WELCOME FIRST YEAR STAFF!

FIRST YEAR AMERICAN STAFF
Contract Signed
*Copy both sides of drivers license
*Copy both sides of medical insurance card
*Copy both sides of social security card or passport (visa)
W-4 and I-9 tax forms
Travel Survey
Voluntary Disclosure Form
Health Form (must be complete!)
HIPPA Form
Digital Picture of yourself
Contact Travel Desk at our office one week prior to your arrival (phone or email).
Read the Staff Guide before you arrive!
*scan via email is fine.

FIRST YEAR INTERNATIONAL STAFF
Be in contact with your agency (AICE, INTEREXCHANGE, BUNAC, CCUSA)    (hot links)
Contract signed
*Copy of passport
Copy both sides of insurance card or agency insurance information.
I-9 form
Travel Survey
Voluntary Disclosure Form
Health Form (must be complete!)
HIPPA Form
Digital Picture of yourself
Contact Travel Desk at our office one week prior to your arrival (phone or email).
Read the Staff Guide before you arrive!
*scan via email is fine.

If you need help, please contact desk@camptowanda.com.

The Official Welcome…

The moment you’ve been waiting for is almost here.  Time to make those lists and check them twice.  To Do List...write name in ALL of my socks, tune-up the tennis racket, give correct campus address with ZIP+4 to mom, dad, best friends, sorority sisters and fraternity brothers, pack...Things To Buy List... sunscreen, toothpaste, sunscreen, deodorant, sunscreen, shampoo, sunscreen, poncho and did I mention sunscreen?  Things To Pack List...tennis shoes, swimming suit (one piece of course…), socks, underwear, shorts, T-shirts and sunscreen.  With any luck, your lists are a bit more complete.  In a few short weeks you and loads of other people just like you from all over the world will be arriving at Camp Towanda.
 On behalf of the Camp Towanda Senior Staff,  We welcome you to our home, your home for one of the best experiences of your life.  To those of you returning, I hope you find lots of humor and fond memories within this greeting.  To all of our new staff, we hope you get a sense of the experiences and the lifetime of memories, friendships and so much more which lie ahead.  WELCOME TO CAMP TOWANDA!

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.”
(and the little bit you have left over, you can demonstrate during the Talent Show, playing on a staff basketball team, making your bed, doing the front sweep, etc., etc.) 
“Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.”
(remembering all the names in your group, taking down the laundry,  ETB, UTL, HC, M&C, Debs, Dillies, Jets, Cadets, changing your socks, Bar Mitzvah lessons, horseback riding, picking up laundry...relax, no worries at all…)
“Wouldn’t you like to get away?”
(Dorney Park, 2 hours; Mountain Creek, 2 hours; Hershey Park, 3 hours; Steamtown Mall in Scranton, 2 hours; Wal-Mart, ½ hour; Ice Cream Cottage, 20 minutes; the Wayne County Fair, 20 minutes; Dodge City, KS 24 hours)
“Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows you name...”
(Mitch will know everyone during the first week, you will too...by the end of the summer)
“CAMP TOWANDA! And they’re always glad you came.”
(really, if we didn’t want you to come we wouldn’t have asked you to join our traditions, our home, our family)
“CAMP TOWANDA!  Towanda’s the place where you can see; a great summer’s why we came. 
When you leave here you’ll never be the same.”
(and nothing else needs to be said about that!) 
      
Creatures!!  Camp is located in the rolling Pocono Mountains.  Mountains mean woods and wildlife.  Wildlife covers a broad range of creatures.  From bats in our belfries and goats on the Grassy Knoll to deer on Yankee Stadium (?!?) and skunks outside the bunks (please note OUTSIDE....the smell inside is probably your campers waiting to shower), our creatures come in all shapes and sizes.  The wildest, most unpredictable creature at Camp Towandais the rare Mitchus, Campus Directorious.  If you encounter him, use caution, laugh at his jokes, feed him Kit-Kats, and you will be safe.

Awakenings Those of you who are new are in for a few awakenings.  For example...the amount of daily mail, the amount of peanut butter and jelly consumed, the amount of food brought on Visiting Day, crisp clean air, goats, campers learning, growing and maturing, counselors learning, growing and maturing, the beauty of the facilities, the anticipation of Olympics (unless, Mitch canceled them...again), the baggage, and the list goes on.  I should of course mention the awakenings of the other kind as well like thunderstorms (not scary ones…quiet ones) at night and raccoons during mating season!?!  It is amazing anyone gets any sleep.  Rest assured our great senior staff will help you to make the most of your summer!

