Story for the Week
Anyone of a certain age probably knows this song from the movie Meatballs: “We are the CITs, so pity us. The kids are brats. The food is hideous. We’re gonna smoke and drink and fool around. We’re Northstar CITs!” The backdrop of the movie is a weeks-long summer camp, just like The Parent Trap, the first Friday the 13th, Little Darlings, and probably a whole host of others.
If you’re a camp kid, these movies probably bring back some memories. If you’re not a camp kid…well, you really missed out. I never went to an all-summer camp, but I did spend a week at church camp every year from 4th grade until after high school. I definitely did my time as a counselor-in-training, and once I finished college, I went back as a counselor and eventually as a director.
My camp was Tower Hill Camp in Sawyer, Michigan. I could walk around the paths in the dark much more easily than with a flashlight. (Flashlights create shadows.) Gammon Hall was for the directors and staff, and it’s also where we had the canteen in the basement and a swing on the porch. The dining hall is straight across from Gammon. Marshall Hall used to have a stage where we all gathered and had skit night. There was also the fireplace room…because it had a fireplace.
The A-frames were where the youngest kids stayed. Middle schoolers bunked in The Pines cabins past the cottages that families rented out during the summer. The Valley housed the high school kids. And we all met at the cross on the hill for worship and evening vespers. The sand blast was well past The Pines, and it’s where the counselors gathered in the evenings the weekend before camp started to fortify ourselves for the week ahead. There were never adult beverages involved. 🫣🤥🤫
Every day, we would walk to the beach. You could go through the creek or along the path. We all got to the same place eventually. And there would be at least one hike to the top of Mount Baldy at Warren Dunes.
It’s changed a lot over the years. The cottages have been updated. There are larger retreat centers. They added benches around the cross, which my daughter and niece informed me looked like a cult gathering place when we rented a cottage there a few years ago. I wanted to take them walking around camp the evening we arrived. It was dark. They vehemently said no. 🤣
Tower Hill Camp is, for me, a happy place (Where’s Your Happy Place?). I feel at peace there. And I’ve made a lot of great friends there. My Facebook friends list includes more than 10 people I would not have met were it not for Tower Hill. Another 30 or so I knew before going, and Tower Hill solidified those friendships. These are people who I will share memories with forever.
Climbing Mount Baldy. Singing Father Porpoise Head instead of Father Abraham. One of the campers (who eventually became a counselor) who could not for the life of him get past singing “row row your boat” instead of “row row row your boat.” Shouting back at Reverend Jim, “I am somebody!” and remembering that we are not avocado pits. Cabin inspections. Camp dances. Guided meditations. Being next to the dinner bell when the kitchen staff yelled out to ring the bell. Having to sing if you were late for dinner. Making a slip and slide down the hill next to Gammon Hall. Staff versus camper softball and volleyball games. Signing the rafters in The Pines and The Valley. Carrying someone back from the beach when he blew out his knee. Having to tell a joke before dinner if you got caught with the washer in your pocket. Comforting homesick kids. Sunsets and bonfires at the beach.
And so many more core memories.
I’m a camp kid, specifically a Tower Hill Camp kid. No matter how old I get, I will always be a camp kid. 💖
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐½
3.5 Stars for Until Next Summer by Ali Brady
447 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: July 9, 2024
Purchased on Amazon.
Publisher’s Description
Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director.
When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.
The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?
************
Main Characters:
- Jessie Pederson – year-round head camp director of Camp Chickawah where she used to spend every summer as a child with then best friend Hillary, eventually became a counselor-in-training (CIT), had a falling out when Hillary decided not to come back as a CIT, was the assistant camp director under the previous owners until they retired
- Hillary Goldberg – lives in Chicago, works as an independent consultant helping to turn around failing businesses, opted not to become a CIT at Camp Chickawah the summer she had an opportunity for an internship that her father suggested was more important, signed on to run arts and crafts for the camp for the summer
- Dot – year-round assistant camp director of Camp Chickawah, has worked at the camp since Jessie and Hillary were campers
- Luke Duncan – a successful novelist, was a counselor the first year Jessie was a CIT, rented a cabin for the summer to finish writing a book
- Cooper – a classically trained chef who had been working in Boston, was in the same year at camp as Jessie and Hillary, signed on to cook for the camp for the summer
- Zoey and Zac – newlyweds, Zoey was a CIT during Jessie’s first couple of years as assistant director, signed on to run the waterfront for the camp for the summer
- Mr. Billy – the camp groundskeeper, typically spends his winters in Florida
If you’re a camp kid, you will probably enjoy this book. Heck, if you’re not a camp kid, you’ll probably enjoy it too.
Set at the fictional Camp Chickawah, about two hours north of Minneapolis, the story centers around the friendship of Jessie and Hillary. The two girls met one summer as kids at the eight-week camp and became best friends. Both of them looked forward to spending every summer together. When Hillary opted to accept an internship the summer they were supposed to be counselors-in-training together, however, Jessie never got over it and their friendship fell apart.
The present day story focuses on what is expected to be the final summer. The camp owners recently passed away and left the camp to their son and daughter, who never felt emotionally attached to the camp like Jessie. When they tell Jessie they’re planning to sell the property to a developer because profits have been down, Jessie and Dot come up with the idea to make the last summer one of nostalgia. Instead of running an eight-week camp for kids, they decide to run eight one-week camps for adults who have been campers over the years.
Based on the character descriptions, I think you can see where this is going. Hillary’s full-time job is helping businesses that are failing. Jessie has never felt at home anywhere but Camp Chickawah. Of course they need to save the camp from being sold, and this book has to get us there.
Real-life besties Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey (Ali Brady) used their own camp experiences as a backdrop for this, so anyone who has been to summer camp will feel the nostalgia with this one. Swim tests, s’mores, singing around a campfire, finding a place to sit in the dining hall, arts and crafts, skit night…this story really has all of the elements of camp life. You will find yourself smiling.
It also brings a little bit hotter of a romance element than normal camp obviously. The book takes us through week after week of adult shenanigans, and there is definitely alcohol and sex involved.
I loved the mix of characters and seeing them (eventually) bring out the best in each other. It felt like it took a while to get there. Jessie is holding a 20-year grudge, and Hillary’s insecurity gnaws at you. Yes, I know people avoid conflict in real life and things can often be resolved if they would just talk to one another, but there were times when Jessie was just mean. To be honest, she felt like a bit of a bully.
A lot of the time, it seemed like all they were doing was complaining and thinking horribly about themselves and each other. Hillary thinks to herself at one point “I’m so boring. I’ll probably put him to sleep.” This is a smart, successful woman. It takes a lot of confidence to be a successful independent consultant, so I had a really hard time reconciling the negative self-talk.
All in all, this was a nice look back to my own summer camp days. Despite the over-the-top conflict, I would still recommend this. Did they save the camp? I think you probably already know the answer to that. How did they save the camp? I’m not going to tell you that because the fun of getting to the end of the story is in the journey. 😉
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