Testimonials

It is no exaggeration to say that Fleur de Lis has transformed my daughter. FdL has given her so many skills -- independence, responsibility, and confidence for sure, but also life skills like making new friends and branching out and trying new activities (and foods!) that are not available at home.  She's learned that someone you might not have loved last summer may have become someone you adore now, and that you can have lots of wonderful friends, even if you've found a soul mate and best friend.

Parent of a Mid Camper 

I'm happy that my daughter has made friends from other states and from as far away as Venezuela. It has taught her that she can meet people from different places and with different experiences and make great friends.

Parent of a Junior Camper

I'm glad that camp has inspection and chores, and that my daughter has learned to be responsible for herself, her cabin and for camp.

Parent of a Junior Camper

I am an alumna of Fleur de Lis camp and if I could go back to anything in my childhood, I wish I could go back to camp. It is because of these feelings that prompted me to send my daughter. She has these same feelings for FDL, as I knew she would, and in a way I got my wish, I can go back, through her. It is an amazing experience that stays with you for life!

Parent of a Junior Camper

Camp has been the place in the summer to play and be silly and laugh until I cannot breathe, but it is also the place I go in the summer to grow up. It is at camp where I have learned to make friends, keep friends, and be a good friend. I am confident and proud and have learned to embrace myself. I have learned to live with others and appreciate them.

Staff Member who started at FdL at age 11

I would be a completely different person without camp. It has taught me how to live, make friends, help others, and be the best that I can be.

Member of the Counselor-in-Training Program, age 16

I am able to connect with my camp friends on a different level than I can at home. Fleur de Lis has mostly given me a feeling of self confidence and a second family.

Staff Member who started at FdL at age 12

Camp has made me more mature. It has made me value things at home and when I am having a rough time at home, it is my camp friends I call. It has given me a real community.

Member of the CT Program who started at FdL at 9 years old

I wanted my daughter to have an escape from the tech-trappings, academic and peer pressure.  She loved the simplicity that FDL offers.  She returned home more confident, relaxed and refreshed from time with new friends, in the beautiful surroundings of FDL.  Camp provided her with opportunites to try activities that normally aren't available to her.  FDL is like a throw-back to summers from days-gone-bye.  The emphasis is on acceptance, just being who you are.  FDL is a special place that my daughter looks forward to returning to each summer.

Parent of a Senior camper, age 14

It has taught me how to rely on myself, be comfortable in my own skin, all while living away from home.

Senior Camper, age 14

Camp makes me feel outgoing, friendly, responsible, independent, and all around happy. Camp has showed me that everyone is different and that it does not matter what you wear or look like. Everybody at camp likes you for who you are. It makes me feel good about myself, open to try new things, and meet new people.

Mid Camper

Camp has that special smell and pretty look. The games we play and the things we do from ping pong to making a new friend. Fleur de Lis is the place for me!

Junior Camper, age 9

Fleur de Lis gives me the opportunity to break out of the cliques in school. FdL friendships are not made of looks or popularity, but because of values and personality. Camp makes you feel safe and valued.

Senior Camper

Camp brings out the little kid in me!

Mid Camper, age 12

There are more activities than at home. I feel I have more manners when I go home. Camp made me realize you can have more than a few good friends.

Junior Camper, age 10

At Fleur de Lis you get to make friends from all over the world. You get to try things you would never do at home. It’s a place to try new things and meet people different than yourself.

Mid Camper, age 11

FdL has taught me to appreciate nature.  I have met so many interesting people from around the country.

Junior Camper, age 8

Since I was 8 years old, FdL has given me a safe nurturing place to spend my summers. It has taught me the value of independence, individuality, and friendship. As a staff member it has given me the opportunity to pass this knowledge on to younger girls in this special environment for them to learn that cannot be taught in the same way by parents or in school.

Staff Member

As an alumnae, witnessing my daughters' love for Fleur de Lis is quite special. Both girls cherish their summers at camp, and I love how their experiences are quite different, yet meaningful for both. My older daughter is more into water sports and riflery while my younger one enjoys ceramics, arts and crafts and archery. Both girls, however, have gained self-confidence and made fabulous friendships that will last long beyond their childhoods.

Mother of a Sr. & Mid camper

Camp has taught me the true meaning of teamwork and imagination. The friends I made here in the Junior Field when I was 8 continue to be my best friends today.

Staff Member

My daughter attended camp for the first time at 13 years old. At the end of her stay she was bubbling with funny stories, raved about the counselors.  She was so proud with all of her achievements and was especially excited how much she improved in swimming. She needed to be at FdL in a safe and comfortable setting where she could explore new and challenging things.

Parent of a Mid Camper

My daughter has thoroughly enjoyed her camp experience.  She has made, what I expect to be, lifelong friends with a couple of girls.  They have maintained their friendships through the school year and I am confident that they will endure.  Through FDL, my daughter has ventured out of her comfort zone and experienced new things such as riflery and expanding her culinary palate!

Thanks again for providing a great home away from home!

Father of a Mid Camper, age 12

Fleur de Lis Camp has held an important place in my family for over 70 years.   It started with my mother who attended with her sister during World War II.   Her stories of Fleur de Lis camp are family lore and were told to me as I grew up and was finally old enough to attend.  I relished my summers at camp.  Camp was a place where I could be exactly who I wanted to be.   I was a water bug and could be found at the lake for almost every period during the day – sailing, swimming, boarding, rowing, waterskiing.  Camp was my summer home and I thoroughly enjoyed the eight years I spent there.   As I grew up and started my own family I hoped that my daughter would be able to attend Fleur de Lis.   My daughter started camp when she was eight years old, and I was apprehensive (more than she was) – would she fit in, would she remember to take her allergy medicine, could she keep her bed made, would she make friends?  I heard little the first two weeks she was at camp.  As I drove into camp on that first visiting day and saw her smile and her standing there surrounded by all of her new friends I knew she was in the right place.  As we talked that afternoon I realized that in the 35 years since I had been there as a camper,  camp had changed very little.   In today’s over achieving lifestyle, Fleur de Lis gives our daughters the chance to slow down, to enjoy nature and the outdoors, to do silly things and to simply be a girl.   The friendships that are made will last a lifetime.  And, in today’s cyber society It’s nice to have them write you a real letter – even if it’s shorter than you would like because they are having so much fun they don’t want to stop and write.  You will notice that they come home a different person.  They may make their bed without asking, they may do “dish” or “table” without as much complaining, but it’s the self confidence that comes from being away from home and learning to live independently with others who they may not have known before opening day which really shines through.    

Alumna & current parent of a Mid Camper