Reported by: Megan GravesThree generations of campers—grandmother, daughter, and grandaughter—shared their YMCA Camp Ernst memories. Beginning in 1948, this family has maintained a presence at camp. Some details of the camp experience have changed, such as the camp going coed and swimming time moving from a creek to the pool.
What has endured are the lasting friendships and life lessons that make up the heart of going to camp.
Amberlee Stemmer started going to camp when she was 5 or 6, a few years younger than her mother, Debbie Stemmer, or grandmother, Dottie Kammerer, were when they first went to camp. With such a legacy in her blood, she was primed for a good experience.
“I was homesick at first,” Amberlee, now 12, recalls. “But then it got better. Then I couldn’t wait for my parents to leave.”
Her mother, Debbie, remembers being worried because Amberlee was so young. However, her fears were soon relieved.
“When I picked her up, Amberlee told me, ‘Take my picture with this girl, she’s my best friend.’ In walks a couple and I realize I had worked with them at camp years before,” Debbie said and laughed. “Their daughter was my daughter’s best friend.”
Those sort of connections seem to happen all the time at a camp that boasts a retention rate of 85 percent. Many of the counselors and staff were once campers. New-found friends coordinate their schedules in order to return the same week year after year. Amberlee is currently e-mailing a camp friend from Saudi Arabia to coordinate when they can reunite at camp.
“In the beginning, I returned to camp because I loved to sing the camp songs,” said Debbie. “When I was older, I really learned what I was getting out of camp. It helped me set a value system. It was rich in tradition. I made lasting friendships. I went with the same girls, year after year, for five years straight.”
Both Dottie and Debbie transitioned through the various leadership positions the camp offers.
“Working at camp made me want to be a teacher,” said Debbie. “When I had my job applications, I would tell them my camp story. I did Leadership Training at camp. One time we had to pick an activity and teach it one afternoon all by ourselves. I picked macramé because I knew how to do that. I didn’t place any restrictions, I was ready to go. I didn’t specify that you needed to know how to tie your shoes.”
The project turned into three or four days because one little boy didn’t know how to tie his shoes but was determined to learn. Years later as program director, while meeting the new staff members, Debbie noticed that one of the boys had a macramé anklet.
"Since that was unusual for a boy and many people didn’t make macramé anymore, I asked where he had got it, where he had learned," she said. "He replied 'You taught me.' That blew me away. It was a nightmare activity but something I taught him stayed with him all those years. There were experiences like that daily.”
Both Dottie and Debbie have special memories of former YMCA and Camp Ernst director Martha Bunch.
“She was making girls into leaders at a time when girls never did that,” said Dottie.
The leadership development and recognition efforts continue at Camp Ernst to this day. Amberlee is proud of the awards she has won.
"There are prestigious awards, like honor camper, and there are always silly themes to the awards as well. One time they were Disney characters and I got Tinkerbell because I’m happy. Or last year I got the 'oatmeal-scotchy cookie award' because my mom sent me cookies and I shared with everyone.”
Dottie, Debbie and Amberlee are a shining example of how going to camp can become a beloved family tradition.
