What’s New Around Camp Speers for Summer 2025

Who’s ready for summer 2025? Our team at camp has been working on exciting upgrades around camp and training themselves for the summer ahead. Find out everything you and your camper should be looking forward to!

 

Camp Speers Facilities Upgrades

Waterfront: Get ready to slide into another summer of fun at Speers! Two beautiful waterfronts on our 42-acre Lake Nichecronk are utilized by all campers for various activities like swimming, watersports, sandcastle building, ecological pond study, and more.

We are so excited to be adding an Aquaglide Summit Express Slide to our waterfront activities. At just over 12 feet tall, this slide features both a zero entry slide and a cave below that is great for hanging out on the water. This lake toy can hold up to 12 campers at a time and is perfect for cabin time fun!

Additionally, we are thrilled to be adding 3 new sunfish sailboats to our fleet, along with new boat accessories, tillers and daggerboards.

Sailing is a camper favorite at Speers and we are grateful to be able to increase the program capacity. This wonderful upgrade to our fleet was made possible through a very generous donor.

Slingshot range: Come launch into summer with us! This summer we are so excited to introduce a new program area, the slingshot range.

Built by our facilities team, Dan and Rob, this program utilizes formerly retired program spaces in both Speers and Eljabar village and will engage campers by combining fast paced fun with fundamentals of archery and other target sports: safety, focus, stability, patience, and consistency. We are currently developing games and gathering materials for this new activity!

New food service: New to the Camp Speers kitchen, please welcome, Food and Beverage Associates! FBA was founded in 1995 by Frank Ferrara, with the objective to help clients achieve their goals in taking care of and providing food service of the highest standard. The FBA team takes pride in their mission, providing healthy, well-balanced, and quality food service to their clients. Chefs have already begun the process of getting acclimated to our kitchens and have provided excellent service to the groups Speers has hosted this spring.

Camp Staff Training and Development

Our work goes beyond the summer, and there are many people who help make camp not only possible, but the best it can be. Our community events, open houses, fundraisers, volunteer days, outdoor education, and after-school adventure club are run by our year-round team and supported by our extensive camp family.

Tri-state: In March, members of the leadership team had the opportunity to attend the American Camp Association (ACA) Tri-State Camp Conference in Atlantic City, NJ. We divided and conquered the numerous sessions offered, each choosing those that spoke to us personally and aligned well with our program needs and goals. Sessions included topics of switching up staff training, helping staff and campers navigate conflict, social emotional skills, the importance of belonging, and accountability conversations. The conference was an amazing opportunity for learning and collaborating with other camp and youth development professionals from all over the country.