Camp Monterey offers girls opportunities for learning outdoor skills, living simply in rustic cabins in the woods, being part of a natural mentoring program, camping out, being a member of a team and making long-lasting friendships through shared experiences.

A Typical Day

MORNING

The campers sign up for a variety of offerings of crafts and athletic activities. The girls can choose to sign up for any of the following activities: sailing, crafts, canoeing, woodworking, pottery, archery, tennis, badminton and horseback riding.  Ages are mixed in all of the activities so the girls get to be friends with and learn from other girls of all ages.  Each girl must take a period of swimming daily in our lake.

The day begins with the wake-up bell.  Getting ready for the day, each girl makes her bed and organizes her area.  Then together, campers pitch in to clean the cabin and make it ready for morning inspection.  After flag-raising, the girls enjoy a hearty breakfast served family-style in our Dining Hall, followed by four periods of morning activities. 

AFTERNOON

At midday, lunch is served in the Dining Hall, where announcements of activity ranks are made, afternoon activities are announced and songs are sung for fun. Returning to the cabin for rest hour gives the campers time to read or write letters or rest until the bell rings for the afternoon activities to begin. Girls can choose any activity to attend in the afternoon. Afternoons may be spent for an extended sail in a boat on the lake, riding a trail on horseback, or taking more time with a project in one of the craft shops. There's always free swim too, where anyone can come take a dip in the lake, swim or just play in the water together. 

EVENING

After supper, the girls usually have free time before the evening’s main event. They may play tetherball, badminton, or tennis, take a walk or practice running on the Camp road or chase lightning bugs on the “Fun Field,” abloom with daisies or Queen Anne’s lace.

As the sun sets, the bell rings for the girls to come together for an evening program.  Each night is different.  Volleyball is played for team points so it must begin immediately after supper and end before the sun goes down. All other events—team meetings, campfires and vespers start at dusk so that we may see the stars on our way back to the cabin. 

Once a week, we gather around the campfire lining up by teams, sing team songs and have a short program designed by the staff. The program is followed by each activity department giving progress awards to campers who have gained some new accomplishment during the week. Then the counselors and Unit Leaders announce in a poem or a song, who their Unit Spirit is for the week — a girl who has been especially helpful and made others happy. The Unit Spirits stand and we sing our Unit Spirit song to them. Finally, the staff may have chosen a Maid of Monterey from among the older girls and if so, the Director describes her qualities of leadership and contribution to Camp Monterey, and we sing to her. Finally, we join hands, cross arms and sing our "Goodnight" song, wishing everyone in the circle a peaceful rest and sweet dreams. Returning to their cabins, the girls wash up and gather for counselor-led devotions. Then, it’s “lights out,” as the counselors read “chapter books” by flashlight while their campers fall asleep in the cool mountain air.  Day is done!

Camp Activities

There are four activity periods in the morning. Girls sign up for the activities of their choice along with a period of swimming instruction each day. Activities offered at Camp give girls a range to choose from including crafts, woodshed, pottery, archery, tennis, badminton, sailing, canoeing and horseback riding. In the afternoons, girls may choose to go to any activity they like followed by a free swim for all who want a refreshing dip in our lake at the end of the day.

  • Swimming

    We teach the Red Cross Swimming Program which gives the girls opportunity to become confident swimmers and at home in the water. In the afternoons, we offer Free Swim for the campers to relax and have fun, playing in the water and on rafts, diving boards and the slide. We may even do some diving or water ballet! Campers take swimming every day.

  • Canoeing

    Canoeing is one of the favorite water sports at Camp. After learning the basics in class, a camper may take a canoe out with a friend during free canoeing in the afternoon or work on passing her ranks with the supervision of knowledgable instructors. We also have paddleboards and kayaks if the girls want to just go out on the lake for fun.

  • Sailing

    There is nothing like catching the wind while sailing a boat on the Monterey Lake! Sailing ranks include proficiency in learning parts of the boat as well as a variety of knots. We have Optimist dinghies to learn on, Sunfish sailboats to gain skill and Vipers for our more advanced sailors. Our sailors learn to wait patiently for a good mountain breeze before heading buoy to buoy, crisscrossing the lake.

  • Crafts

    Our Craft Shop is in Craft Park behind the Dining Hall where the campers may come to make small gifts or cards for their friends or they may start a project that involves several weeks to finish. Sometimes we do an all-camp tie-dying project or silkscreen t-shirts or make candles. Other times, a camper may come with a project of her own in mind that is unique.

  • Pottery

    Working with clay is a favorite craft at Camp Monterey. Basic hand building skills are taught using slab and coil methods as the girls explore sculpting and form. More experienced potters may learn to throw a pot on the wheel. Girls may make gifts or small figures that have special significance to them. We have a kiln where we fire our projects and girls can glaze their work.

  • Woodshed

    Girls learn to use basic woodworking hand-skills in Woodshed. In the process, girls learn to be patient and appreciate the grain of the wood and see possibilities in the particular piece they are working on. A camper may choose from projects available or may have an idea for a project of her own. Staff will guide her in problem-solving until her idea becomes a real thing.

  • Archery

    For many, launching an arrow using a bow is exciting. Archery is open to all campers, giving girls the opportunity to grow in confidence as they learn safety and marksmanship with increasing distance between themselves and the target. They have an additional benefit of earning ranks recognized by the American Archery Association.

  • Tennis and Badminton

    Tennis and badminton are fun and exciting. In addition to learning basic skills and how to keep score, girls can play matches with one another anytime. The Tennis courts are always open so girls may enjoying playing anytime. Some of our most exciting events happen on the Badminton court when the teams have hard hitting badminton opponents and the birdie is sent whizzing across the net.