Mi-chael-pel-ton (clap clap clapclapclap)!    A cult hero!  A legend in his own time.  At camp we each have the opportunity to develop our own unique identity.  Ten months out of the year, He is Mr. Pelton, giver of tests and homework to a bunch of high school students.  Two months every summer, he has an opportunity to have a positive influence on a unique group of kids in a different way!  He enjoys being  “Mr. Pelton” during the school year and “Mi-chael-pel-ton” during the summer.  You too can be someone new, different and exciting.  New friends and new experiences await you as well.

Pie, American Pie (the song…not the movie to be exact)  It is a sure sign of lunch to be served soon.  We play the extended version so people have enough time to make it to lunch before "Hands on heads..." (don’t worry you’ll soon understand).  It’s "traditions" like this one which make camp memorable for all.  Every time you hear the song American Pie, you will get hungry.

Terrific Friendships One of the best things you take with you when you leave Camp Towanda is special friendships which will last a lifetime. 

Olympic Glory.  The Towanda Olympics(some camps call it color war...we don’t.) are a sight to be seen.  If we have them this year...well, you see we’ve canceled them before for trips to Woodstock, and to watch the real Olympics, and because Mitch forgot to schedule them, and because of the rain or soaring high temperatures, and because of lack of money, and because of, and because of..., we just never seem to be sure at the start of the summer.  If we do have them, you’ll get to see the camp at its best.  Campers and counselors alike take a different, more special pride in their accomplishments.  The competition actually brings out the best in everyone.  People rise to the challenges put before them and everyone comes out a winner.

Whiter Whites!  Laundry...a task dreaded by many, treasured by few.  Once a week, we drop our clothes off and anxiously wait to see if all of our socks made it back, if our reds are still red and our whites are still white.  As you go through the summer, don’t forget to THANK the "behind-the-scenes" people who help make our jobs easier.  Office, Kitchen, Transportation and Maintenance are some of the departments you rarely see who make Camp Towanda function.  Each has a vital roll to play; they are sometimes the forgotten, but without them, who will do the laundry, make sure you have hot water, and milk and cookies?

Activities  There’s Fourth of July, Air Bands, Gold Rush, the Towanda Times, Arts and Crafts, Counselor Hunt, Girls’ Sing, Water Carnival, Dutch Auction, Fruit Call, Milk and Cookies, Campfires, Talent Shows, Picture Day, Visiting Day, BYOC Movie, DJ Jeff, Ron Dagan, WCTR, YAD SDRAWKCAB, Senior Trip, National Excursion, Stony Acres, Barbecues, the Tee Pee, Trip Day, Bowling, BINGO, Towanda Open, McDonalds’, Services, Musicals, Plays, Jell-O, the Garden Club, World Record Breaking Events, S’Mores, Banana Splits, Pizza, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, the Red Barons, Friday Night Flix, and so much more!!!  

Never rains and we have no hills!  Okay, so maybe it is not the truest statement in this letter, but at any rate, that’s the un-official motto of Camp Towanda.  We are to adjust to all of the changing weather conditions.  From a rain-delayed dinner to BINGO, Giant Twister, and Dream Bunk we’ve got lots to keep you busy, active, and occupied for hours upon end!  With any luck you’ll never need them, but don’t forget to pack those ponchos and hard shoes!!  As for the hills…well, after a few days, you won’t notice them either.  

Dinner Delights!  A quiet dinner for two camp is not!  "D-O-R-M-G-I-R-L-S the Dorm Girls always on the go, we are the best you know..."  "S-E, S-E-N, S-E-N-I-O, I-O-R-S, S-E-N-I-O-R-S Seniors, the BEST!"  "N with an N with an N-A-T, T with a T with a T-I-O, T-I-O, N-A-L...NATIONALS"  "D-I-double L-I-E-S, we’re the Dillies and we’re the best” !

And much, much more...too much to tell you about in this letter.  You have to experience it!  Different likes, dislikes, friendships, stories, and memories to last a lifetime!

"We welcome you to Camp Towanda; we’re mighty glad your here.  We’ll send the air reverberating with a mighty cheer.  We’ll sing you in, We’ll sing you out. Hail! Hail, a mighty shout!  Hail! Hail, the gang’s all here.”