Future Families
Testimonials
We heard about Baco from our friends after we told them that our son was unhappy at the camp he’d gone to for six years. At the age of 13, he switched camps. It was the best thing we ever did. He got on the bus knowing no one. He looked crestfallen, but we knew that if there was any place in the world to be able to make this jump at this age, Baco was the place.
Two days after he arrived, we finally talked to him and he said those first days were the best two days of his camping experience, ever. Now, he talks to his camp friends all the time. He says he’s a Baco boy for life; he’s upset he didn’t start earlier.
Lisa & Jeffrey Singer, Baco Parents
Camps Baco and Che-Na-Wah are all about the kids. You don’t need to worry as a parent that you’re not there. We had friends who were alumni who raved about the camps. When my kids first visited, my son was seven and my daughter was six and they both announced they wanted to stay! Their first summer was amazing thanks to Barbara and Bob and the staff. They have the right kind of people on staff who are tuned into to who the campers really are. They know children and how to run a camp. This summer will be their fifth.
The camps aren’t fancy. There’s no rocketry, or computers or videogames. That’s not what’s important. The skills you need to know as adults are the skills my children are learning here: how to work with other people, be kind to other people, be busy without technology. Part of growing up is figuring it all out and having time to think and Camps Baco and Che-Na-Wah gives campers that time.
Their lives at home are so stressful. Baco and Che-Na-Wah are where they can step back and enjoy life for what it is, which is huge. I don’t think my daughter will ever want to leave!
Lisa & Michael Greenberg, Baco & CNW Parents
We wanted our kids to go to a campy camp. We took one look at the lake; we talked to the campers and said “this is it.” At these camps, the kids can walk away from the pressure of school and living in our communities and just be themselves. It’s relaxed enough that they can wear their pajamas all day, and it’s okay.
My son loves sports, he loves that at camp he can rise to the top. He looks to the older kids as mentors. He loves everything about camp — his friends, the camaraderie, camp spirit. At Che-Na-Wah, my daughter has thrived in the theater program and became a better swimmer. To her, it’s all about the friends, she loves being a part of the group.
Other people whose kids are older are starting to move on from camps to teen tours and community service projects they tell me that they wish their kids loved their camp the way my kids love Baco and Che-Na-Wah. My son says he wants to be a counselor. We can’t believe how lucky we are to have found these camps for them.
Jackie & Evan Glassman, Baco & CNW Parents
We’d never heard of Camp Baco until it was recommended to us. We felt right away that it tells a lot about a camp if the counselors are former campers, and it seems as if almost every counselor went to Baco. The camp traditions and culture are naturally passed along and you feel it everywhere you go. When we went to visit, we met the nicest group of boys, who left us feeling: “wow” this is a special place. We saw the respect that everyone has for one another.
Our big concern was that our son is an academic kid. Sports aren’t a priority for him. He came home his first summer with four trophies! He has made so many wonderful friends and really loves waterskiing and the lake activities.
There is a perception that a lot of campers have parents and even grandparents who went to camp; and as a “new” parent, we find that to be comforting. There is something about a proven experience for generations and generations that is telling. It’s not about the stuff, it’s about good, high quality people fostering high quality kids and encouraging them to grow up in a loving way, who wouldn’t want their children to become a part of that tradition?
Laurie & Russell Levitt, Baco Parents
Neither my wife nor I ever went to camp; we live in the city and we wanted our two girls to have a down-to-earth camp experience that was relaxed, warm and not too big. We found Che-Na-Wah on a website that rated camps and when we visited, there was everything we had hoped for here. Our girls love it.
A lot of camps are rigid and have a lot of rules, but Che-Na-Wah feels more flexible and relaxed. The girls have their schedules but they also have some choice in what they like to do and we appreciate that.
We appreciate that Che-Na-Wah girls are so friendly; my daughters have been getting together all winter long for sleepovers with all the girls in the bunk. It makes them even more excited for the summer!
Marla & Vladymer Shneyder, CNW Parents