BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP, PA — Campers zip into summer at Bear Creek Camp, nestled in the woods in Luzerne County's Bear Creek Township.
On the first day of camp, the action is already underway.
"It's like an exciting chaos," said camp adventure coordinator Colin Jefferis. "I'd say. We were here for like two weeks of staff training beforehand, and then all the campers get here, and you see like all the stuff coming to life everybody actually doing their things, or their energy's really high, so it's really good."
For some, including staffer Vanessa Iradi, this is just another first day of camp; they're adding too many.
"It's so many, probably about 14 years," said Iradi. "I came here as a nature day campers are probably when I was about five or six years old, and then I did all of overnight camp, and now it's my third year on staff."
The camp director says the goal of the camp is to build character and to inspire leadership qualities. It relies heavily on faith, the serenity in the woods, and many activities at camp to make that happen.
"My ultimate goal is to kind of make outdoors and all the like outdoor camping activities a little less intimidating and a little more like accessible for everybody," added Jefferis. "The goal is to be like very informational, very like walking people through it and making them excited to be outside."
Whether they're attending the day camp or the overnight camp.
Whether they're six years old or 16 years old.
Counselors at bear creek believe all campers can benefit from time outside.
"So important you can see like just the looks on their face. Coming into the hands of nature like after being stuck inside for so long," explained Iradi. "All these kids are so dependent on technology, and so our goal is to like unplug them and bring them into nature and just let them like have fun in the woods."
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