Director Jud's Blog

Greetings from the Stone Mountain Adventures (SMA) family. It is hard to believe that the summer of 2018 has come and gone so fast. It seems like only yesterday we were dusting off the canoes and tuning up the mountain bikes, and now this incredible summer is in the history books. The remainder of August was great, but we often found ourselves playing “remember that time in first session... that was awesome!” during our down time

On the last full day of the session we asked each member of our group to take a few moments and "reflect" about his or her experience at Stone Mountain Adventures. Enclosed are the written reflections of campers as well as a brief description of many of the activities that we did at camp written by our stellar staff.  We hope you enjoy this SMA Memory Book and these reflections as much as we do!

Click Here to Download the Session 2 Camper and Staff Memory Book 

Alyssa Phillips (Billy Jean Johnson)

This was my second year of SMA and it just keeps getting better and better! It went by so fast but when I look back it feels slow. This year I became very close to many people. Last year I feel like I closed myself off to only two people. This year was way more fun and I’m going to miss everyone so much. Besides spraining my thumb I couldn’t have asked for a better two weeks! I feel like this is the only place on earth where I can be myself and live in the moment.

 Isabelle Kough:

4th session was amazing- all the overnights, meeting new people, my cabin, the activities, and just everything made me want to come back. The counselors have made everything more fun. The camp itself didn’t change me but the people did. Darius taught me not to care what people think. Ben the counselor made me realize to laugh. On the overnight was fun because Will was fighting everyone with lightsabers. I had an amazing session with everyone especially Adi and Jordyn. I can’t wait to come back next year! I love Jem (because she made me write this).

Matthew Weitzel:

This was my first summer camp that is an overnight, as it was the longest time I’ve been away from family. It started to feel normal after about 2-3 days. By for this is the most outdoor activities I’ve done this summer. The adventures beheld a mass of emotions including the happiness of belly whomping to the pain of falling off my bike and cutting my arm and leg. Overall, I think I learned a lot and became a lot tanner which I’m happy about, but in all seriousness I will leave a better person and with a lot more skills (and scars).

Jack Weiman:

I like Ben. Ben is cool. So is Jay. Jem is cool. Will is one of my favorites. He used to look like a cool Viking warrior but then he was lame and shaved off his beard and now he looks like a British person. Helen is cool because she is majoring in what I want to major in. I also love Connor and myself. Ben is my favorite. I learned how to wakeboard and had a lot of fun on all the activities. My favorites were sailing, mountain biking, white water rafting. I made a lot of new friends and I really enjoyed my time here.

Mary Zaher:

Coming to camp, I was excited and relieved to have finally made it here. The moment I stepped into my cabin, I was greeted with friendly faces. I got to know my cabin mates better, and tried several new activities with them. Some of my favorites activities were the Amish market, the fair, white water rafting, and overnights. The Amish market and the fair were both opportunities to learn more about the Amish culture. White water rafting was exciting as well as scary, and it required teamwork and cooperation as well as the ability to listen to instructions. While I was on my overnights, I had to learn to coexist with the critters and bugs living in the forest. I had a lot of fun learning how to get up on the kneeboard and hiking through the woods. Overall, I had a great time at camp. I made new friends and tried new activities. I was an unforgettable experience and I hope that I will be back again next year.

Ruben Matell

This session at SMA was probably the best two weeks of my life. Last year, I was so shy and insecure when I came here. This year however, I felt instantly at home when I stepped out of the car. SMA helped me to completely come out of my shell and be who I really am. I am so happy that I was able to be myself, be happy and be confident for the most part. I hope I am able to take it home with me.

As far as activities go, I had so much fun on the wakeboard and I was far better at it than I expected. I also really enjoyed the Yough; it was such a crazy experience with the water that high. I also really enjoyed getting to know everyone here. I made such close friends. It always astounds me that in two weeks I am closer to the people here than I am to people I’ve known my whole life. I love this place with all my heart 

Aiden McAleer

My time at Stone Mountain was amazing, I will 100% be coming back for next year. I found my better self. I have went outside of my comfort zone so many times, I have taken care of a bunny during my time here, I don’t know if I’m taking him home with me but it was fun! I stood up on a wakeboard for the first time and it was the best thing ever! I have met many people at this camp that I will never forget.  Im not very good at writing but this is the best I could do to explain my time here! If  you could draw a line for how good it was, the longer the better

Meghan Lewis

I could not have asked for a better last session. I got to meet many new great people and spend time with old friends. There was not a single time this session where I was unhappy. All of the amazing activities and people made this a session I will never forget. I am going to bring home with me all of the memories I have made and the happiness of myself and others around me!

