County has a long and rich history of ‘6th grade science camp’, and up at Marston/Raintree, we will serve 7000 6th graders this year. We started the school year out by filling both Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch with over 270 students from Aviara Oaks Middle School in Carlsbad, CA! During their week at camp, students will go on 6 hike classes which include; Earth & Water, Sustainability, Ecology, Survival Skills, Teambuilding, and Activities (Climbing Tower, Archery, and Candle -making). These classes are taught by our Program Instructors, who take them out on trial and use experience based learning techniques to give students an opportunity to really explore the natural world. While a large focus of our program is on education, we still provide that summer camp vibe as well, with our instructors as they run camp classic evening activities such as the Night Hike and Skit Night, as well as providing supervision throughout the night as cabin counselors. We are looking forward to a great year of Outdoor Education up in the mountains and can’t wait to see the impact our staff will have on the students we serve! Ian McCrohan Outdoor Education Director
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OVERNIGHT CAMPS Mountain Camp Experiences YMCA CAMP MARSTON 4761 Pine Hills Rd Julian, CA 92036 YMCA RAINTREE RANCH 2315 Frisius Drive Julian, CA 92036 Oceanfront Camp Experience YMCA CAMP SURF 560 Silver Strand Blvd Imperial Beach, CA 91932
Name: Valeria Marin Position: Outdoor Education Program Coordinator – As an OE Coordinator I help plan the week and make schedules for our instructors. During the week, I act as a point person for teachers and support all the staff in any way possible! Hidden Talents/Hobbies: I love to watch scary movies, go on hikes and paint! Camp Journey: My camp journey starts back when I was 9 at Camp Blodgett (located next to Lake Michigan). My love for the lake and the outdoors grew throughout the years as I kept coming back to CB. I was able to work my way up from being a Counselor, Head Counselor, Community Liaison and Assistant Camp Director. I will always have love for Camp Blodgett, but I wanted to explore my options and work more in an outdoor setting. So, I searched for opportunities to work with children outdoors and I came across Camp Marston. Coming to Camp Marston was the best decision I could make for myself. I’ve been able to grow as a leader, network with people from different Y branches and become more confident with the career I want to get into. Who inspires you: My best friend, Ashley Soto, has probably been my biggest inspiration. Her drive to work for her family and help Latinx communities has inspired me to do the same. She leads with passion and heart, and I will always appreciate and respect that.
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