The Trail’s End staff recruiting season is in full swing. We have spent the past few months attending domestic and international staffing fairs with one goal in mind – to find the best role models, mentors, coaches and counselors to help create the 2015 Trail’s End Experience for our campers.
Sara recently traveled to England, Scotland, Budapest, Prague and a number of US colleges. With the help of some TEC alumni and current staff members, we were able to hire many talented college students. Throughout March, April and May we will be continuing our search at universities in the US, Canada and overseas.
In order to get a sense of what the TEC Experience is all about, we caught up with current staff member, Marielle Berger. She has been a part of our community for the past 16 summers.
Marielle Berger
Nickname: Mar
Favorite Sports Team: Yankees
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Movie:
The Parent Trap
Favorite Quote: “You must always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”–Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh
It is hard to believe that in 16 Saturdays I will once again be back at the most amazing place in the world. Trail’s End Camp has been my home away from home ever since I was 9 years old. I began this incredible experience as an Upper Buddie in 2000. My camper years were magical and helped me grow to be the person I am today. After 8 summers as a camper, there wasn’t even a question whether or not I would be returning to Trail’s End as a staff member.
As I am writing this, so many crazy camp memories are on my mind. One of my favorites is when we would spend Free Play practicing for the Talent Show – we would pick out matching outfits to wear and our counselors even dressed up with us. Practicing for Sing is another one of my favorite memories, especially when I was a Trinity and we won Sing for the first time! Square Dancing with Lou and Sue Flego has always been one of the best nights of camp – dressing up in all different costumes with my square was fun and exciting. I remember going on my first roller coaster in Hershey Park when I was in the Middies, and hiking and going on the Delaware River when I was a Deb.
When I entered Varsity, camp changed for me in a way that I never would have imagined. My connection to TEC became even greater. Being a leader for all of camp during College Day and Olympics is something I will never forget. I have to say that my final camper summer, my LT year, was my favorite summer of all. My friendships grew tighter as we were inseparable traveling to college campuses and to Utah. The 10-day Western Adventure was truly an experience of a lifetime. Living on a river with my best friends and experiencing a part of the country that none of us had ever been to, was the perfect way to end my 8 years as a camper.
While many of my friends ended their TEC days after our LT summer, I never wanted to leave Beach Lake and was determined to give back to future campers all those great things that Trail’s End had taught me. In 2009, I was hired as a counselor for the Upper Buddies. It is hard to believe that the campers from my very first summer will now be Second Years in Varsity! After 3 summers working with the Upper and Lower Buddies, I took on the role of Tour Director. Showing people from the outside world the amazing place that so many of us call home for two months of the year is something that I take great pride in and I love to do. After a summer as Tour Director, I was offered the opportunity to be a Group Leader for the Upper Buddies. As an young educator, I have learned so much from this position and I absolutely love being the person that helps get our new campers started on their TEC journey. It is so gratifying supporting them as they become part of our camp family. I will forever remember the feeling I had when Marc awarded me a Community Service Award during Friday night services. As I received the award and then looked up, all of my campers from the past couple of summers came running down the hill to congratulate me. Everyone at Trail’s End is truly my family.
As I enter my 8th summer as a staff member, this summer once again brings about a new and exciting change for me as I will be Assistant Girls’ Head Counselor as well as Group Leader for the Buddies. I am overly excited to be working even more closely with Steph Fineman, the Girls’ Head Counselor, and Lindsay Bernstein, as my assistant Group Leader. I can’t wait to be in this new role, and to continue working with the campers on girls’ campus. My love for TEC grows each year, and I look forward to spending the summer of 2015 with all of you!
Every fall, we count down the days till our camp family is able to get together for our annual TEC Bowling Reunions, and this year was no different.
The weekend started off on Saturday as we spent the afternoon with our current 6th – 11th graders at Bowlmor. It was a great reunion for our older campers as they hung out with their friends, had pizza & sliders and premiered our 2014 video yearbook. We loved being able to get back to that camp feeling that we have been missing all fall. It was also so much fun to watch everyone reconnect and to see how excited they were to see some of their favorite staff members. TEC Group Leaders and Head Counselors flew in from all over the US to spend the weekend with their summer family.
On Sunday, it was our 1st – 5th grade campers’ turn to reunite and make some new friends during their bowling get-togethers at Syosset Lanes. The turnout was awesome and we were so happy to see how welcoming our returning campers were to the many 1st time Trail’s Enders. After some bowling and icebreakers, the reunions ended with Marc handing out raffle prizes to the lucky winners which included a golf cart ride for your bunk, the counselors having to do clean up, bunk milkshake parties and pizza parties for the entire group, to name a few.
TENNIS COURT RENOVATIONS – Our tennis court facility will be getting a full facelift. We will have 7 brand new tennis courts and 3 Quickstart training courts for our youngest campers. We are excited to see the courts in action come June!
campers bringing less “stuff” to camp and will create more room in the bunks!
Spring is one of the most exciting times of the year for our 1st time campers. By this time, they have started to buy their camp clothes, have had playdates with potential bunkmates and have spent hours talking about the summer of 2014. We have even heard that some campers start off each day by putting another X on a countdown calendar.
a chance to spend the day with our 1st time campers at our Annual Spring Fling. The day was perfect and helped to build the comfort and confidence needed to succeed during their first summer. While the campers were exploring Trail’s End, Marc, Stan and Ryan ran a new parent workshop that answered many of the last minute questions. We then had a Trail’s End barbeque complete with our famous TEC chocolate chip cookies.
Once we finished lunch, it was time to play camp. Campers got a glimpse as to what’s in store for them this summer as they participated in some of our favorite camp activities including flag football, gymnastics, wiffle ball, and basketball. The Gaga pits and Kan Jam courts were open for the first time and needless to say, they are going to be a HUGE hit this summer.
In the second part of the two part Trailblazer series you will meet Remy, Ben, Jordan and Teddy. They will explain what it means to be a part of Trail’s End to them and how camp and their friendships have shaped who they are today.
Name: Ben Bass
Name: Brett Finkelstein
