Laurels

Dear Reader, In this Zine will will hear stories about my experiences at Camp Taconic. This camp is in the Berkshires, Massachusetts. I have been going there for almost three years. It is the best camp ever! Some people are afraid to go away for the summer, but this Zine tells you why you should come and not to be afraid. It also says all of the fun things that you can do at Camp Taconic. If you like to waterski then you should read my personal narrative. If you are nervous about making friends for the first time them you should read my descriptive piece about the first day of camp. It also will tell you how to have fun without your parents in my expository piece. In this Zine there is something for everyone! There are many tips and tricks to help you have fun at Camp Taconic. After reading my Zine you for sure will want to come!

Sincerely,

Sydney Nagorsky Waterskiing at Camp Taconic

Overnight camp is my favorite part of the summer, I go every year because it is so much fun. One of my favorite activities there is waterskiing. I had never water skied before going to this camp. At first I was a little nervous because I was going to be out alone on a HUGE lake and I was scared that I might fall of and get lost. The other thing that I was scared about was that I would fall into the water and get cold and wet and I wouldn’t be able to waterski. Well, one of those did happen but at least it wasn’t both. I fell many times. And yes, I did get cold and wet. I am not sure what was going on in my head when I thought that I wasn’t going to get wet, because there was no way of avoiding that. On the bright side, I didn’t get lost. Before I got on the boat the instructor went through the positions and how to stand up and all of that stuff. I was just waiting to get on the boat because I was so excited! Finally I got my ski’s and hopped on the boat. For my first try I used something called the boom. That is a long pole that sticks out from the side of the boat. It makes it a lot easier to hold on. I was doing great! I was all alone on the lake, It was so cool! A few days later I decided to try again. This time I didn’t use the boom, I used to long rope! I started to get the hang of it and went to the dock more often. Every time I went I got even better. I guess practice does make perfect! One time when I was out on the water I was waving to my counselor who was standing on the beach she started taking pictures of me to post on the camp website, I was trying to smile and look good for the camera. I forgot to pay attention to waterskiing and when the boat started turning I wasn’t ready. SPLAT!! I fell right into the water and lost my ski too! And the worst part was, my counselor had it all on camera! I have had many fun times waterskiing at camp. Sometimes my friends and I have contest to see who can stay up longer, or how can make the smallest circle without falling, or who can ski out of the wake. Sometimes I win, but not always. I love going waterskiing at camp. Camp Taconic For the past few years I have gone to an overnight camp called Camp Taconic. This summer will be my sister’s 5th (or 4th year, I can’t remember) but this will be only my 3rd year. My brother also goes. For the past 2 years I went for 1 month, but this year I am going for 7 weeks. I am really excited! My first time going to camp I was going into 4th grade. Camp Taconic is in Massachusetts. There is a bus that we take there but it leaves from New York. First we drive there then we get on a bus that takes us to Massachusetts. It is a long drive but it is definitely worth it. There are many fun activities there. My favorite part of camp is circus. They have juggling, a rope, a hoop, and trapeze. The trapeze is my favorite. Also there is tennis, a ropes course, basketball, gaga, soccer, gymnastics, softball, wood shop, arts and crafts, ceramics, tee shirt making, cooking, golf, costume making, musical theater, archery, and science. In science there are puppies. Every year we get new puppies, we get to name them and play with them. There is also waterfront. That is all of the activities that involve the pool or lake. There is water-skiing, canoeing, kayaking, wake boarding, swimming, banana boating, and a few more. One of there reasons that I come to this camp every year, is because I have so many friends. My first year that I went, I was scared that I wouldn’t make friends, but after the first day I felt like I had known everyone for years. I became friends with everyone immediately! I could not believe how much fun I was having already! After my first week of camp, I started to see how everything works. I figured out how the schedule works, what days we get doughnuts for breakfast, when we can switch our activities, when there are parties and campfires, and most important, when to play with your friends. Everyday at camp I was having more and more fun. I had learned a new trick in gymnastics, made a birdhouse in wood shop, learned how to waterski and kayak. During the third week two huge things happen. The first was visiting day. The second was carnival. Visiting day is so much fun. All of our parents drove up and brought us LOTS of food and candy. They bring chips and gum and brownies and cookies and lollipops and every candy imaginable. We set up a picnic on a huge lawn and you sat with your families and your friends and talk and hugged and ate candy! We show our parents all of the activities and they met our friends and counselors. Visiting day was so much fun! The second thing that happened that week was carnival. Every bunk chose a booth. You could do a dunk tank, face painting, truth or dare, skee ball and a whole lot more. My bunk did a penny throw. There was a fish bowl filled with water and inside of it was a dixie cup. The object was to throw a penny into the dixie cup inside of the fish bowl. A lot of people came and if you won then you get a prize. Every bunk makes their own prizes to give out. Our prizes were fortune tellers. You can decorated your both with balloons, streamers, duck tape and other things like that. The counselors set up booths like cotton candy stations. water ice, and an ice cream truck comes. Carnival was one of the best activities in camp. Every year at the end of camp we are all very sad to leave. We all cry and hug and write down each others phone numbers and make plans to see them before next year. That is the worst part of camp. Once your are at home you become camp sick instead of homesick. All year you look forward to coming back to camp. I love going to this camp because I have many friends and it is lots of fun!

