Camp Matoaka

Kate

I remember on my first year of camp, I didn’t know anyone. All the queens were cheering and screaming. I did not know where i was. Little did i know that this place would be my second home. I have made a lot of memories with my summer sisters. Every year i meet new people. I dress up in pink and purple, and get into the spirit,and college league. Cheering at dinner, and at our bunks. Doing many activities! i love this place so much, that i would do anything to go there every day.<3

Robyn

I will never forget the first time my husband and I attended visiting day. We had sent our daughters to Camp Matoaka sight unseen. We had met with Jason and a friend’s daughter already attended camp there so we did not have the need to visit until visiting day. We had heard the stories, horror stories, of visiting day at other camps in other states. We heard about the getting on line at the crack of dawn and the rush of people so they would be first to see their child, first to make their stake at an area for their family, if a story was out there we heard it. Visiting Day at Camp Matoaka was nothing like we had heard visiting day to be at Non-Maine camps was. It was organized and special. No crazy parents running. We casually walked to camp line and awaited our daughters emergence from the dining hall. Then they were there. My beautiful girls full of tears in their eyes and huge smiles that proved what we so hoped to see. We made the right decision. Camp in Maine was like no where else. Camp Matoaka was their summer home. The day was filled with activities, amazing food, and an opportunity to leave campus. Not that we were aching to leave. The counselors were so eager to tell us how amazing our girls were doing and my husband and I, who never had the desire to go to sleep away ourselves, were running to register our girls for the next summer. The skills they have learned, the new hobbies they enjoy, the positive gains they have made are endless. We count the days, as they do, until they leave. Not because we are excited for them to leave us but for the reason that the experience they indulge in is not like anything we can provide them at home. The true joy of being at camp is worth every bit of the 7 weeks we are not with them. I mean it when I say “ Sleep away camp for our girls was not what we ever planned on doing”, but at this time I can not imagine them anywhere but in camp at Matoaka in Maine.

Tracy

As a parent, seeing your child try new things everyday all summer long is priceless. Receiving letters from our daughter, telling us how happy she is and how excited she is for the next day. Her wolrd is Camp Matoaka 365 days of the year.

Torrie

My daughter went to Camp Matoaka without knowing another camper. She watched the website and fell in love with the many different activities like water skiing, rock wall climbing, ropes courses and sewing. Since being at camp, she has made MANY friends from all over the US and different countries. It was a great place for her to try new things and make new friends.

Steph

I spent seven fabulous summers at camp in Maine as a kid, and it so amazing to share with my daughters as they now attend Camp Matoaka as second-generation campers. The pink bunks are the same, and all the love and Matoaka Magic is the same! It warms my heart to hear my 8-year-old talk about her “home away from home”, as I have thought of Matoaka since my first summer as a 10 year old!

Mandy

Camp Matoaka is truly a remarkable camp. No words can describe how appreciative that i was able to attend such an amazing place. I started going to camp when i was 8 and loved every moment of it. The friendships you make are ones that last forever. I started camp in bunk 8 and went through my queen summer with my summer sisters and best friends. My camp sisters are there for me at any time and I wouldn’t have been able to go through the pain of not being able to go back to camp without them. I still talk to all 60 of my queen sister everyday and they are there whenever i need anything at all. Camp Matoaka is my home away from home, my second home, and where i met all my summer sisters. Camp Matoaka has become a part of me and not being able to return after my queen summer was the worst feeling in the world. I have a bulletin board hanging in room filled with camp pictures, friendship bracelets, awards and the camp calendar from 2011 (my queen summer) and my crowns placed on their own special shelf. I dream of going back to camp every day because nothing is like it. Camp Matoaka is heaven on earth and has made me who i am today. Yes, saying bye to being a camper at the most amazing place on earth was devastating, but I am so thankful to have spent as much time as possible at Camp Matoaka. It will always be a part of me and I am counting down the days until I can become a counselor. Only 785 days left until i return home.