Be Our Guest: Preparing for Visiting Day at Maine Camps!

When your child is off having the summer of their life at camp in Maine, it’s only fair that you get to see them in action! Luckily, many Maine Camp Experience (MCE) camps have a designated Visiting Day or Visiting Day Weekend – which for most camps will either be this past weekend or the upcoming weekend – so parents, grandparents and relatives have a great excuse to head up to “Vacationland” and spend a day at a beautiful Maine camp. Of course, hosting a Visiting Day at camp is like throwing any good party, and there’s plenty of prep work to be done to ensure the day or weekend is a success. In the week leading up to Visiting Day, campers will oftentimes have an extra period or two to bunk order their cabins so they are in tip-top shape when mom and dad arrive. Many camps, including the one I work at, will also have a camp-wide trash pick-up during the course of this week to find any litter that has made its way onto the lawns. Of course, campers clean their cabins regularly at camp – and there certainly isn’t trash lying around on a daily basis –  however, there’s a different level of cleanliness expected when visitors are on the way, and campers and counselors put in extra time to ensure camp looks its best when everyone arrives. And camp isn’t the only thing that gets a good cleaning before Visiting Day – over the course of this week, the campers will also get cleaned up so they look their best when mom and dad arrive. Campers will shower and scrub, knots will be brushed out of hair, and fingernails and toenails will be clipped in anticipation of the big day. Once again, it’s important to note that all of these steps are taken regularly throughout a summer at camp (as the Program Director I am constantly assigning shower periods, especially for our youngest campers), and counselors and camp staff are always on the ball to ensure proper hygiene. But there is a different standard when mom and dad will be in town, and so campers do a little bit extra to make sure they look their nicest on the big day. There are also several logistical considerations that need to be taken into account before Visiting Day arrives. At our camp, the kitchen staff serves about triple the amount of people as they would on a regular camp day, so they work tirelessly throughout the week to ensure this is possible – and the delicious fried chicken, crumbling corn muffins, and incredible dessert presentations are a testament to their success each summer. Additionally, camps will oftentimes create impromptu parking lots to accommodate the extra Visiting Day traffic (and I always know Visiting Day is on the horizon when it’s time to move my car to create extra space). Additionally, at my MCE camp, we also have a special schedule for Visiting Day that needs to be planned in advance. There are a few staples of Visiting Day weekend that remain constant from summer to summer – for example, our second oldest campers put on a musical revue for parents, and there are always a number of major Color War team games to be played. However, outside of these, campers will choose what activities they want to attend with their families, and each child will receive a customized schedule for the weekend to ensure they are able to maximize their time with loved ones. There’s nothing quite like punctuating an incredible summer at camp by spending a day with your family and loved ones. But to throw a great Visiting Day, there’s plenty of work to be done. Whether you’ve just experienced an unforgettable Maine Visiting Day, or you’ll be coming up to camp this weekend, MCE camps take pride in being great hosts. After all, we have the best guests you could ask for! — Maine Camp Experience Resources & Tools

You can share your own Maine camps memories & expressions of gratitude on our Memories of Camp section of our  website.

Looking for the perfect Maine camp for your child?  Try out our helpful tool where you can select a camp by choosing: type of camp (girls, boys or coed) and session length (1-8 weeks).  It helps to narrow down a few camps to a manageable list that includes rates.  Then you can research these camps in more depth.

Next, be sure to  to discuss these camps as well as for free, year-round advice and assistance on choosing a great Maine summer camp for your child.