A cornucopia of colorful bracelets adorns the wrists of Camp Pine Tree counselor Taylor Carrion, now five years removed from her first summer as a camp intern. Each bracelet is the fruit of a time-honored camp tradition with bright beads carefully selected from seemingly infinite possibilities. It is activities like this, dodgeball, gaga ball and pillo pollo – “the camp staples” – as Carrion puts it, that have campers and counselors celebrating the return to summer normalcy.
While the campers remain outside for the entirety of the three-hour camp day and masks are as present as the shouts of childhood, the Camp Pine Tree staff has sustained the traditions that keep campers and counselors returning year after year. Look no further than the camp staff for evidence: counselors Angelina Sutton, George Dynan, Paige Tinsley, Matthew Baravechia and Natalia Rincon are all former Camp Pine Tree campers in their first summer as counselors, while Dinah Cohen is a former Circus Camp enthusiast and Jerrold Joyner joins Carrion as an intern turned counselor. The familiarity of the staff has helped create, according to camp co-manager AJ Sesay, a “cozy atmosphere.” Joyner added that, “Even though we have restrictions … we can have fun.” Sesay credits the smaller group sizes this summer for the even deeper social and emotional bonds that have already developed between campers and staff, despite the physical distancing mandates. Sesay’s co-manager, Brittney Shue, seconds the positive atmosphere and finds it “refreshing to be with people” after months of Zoom fatigue.
Camp Pine Tree campers frolic across Braden Field or the basketball court adjacent to the Youth Center each morning learning the basic tenets and traditions of summer camp from counselors who not too long ago were in their shoes. Campers have already begun perfecting their friendship bracelet craftsmanship and anticipate the exhilaration of the next Australian Escape game. Though campers haven’t had the chance to learn the mysteries of the North Atlantic freshwater seahorse and the among-along camp tales they will learn by the time they reach Camp YOGO, the sense of summer camp excitement is as palpable as the humidity that is always a reminder of summer camp in Greenbelt.