Zoe

Third session was really fun! This was my first time at SMA and I made lots of friends. I met Mia and Phoebe on the first day and we became really good friends. Something from camp I will always remember is the canoe trip with Mia and Daniel. Every time we went towards a tree she would start screaming. Near the middle of the river we headed straight into a tree and Mia threw her paddle away, stood up, and jumped onto me. She screamed and started crying and Daniel and I almost peed ourselves from laughing so hard! Another memory was the Yough White Water Rafting trip; I was in a boat with Hot Sauce, Olivia B, Emily and Stevie. Some fun activities were Canoeing, Wind Surfing and the Rock Climbing overnight. I liked these activities because they were really thrilling! I also did all of them with some awesome counselors like Hot Sauce, Chase, Melissa, Fish, Brenna, Tom, Roy, Lindsay, Ali, Alyna, James, Josh, Lucy, Tim and Katie. I was sad that I only stayed for one session. It was really fun and I wish I stayed for longer but I know that I will cherish my memories from SMA forever!

Eduardo

This was my first year at SMA and it was great. I had an awesome time here, and the two weeks passed so quickly. I made lots of new friends and I tried lots of different and cool activities that I wouldn’t normally try. The counselors here are awesome! They are so crazy and funny and I’m going to miss them a lot: Immature Lucy, Cool Hot Sauce, Hippie Chase, Crazy Roy, British Tom, Tim: that laugh, Football Katie, Hipster Ali, Dancing Alyna, Rock Climber Melissa, Secret Friend James and Tube Lindsay.  Van rides were awesome, but there were some weird ones and of course some funny ones. I will remember Colombe’s dance, Mirena’s hugs, nights with Trevor, Ian with the horsehead mask, Hot Sauce playing the electric guitar really awesomely and me doing ‘Eduardo the Pretty Fairy’. I don’t know if I’ll be back next year, but I’m sure that I will remember everyone and all the memories that I have made here forever.

Jacob

I met so many new people and even tried some new things at camp. Bowling was a lot of fun, and rafting was the best yet. Even though I came into this session already close friends with Alex, we both made friends with all of the new and returning people in 2^nd session. This will probably be my last time at SMA and I’ve had a great time this summer. I’m really going to miss summers at Stone Mountain, but all the time I have been here was awesome.  

Mathilde V.

This was my 3^rd year at SMA Teen Summer Camp, and I just realized how much I love Alex Leonard. We have spent every single day together and my realization made me realize something else (basically like Inception). It’s of being woken up by the Birdy song (which I have a love-hate relationship with) and eating grilled cheese at lunch and straight chillin’ at windsurf/sail and Walmart and the Yough and paper plates, and I just realized how much I love just about everything here. I thought I knew everything about this place but every year I come, I find out little things that make my love for you guys and everything here grow. I can’t wait until the next 2 sessions and next year and every single session I come back until I am a super camper (hopefully) because SMA is my summer home and it always will be.

 SMA Overnight Teen Summer Camp 2014 1st Session Memory Book is here!

A Note from the Camp Directors:

Greetings from camp to everyone in our Stone Mountain Adventures (SMA) family. It is hard to believe that the summer 2014 has come and gone so fast. It seems like only yesterday we were dusting off the canoes and tuning up the mountain bikes and now this incredible summer is in the history books. The remainder of August was great, but we often found ourselves playing “remember that time in 1st Session... that was awesome!” during our down time.

Campers, we miss each one of you so much, and it’s just not the same without you around. We hope you have recovered from the craziness and had an awesome end to your summer.  How was the first weeks of school?        

Parents, thank you for sending your son or daughter to Stone Mountain Adventures for the summer. Each member of the incredible group that was SMA 1, 2014, possessed fantastic qualities and helped to make the group so special. We had some incredible experiences together that made for a truly memorable 1^st Session         

To that end, on the last full day of the session we asked each member of our group to take a few moments and "reflect" about his or her experience at Stone Mountain Adventures. Enclosed you will find these entries that we call "reflections of the summer" that make up our “1^st Session Camper and Staff Memory Book.” You also will find a brief description of many of the activities that we did at camp written by our stellar staff. 

We will be uploading the First Session Slide Show to our web site and to Bunk1 in the weeks to come.  As we peruse summer photos we can't help but smile; there were so many silly costumes, ‘go fast’ activities, and quality friendships. What an incredible summer.          

We hope you enjoy this SMA Memory Book and these "reflections" as much as we have!