Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

This technically isn`t a "green" post, but it has a natural angle and didn`t fit anywhere else so I put it in the Green forum.

The Boston Globe published an article yesterday about how traditional summer camps are making a comeback. What I found most fascinating was the brief history of the "nature based" summer camp:

• the societal changes that originated the concept (children becoming disconnected from nature),
• societal changes that caused the nature centric summer camp to dwindle (technology),
• and new concerns (not so different than the old concerns) that are bringing them back, with technology as an additional driver.

I have a friend who is writing a business plan for a summer camp.  He`s going to love this article.  I thought that I would  post it here in case somebody else was too...

Interesting.  Being a newspaper article not in the business section, it had a lot of nature-y fluff about kids camping.  Nothing wrong with that (made me nostalgic) but I`m more curious about the revival of summer camps than the distant call of loons across a still Maine lake.

Maybe I should open a CampSteve summer camp.  Hahahaha!  :)

Don`t laugh, Steve....you`d be a natural! LOL!! ....hey...I made a pun! :-)

No really, you`ve already got all that going with the Steve-mobile, and you clearly have a passion for the wilderness. Only major question is whether or not you can swim in that hat? Better yet....could you get all the kids wearing a copy of that hat while they`re swimming and doing other nature stuff?
 

Yeah, well, I`m really not laughing.  Believe me, I`ve got my concept drawings for the campgrounds of tomorrow.

But you`re on to something with my hats.  All campers should wear classy hats.  It would make camping so much more fun!

Thats pretty cool....

I think a return to the summer camp is GREAT.

And Steve ... I`d totally send my kid to CampSteve in CO when she`s older. What fun!

Thanks for the link. I`m going to send it to my mom. She`s currently looking for the "next thing" when she retires in a few years. I think she should start a mountain biking camp!

Nikole/Steve

Anybody who is doing any business planning in this area should also read the book Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv.

Here is a video that provides a great overview:

http://www.klru.org/austinnow/archives/louv/index.asp

 

 

I just sent my 10 yr old daughter to a summer camp (her second summer there) that is operated by the Episcopal Diocese of our state. My daughter was so excited to go she was packed a full day in advance!

What I find really neat is this is the same camp my wife and her sisters went to every summer as kids. All my nieces and nephews are also going!

So from my point of view I think summer camps are great and could be an opportunity.


-------------------------

Steven Lewis
------------
“Do or do not... there is no try.” - Yoda