Every Opening Day, Visiting Day, Campfire Night and Closing Day, there is an easily recognizable group of women with tan skin and varying lengths of gray hair. They are often seen hugging other parents or families, usually with a daughter or niece with a short distance wearing the white Fleur de Lis polo. These women, comprised of four daughters and their extremely dedicated mother, are commonly known as the Cook girls. Always one of the first families to show up and definitely the last to leave, these ladies can never seem to get enough of camp, regardless of age, time, or distance.
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I could end this sentence about a million different ways but this article seems to cover all the right notes.

Because I worked at camp

Enjoy!

-Lady Sarena

When I was younger, I used to wonder about my future self a lot. What I’d be like, what I’d be up to, how I’d be. I remember sitting down once and making a list of goals, things I wanted to accomplish by the age of 21. Some were trivial like travel to a new country or go bungee jumping or sing on a stage. But some of the more important ones were things such as have friends from all over the world, gain confidence in myself, and know that I have a sisterhood that I could count on, partially because the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie has just come out. When I was younger, I was worried I would grow up too fast. I was terrified at the thought of getting a job I hated, becoming too preoccupied with money, losing my deep passions of tie dye, cookie dough, dancing, and blueberry picking. I hoped the world wouldn’t harden my spirit, that I’d still celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday every year, and that I’d still have a few close friends from my childhood I still held very close to my heart, never losing sight of what’s most important.
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The only people I know who still write letters, actually letters, are camp people. It is fast becoming a dying tradition but think about the great joy that comes from opening your mailbox to find a letter from a friend. Here is some more perspective on this lost art-

Alive and Well: The Case for the Camp Letter

Enjoy!

-Lady Sarena

Giving Tuesday is a new-er internet based initiative, but the thoughts of philanthropy are long held in the Fleur de Lis community.  This season of thanks-giving and holidays reminds us how blessed we are to be part of the Fleur de Lis community and today, Giving Tuesday, is an internet celebration of philanthropy to continue to offer generations of women our beloved Fleur de Lis Camp for girls.  Here are a few more thoughts on why some of our Corporation members choose to annually donate to the Friends of Fleur de Lis.
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For those of you who don’t know, there was a meteor shower last night. From 10:00 pm to 4:00 am, hundreds of shooting stars flew across the sky while most of us slept. I have always loved stargazing and when I was younger, meteor showers counted as one of the few excuses for my brother and I to stay up past bedtime, even on a school night.
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Becoming a camp counselor was one of the best and arguably least thought out decisions I have ever made in my life. And for such a hastily made choice, it has had one of the greatest impacts of anything I have ever done. It is something I find myself thinking about quite a lot but this article begs the questions- what impact has my time at camp left on others?

From Camper to Counselor: What Footprint will You leave?

Enjoy!

-Lady Sarena

We know that camp makes a difference for a child but we are not always the best at articulating what that difference is. Here is an excellent perspective on it-

Imagine Respect, Inspire Resilience, Impact Responsibility

Enjoy!

-Lady Sarena

As some of you may or may not know, I recently finished a book about Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple and the man responsible for creating the iPhones that many of us left at home for the summer. Along with creating the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod, the Macbook, etc., Jobs was most famous in the tech world for combining art and technology at the simplest form, making Apple products easy and fun to use. This is not a sales pitch for Apple, I swear.
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As the clock chimes towards midnight of Halloween and the early registration period for the 2016 turns into a pumpkin, all our thoughts start turning to the next holiday we celebrate.  Thanksgiving…and Lady Sarah Federman has done a great job of starting the giving of thanks…
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