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CAMP AROWHON

Camps are staying away from the
technological revolution —for now.

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LONNY GOLDSMITH

WHO w1 ARE

Staff Writer

n an era when many people
have their own Web pages and
8-year-olds can be more com-
\_,
puter savvy than those four
times their age, some area summer
amps are resisting bringing the tech-
nology age into their camp programs.
111 1 Administratively, the technological
revolution is alive and well at four
popular camps. Arowhon in
Algonquin Park, Canada, Tanuga in
Kalkaska, Tamarack in Ortonville, and
,tWalden in Cheboygan rely on either
their own Web site or a listing on
another one. Most of these camp
directors feel the Net can be a success-
ful marketing tool, though according
to Arowhon Director Joanne Kates, it
can be costly.
"We get a lot of junk inquiries
when kids click on 'request informa-
Di:ion' from the Web site with no inten-
tion to go camp," she said. "We send
them the big packet, which includes a
video that can cost $10 if they live
outside of Canada."
E-mail and the fax machine have
been two of Kates' saving graces dur-
ing the winter, which used to be her
time for placing calls to potential
v, staffers to firm up plans for the sum-
/--' mer.
"It's always wrecked my life in the
winter to do the hiring, and I'm
painfully aware that I lose staff to
male directors who stay in the office
late," said Kates, a mother of two chil-
dren. "E-mail has made a big differ-
ence with hiring 100 staff."
The fax machine has also expedited
her getting back campers' medical and
transportation forms.
None of the four camps allow e-
mail communication between the
campers and their friends and family.
"A lot of times, a highlight of camp
is getting mail," said Sid Friedman,

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co-director of Camp
Tanuga. "We ask the kids
to write to the parents;
they should write, too.
Getting e-mail that we
download for them does-
n't have the same emo-
tion."
Harvey Finkelberg,
Tamarack's director, feels
that e-mail and Internet
capabilities may be on the
horizon for campers.
"In the information
age, you can't be competi-
tive if you don't use the
Net," he said. "I predict
we'll have it sooner or later."
Finkelberg went so far as to predict
that computer terminals may one day
be available in each village at the
Ortonville camp.
However, Larry Stevens, the direc-
tor of Camp Walden, says sitting at a
computer isn't what kids are at his
camp to do.
"They do that all year long," he
said. "Part of camp is the socialization
with other kids, to learn new skills
and be physically active."
Walden and Tamarack allow par-
ents to fax their campers.

CAMP TANUGA

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"We'll deliver faxes like letters, but
we don't let the kids fax their parents,"
said Stevens. "Technology at camp as
a business tool is key, but at camp, we
control it."
Arowhon allowed parents to fax let-
ters to their kids for two summers, but
has stopped the practice. "When we
did it, we never stopped getting
faxes," Kates said. "It meant we could-
n't receive or send business faxes, had
to hire a secretary to sort them all,
and spend $40 or $50 every two days
for a new toner cartridge."
Tanuga also does not allow faxes.

Camps Arowhon,
Tamarack and Tanuga have
Web sites on the Internet,
with varying content.
"We teach how to build
Web pages in mass media,"
explained Tamarack's
Finkelberg. "We'll use it to
keep campers connected
from September to May."
The Tamarack site
www. tamarackcamps. corn
has the camp video from
last summer that can be
downloaded and a chat
room for campers.
Arowhon's site
www.camparowhon.com
offers a bulletin board,
which also allows campers
and staff to stay connected.
Tanuga's www.camptanuga.com
has a guest book that allows respon-
dents to get more information sent
to them about the camp. All three
Web sites provide lists of activities
and programs offered at the respec-
tive camps.
While Camp Walden is listed on
some camp-oriented sites around the
country, director Stevens doesn't
believe this is a way to find campers.
"In order to run a business properly,
we use all the, latest technology;" he
said. But for recruiting, its still basi-
cally word of mouth." I I

Th

1/15
1999

Detroit Jewish News

67