Tripp Lake Camp is a wonderful all girls’ camp located in the pines of Poland, Maine and last summer we were adopted into their family. It all began last June; we received a touching email from the director at Tripp Lake Camp telling us that the girls had created a fundraising campaign and chose The Tutu Project/Carey Foundation as beneficiaries. She extended an invitation to visit and learn more about the project. At the camp, there are 300 campers ranging in ages from 7 to 16. The director had tutu’s made for EVERY camper and took a photo in which they formed an outline of a heart. The photograph was then printed as a poster and sold to friends and families to raise funds. When we arrived they re-created the heart and had Bob and I stand in the middle for another photograph. Can you imagine seeing all of these girls in tutu’s?
This summer we were able to visit again. Although the trip was quick, we were swept up in their warmth and hospitality. They lent us a golf cart to explore the camp for a possible tutu photograph and along the way we stopped to chat with the girls as they played softball, swam or just enjoyed the sunshine, this was a highlight of the trip.
The camp was founded in 1911 an, is rich with tradition and with only a few remaining days left to their summer but they shared a rather special event. It’s called “Sing Song”. A loose translation is a passing of the torch to those that will become the next years leaders. It was a late night for the youngest campers and was so sweet to watch them struggle to stay awake, but they did!
Once again, they held a fundraiser on our behalf. We were so touched by their generosity and look forward to seeing them this winter at their annual reunion.
