Closing Day is always a little tough.

Trunks are packed. Cabins are swept. Parents pulling into camp, and a whole session’s worth of inside jokes about to scatter across Texas and a handful of other states.

There’s also a moment that might be easy to miss.

On the field, a blue t-shirt changes hands, with “Blue Chipper” printed across the front.

Parents are picking up these shirts for any camper who’s already signed up to come back next summer.

10,000 And Counting

Blue chipper is our name for a camper who attended camp, loved it, and signed up to do it again.

Over the last 60 years, we’ve seen more than 10,000 campers return to camp.

At least ten thousand people who could call themselves a blue chipper. That’s one of my favorite numbers at camp.

Of course I love when any child gets to experience camp, but it’s extra special when a camper returns.

It means that they had fun, made friends, and took positive stories and memories home with them. It means we have a chance to get to know them better, and we see their growth from year to year.

And finally, it means the benefits of camp are going to compound for them. The independence, responsibility, confidence, and resilience we practice aren’t just an experience they had. Those things will grow into a story about who they are.

“I know how to make friends in new groups.”

“I try the things that make me nervous, and I end up loving them.”

“I’m the kind of person who walks into a new place and figures it out.”

These are stories that campers build about themselves, and they have years of evidence to back it up.

We’ve written before about camp as a kind of preparation for college. Campers who come to camp for a summer get a taste of it. Campers who return to camp prove to themselves that they know how to be successful away from home.

Our Actual Report Card

You can measure a camp a hundred ways.

Camper surveys, parent feedback, activities offered, photos posted.

We do keep track of each of those things, but the best measuring stick is simpler:

Did the camper want to come back?

When that’s true, we see the 8-, 9- ,and 10-year campers who cry at Awards Night because they can’t believe it is their last summer at camp (before hopefully returning to work as a counselor).

We see campers literally jumping with excitement to reunite with their friends at the start of a new summer.

We see campers who write a mission statement in their final year of the High School Leadership Program, articulating the kind of person they want to be as they move forward in the world as a young adult.

These campers also make camp better for everyone else. They hold each other to higher standards, practice the 4R’s, and show first time campers how things work.

They are not just learning how to be strong individuals, but how to be a part of a strong community as well.

These are the skills and traits that give returning campers a head start on being leaders in their schools and future careers.

The Proof

So back to Closing Day.

It’s a bittersweet day. Always is. Saying goodbye to something this good never gets easier.

But the Blue Chipper Shirt makes Closing Day feel a little less final. It’s a symbol that for many of these campers, the adventure already has another chapter waiting.

Each summer must come to a close, and each new school year follows.

Maybe the blue chipper shirt sits in a drawer for a while. And then one day, out of nowhere, you get the question: how many days until next summer?

How many days until I get to see my camp friends?

How many days until the first Torchlight of the summer?

We look forward to it every year, because seeing those faces light up when they return for a new summer is one of the best parts of camp.

That’s why we are already counting down to next year.

Erec Sir