The First Day at Camp Taconic The first day at Camp Taconic feels like you are entering a new world, the Taconic world. When I walk off of the bus I see all of my friends and counselors again. Some of them I haven’t seen in almost a year. The first thing I look for is all of the people in my bunk last year and then we go look for our new cabin together. I pass all of the activities counselors and say “Hi” to all of them. Camp feels like my home. I can smell the chefs making spaghetti and meatballs. That is always the first meal at camp. They smell so good, the food at camp is great! I can hear loud kids meeting their friends too. After we get our lice checks we can go into our bunk and set up our stuff. I can smell the lake all of the way across the camp. That smell mixes with the smell of the mountains. Finally we walk into the mess hall to eat dinner. I am very hungry. As I was walking through I felt like I knew everyone. It felt like I was the queen of camp. That night we have a campfire at the point. The point is at the very edge of camp, the farthest place out in the lake. It is so quiet and relaxing there. We roast marshmallows and tell funny jokes. We sing songs and have fun. After the first day I feel like I have been there forever. I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of summer there!

How to Have Fun Without Your Parents While you are at camp you need to have fun. Since there aren’t any parents you can stay up late and break all of the rules that you have at home. Sleeping at camp is very fun because it is like a HUGE sleepover every night. Sometimes we stay up really late and talk, or plan pranks on our counselors. Even though we don’t have parents there are still counselors. There is a huge difference between counselors and parents. Parents have many rules and make things less fun, counselors let you have more fun. Our counselors have gone to camp before and learned all kinds of tricks and pranks to have tons of fun. Pranks are so much fun to do at camp. Sometimes we have prank wars with other bunks or against counselors or our friends. One of our favorite pranks is called freeze. Our counselor did it to another counselor and showed us how to do it. What you do is fill up a water bottle with freezing cold water. Then you go in to the bathroom and dump the bottle over the shower curtain while someone is in there. There first time we did it my counselor screamed, it was so funny! Another prank you can do is lock your counselor out of your bunk and they have to find ways to get inside. If you are in a prank war with another bunk you can go inside their bunk and scare them when they walk in. There is so many pranks that are fun to try. Pranks can make your summer twice as fun! Visiting day is also some people’s favorite day in camp, not because they see their parents, but because the get LOADS of candy. Sometimes we hide it and save it for later in the summer. Sometimes we have candy parties! If your parents were there they would probably make a limit on how much candy you can eat. At camp you can eat as much as you want! At night we go out onto the porch and take out all of the candy and throw a party. Twice a week we have canteen, that is a little house that has candy. If we write a letter we can pick one thing, I usually pick a chocolate bar. I love eating candy, it is so good! Another thing that you can do without parents is be independent. We have a choice of what to eat, where to go, and what to do. Making these choices helps us mature. We get a sense of what life will be like when we are older. We will not always have parents to help us or tell us what to do. I like being independent, I feel more grown up. __ Acrostic Poem __ Creative Awesome Meaningful Pretty

Terrible to leave Awakening Comforting On a lake Nice people Interesting Colorful