  • Horseback Riding

    From the youngest to the oldest, campers are encouraged to ride and get to know our Camp horses. Lessons for the girls start out in the ring, where they learn to control the horse and from there, as they advance and are older, are taught to post and canter. We have riding classes in the mornings for instruction and, after mastering basic skills, take trail rides through the woods.

Friends

Campers come to Camp Monterey from all over the country: Florida, Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Georgia, California, — and sometimes from more distant places like England, Venezuela, or Japan!

We celebrate our differences and often find our true selves at Camp. We dress up in costumes, braid hair, act silly, laugh and sing. If we need a costume, we head to the Costume Room in the Lodge. There we may find just the right thing to wear or something that will make do; it doesn't matter as long as it's fun and we are with friends!

Preparing for parties, making up skits, writing words to songs, or teaching a dance may be some of the best memories a girl can take home with her. It isn't always the big events that she remembers! The fun she had with her counselor and cabin mates when she hiked to the Obey in the rain or when her canoe turned over or her group got lost, then found the path again — these are the memories that make up a girl's story and they always include friends. Friends and relationships that, for a Camp Monterey girl, will last a lifetime.

Special Days at Camp

Camp Monterey girls have fun in ways they never dreamed they would. Dressing up in funny clothes from the Costume Room for skits and parties, picking blackberries and making a cobbler over a camp fire, and singing in the Dining Hall after every meal are just a few of the many ways that make Camp so much fun. There are the special days at Camp when our schedule totally changes as we have Camp-wide celebrations. The 4th of July and Smile Day are great favorites when we play games and have activities from dawn until night. Other special days include party days when the teams give each other a party. Fun is added to those days as we all plan a costume to wear on the party theme and the team giving the party decorates the Dining Hall, Dock and Lodge for skits and dances - a whole night of entertainment!

Special trips are arranged for different age groups as well. Weather permitting, the youngest campers may be swooped off to the Obey River for an afternoon of water-play or a tour of the nearby Mennonite Community. An all-day canoe trip or a hike to one of the many state parks may be planned for the Juniors. A special trip for Senior Camp is spending the night in a cave at Cumberland Caverns. The Junior Counselors go whitewater rafting and explore waterfalls, rock formations and other wonders nearby only found on the Cumberland Plateau. A trip to the Flea Market in Crossville is a favorite too.

Girls thrive in this atmosphere. They set goals and achieve them, are recognized for their talents and grow into helpful, happy young women. Living "offline," a girl can open her mind to be more creative. She can slow down and take time to appreciate the world around her, gaining confidence in herself and her own abilities.

Teams

Every camper is chosen to be part of a team, a special bond she will carry with her through her camp years. Everyone is welcoming at Camp and here to be your friend - someone on the other team may even become your best friend!

Belonging to a team is important and provides opportunity for leadership by example through friendly competition. The girls will cheer on and celebrate the victories of their cabinmates on the other team, as much as those on her own. As Miss Dollie said, "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you take it!"

The teams encourage each girl to do her best in every activity and stretch herself to do things she might otherwise not do. She will get up from rest hour to practice canoeing for the Meets or practice volleyball for the game that night or work on her strokes in swimming. She is encouraged to try things that are new to her, to win with humility and to lose with grace, qualities that stay with a Monterey girl throughout her life.

In addition to the games and Meets, some of our best times at Camp happen while we are preparing for team parties. Each team gives the other team a party once during the summer. It's not only the fun on the day of the party, but all the work that is shared where we connect with other members of our team, making up dances and skits, painting murals and thinking up costumes, all as a gift to the other team. 

Church and Sundays

Sunday is a special day at Camp where we slow down and take time to reflect on the past week and look ahead to the week to come. After breakfast, we attend to our jobs in the cabin and elsewhere in Camp and use any extra time to write about the past week in our letters home. There may be a free swim mid-morning with plenty of time to change into Sunday whites for church.

A fast bell rings for church as the campers proceed by cabin to our church by the lake. The second bell is a slow bell by which time we are seated and ready for the service to begin. It’s a special time to slow down, gather together in fellowship, and listen as the bell rings to begin the service.

Our Christian-based services have a theme each summer that connects us to God the Creator whose goodness surrounds us daily as we live and play along wooded paths by our lake and see the ever-changing wonders of creation happening around us day and night at Camp. Senior Staff and older campers give inspirational talks during the service which include scripture along with Camp poems, songs and stories passed down through the years, giving examples of what we strive for as we grow more nurturing, helpful and supportive as friends and mentors.

Girls of all ages are asked to take part in the service to give more opportunity for participation and public speaking. The speaker always includes ways to be better stewards of God's creation and to seek ways to serve others with sisterly affection in a spirit of gratitude for all we have been given. We speak of ourselves as children of a loving God who cares deeply for us and for all creation. In that spirit, Camp Monterey accepts campers of all denominations and religions to join us. As one of our Junior Counselors said quite simply, "Camp makes me a better person."

In the afternoon, we may take a hike to Flint Rock Hollow or play all-camp games. Our evening meal is held outside, and we close the day with a vespers program in special places at Camp like the dam with its wide view of the lake or in the canoes where we feel suspended on living water or on the Big Hill where we can see all of Camp down below.

The campers return to their cabins and go quietly to bed. On special Sunday nights, after “light’s out,” the J.C.s may have a serenade.

“The nearness to God which comes as we worship together at our little church beside the lake, a little clearing where we sit on simple benches looking at our rippling water. or at vespers as the sun goes down and shadows steal across the lake. and singing is heard from over the water; these things become a part of our hearts and souls and we make clear the way for them to become part of the children's lives as well.”