Camp

One

Seven-year-old
Hailee
Goldenberg's
first day
of camp.

JENNIFER FINER SECTION EDITOR

H

akuna Matata," the popu-
lar song from the movie
The Lion King, blares in
the background as eight
campers remove clothes, bug
spray, stationery and stuffed an-
imals from their duffel bags and
squeeze their belongings on to
small wooden shelves.
Hailee Goldenberg of West
Bloomfield seems obliviods to the
music until the chorus, when she
blurts out "hakuna matata." It's
mid-morning one Sunday in Au-
gust and 7-year-old Hailee has
just arrived at Camp Maas in Or-
tonville. It's her first time away
from home and she is excited
about spending a few weeks at
camp.
Hailee woke up at 7:06 a.m.
that morning. Don't ask why she
remembers the time — she just
does.
After jumping out of bed, she
put on one of her favorite outfits:
overall shorts, pink high-top
sneakers and a purple baseball
hat.
Eating breakfast was out of

the question. She was in too
much of a hurry. It didn't matter
that she would be at the bus ear-
ly; Hailee was anxious to get
there.
"She wasn't the least bit ner-
vous," said Hailee's mother, Lisa
Goldenberg. "As soon as the kids
could get on the bus, she hugged
us, and then all the girls ran on
the bus."
The ride up went by fast for
Hailee, as she met some of the
counselors and learned some of
her village songs.
Once the buses took the dirt
roads into camp, kicking up dust
as they bounced along, Hailee's
excitement mounted.
Seeing the cabin for the first
time was most exciting. Hailee
walked into a bunk equipped
with a bathroom and a separate
room shared by four counselors.
Six bunk beds lined the
perimeter of the cabin. Hailee
found her name tag over the
top bunk in the corner of the

Above: Hailee on her first day of camp.

Left:
Hailee looks forward to a fun-filled
summer.

Opposite page, above:
Waiting for her first camp meal.

Right:
Hailee writes a letter to her brother.

Far right: Pizza bagels for lunch.

room and put her stuff down.
"I didn't want to stay home
with my brother, Dustin," ex-
plained Hailee. "He is almost 5
and he's a pain. I came to camp
to get away from him."
After Hailee unpacked, she
hopped up on the top bunk bed,
where she would be spending the
next 12 nights, to write a letter
to her brother.