Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

When it comes to summer camps for kids, I’m always reminded of the many summers I spent attending Riverview Camp for Girls, which I have written about before. However, not all my summer camp experiences consisted of overnight stays in cabins. In fact, for many summers I used to attend day camps at what was previously Darton College in Albany.

My favorite camp I ever attended there was my scrapbooking camp. It is what sparked my interest and love for scrapbooking and telling a story through pictures, stickers, and captions.

My mom was not a scrapbooker. She kept baby albums, of course, but our photo cabinet exploded with pictures falling everywhere when you opened it. There was no organization.

I didn’t even know some of those pictures existed.

It was usually one month before school got out when we would receive a letter in the mailbox of all the camps Darton would be offering.

The scrapbooking camp was being led by a lady who attended my church, and my mom encouraged me to go.

Not wanting to go without a friend, I convinced my best friend Caroline to go with me.

We were both supposed to bring 20 pictures and a paper bag lunch. The album, the stickers and the pens would all be provided.

We both showed up, excited to make our own scrapbooks and thus began our love.

Our teacher had collected stickers and patterned paper for years. She had everything imaginable. She even had these nifty tape squares, so no one would have to see the tape on the page.

She provided us with corner cutters as well, which made the pictures all have smooth, rounded edges. It showcased a much cleaner look.

Caroline and I were at our own table and the camp provided us with an awesome creative outlet, and a way to hang out during the summer.

Eventually, we finished our scrapbooks during the week-long camp and got to take them home. However, we both still really loved scrapbooking. For my birthday that year, she gave me a beginner’s scrapbook set, and I gave her one as well for her birthday.

We would always be working on them and couldn’t wait to show each other our progress.

The love never really went away, but scrapbooking is quite time consuming. So, while the love is still there, the time for the hobby isn’t.

My last scrapbook I finished was of my freshman year of college.

I still have all the materials needed to finish my sophomore year, but the task seems impossible now.

I never would’ve imagined so many years ago that one camp would help me find one of my favorite hobbies.

I know sometimes we are sent off to summer camp, regardless of the theme, because our parents have to work during the day, but I promise sometimes those camps can lead to the best of times, and even better memories.

I could recall countless stories from Riverview, and perhaps equally as many from my summer day camps, putting on plays, making scrapbooks and taking part in sports that I had no business taking part in.

So, embrace camp and make memories, because I promise they will last a lifetime.