“My dad went to Camp Scatico in Elizaville, NY in the 1940s and ’50s. I went from 1970-1974. My brother and sister also went to Scatico. My sister Susan worked there as a counselor in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and again as a girls’ athletic director while her three kids attended. My oldest child, Daniel, attended Scatico for 11 summers as a camper and counselor. My daughter, Lulu, has been there for seven summers with last year being her CIT (counselor-in-training) summer. Next summer, she’ll be a junior counselor. My youngest, Charlie, is entering his seventh and last summer as a camper.
As an only child [for most of his life], we felt like Scatico would enable Daniel to have a special connection with his cousins, who were also campers. Also, to have pure fun for seven weeks, build lifelong friendships with the boys in his division and learn how to get along with everybody. When I dropped Daniel off for his first summer, his division leader was the son of my counselor, which I loved. Today, Daniel’s camp friends are among his closest, and he’s told us that sending him to camp was the greatest gift we could’ve ever given him.
Lulu and Charlie are 10-11 years younger than Daniel respectively, and Daniel didn’t live with us full time. Scatico enabled them to build their own sibling relationship that isn’t managed by us. Daniel was a counselor when Lulu and Charlie started, and I love that they have a shared camp experience. When Lulu was a camper, one of her counselors was the daughter of a former bunkmate of mine and a lifelong friend. Charlie’s counselors were Daniel’s campers.
Their friends are their favorite parts and camp is their happy place. They also love the legacy connection—seeing family names on plaques and pictures on walls at camp.
I can observe with all my kids that their relationships with camp friends are special. Every summer, they live with the same kids in a small bunk. I can see that in general, camp friends are kinder to each other than ‘home’ friends. They really love each other, and it’s beautiful.”
—Rob Rubin, Montclair
Camp Scatico, Elizaville, NY
“My husband and I both went to Schodack. We met there. Our favorite part of sending our kids are the traditions. We love that our kids sing a lot of the songs we sang and play on the fields we played on. Sharing those traditions with our kids is both special and unique. Our kids love knowing we were once doing the things they now do. They share their stories with us, and we can so easily picture what they’ve experienced. It allows for great communication.”
—Aly Finkelstein, Livingston
Camp Schodack, Nassau, NY
“My son Elias Halpern-Ranzer attends Camp Scatico. He started in 2016. I was a camper there from 1983-1991. I love that he’s getting the opportunity to experience many of the same activities that I did when I was his age. He often asks about my experiences in camp traditions like Color War, The Sing and College Bowl. Many, if not most, of his bunkmates and best friends are also children of alumni, not to mention his counselors. In addition, Elias gets the added bonus of having his cousins at camp, too! Camp is a great opportunity for a kid to find his or her independence and foster friendships that will last a lifetime.”
—Ian Ranzer, Montclair
Camp Scatico, Elizaville, NY
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