Campers may send and receive email after the first couple of days at camp. Every camper has an email account through our own camp mail server. It is firstnamelastname@frenchwoodscamp.com (for example johndoe@frenchwoodscamp.com). Please use this address instead of gmail, hotmail, yahoo or other servers that interfere with the operation of our network. If your child has a hyphenated name or an apostrophe, do not include that punctuation, rather lucassmithrobinson@frenchwoodscamp.com or annohara@frenchwoodscamp.com

Your address at camp will be:
Camper Name*
French Woods Festival
P.O. Box 609
Hancock, NY 13783

Any packages should be addressed to:
Camper Name *
French Woods Festival
199 Bouchoux Brook Road
Hancock, NY 13783

*When you get your bunk number at camp please inform everyone who will be writing or sending packages to you to put your bunk number after your name. This will help us get you your mail delivered as quickly as possible. Remember absolutely no food/candy!

An Open Letter to Parents
From Your Kids’ Camp Counselors

Dear Parents,

Thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your whole world, because we know that’s what you’ve handed us — your whole world, and your trust along with it and we’re grateful.

You should know, we think your kids are the coolest...the coolest. With all their quirks and their gifts and their challenges and their unique qualities, we think your kids are just the coolest, and we’re excited to be their friends. For the time we have them, your kids are our life.

We’re here because there’s no place we’d rather be this summer than with your kids. We’re here because we LOVE this. We train for this. We live for this. We work for it. We’re exhausted by it. We’re energized by it. Because we understand your kids are worth it. Every bit. Deeply, deeply worth our time and our interest and our effort… and our prayers and our hopes, too. Even now, even before we’ve met them, in these weeks we use to prepare for their arrival.

So tell us about your kids when you spend those hours filling out the forms. Tell us what you want us to know; the more, the better. The needs, yes. Of course, tell us what your camper needs. And then tell us what they like too. What makes them smile. What makes them talk. What lights them up. What tricks and tips we might use to encourage, to help, to protect, and to love. And know this: we’re listening. We’re reading your words. We’re studying what you say. And we’re not judging – not you, not your kid. We’re here to be your partners. Because we want to make a difference for your kids who become our kids for a short time, even if we never get to see what that difference was.

What we most want you to know, though, is this. You parents are our heroes. And your kids are amazing. Like, really, really great. Your children change us. They make us better. And we’re grateful.

Sincerely,

Your Kids’ Summer Camp Counselors

See you all very soon.

The Hancock-French Woods Arts Alliance (hfwaa.org) is the not-for-profit arm of French Woods. HFWAA primarily raises funds that help with college tuition and necessities for some of our counselors who are both in-need and committed to a career in the arts. Prior to COVID, the Alliance was assisting 22 college students. Unfortunately their HFWAA scholarships were drastically cut this past year because without summer camp 2020, not enough money was raised to assist them.

HFWAA also oversees and helps fund our new leadership program with Entertainment for Change and being Impact Artists™. We are grateful to Sony Music Group for helping to fund this initiative.

With camp back this summer, we, once again, will reach out to our families and sponsors to help us out with activities that comprise the majority of our funding.

Remember there's no WIFI at camp so we are going 'old-school.' Bring a book to camp to donate to the library! We will have a stamp that forever designates your child as the donor. Please bear in mind that we have campers from the age of 7 to 18. This was  a service project for our CITs and Supers but we welcome eveyone to get involved!!


We run a 4K Race for the Arts each session of camp. This is our 11th year!  There is no charge to run the race or participate as a volunteer, but a minimum contribution of $35 entitles your camper to a commemorative t-shirt. We hope that many of you will consider sponsoring your camper for Summer 2021! They can run, walk, volunteer or cheer as we bring fitness, fun and community together. To register, please fill out the form on your CampIn Touch dashboard. If you would like to be a corporate or family sponsor or you know of someone who would like to help, please call us directly at (607) 637-8404.

Birthday Parties or Just Because Parties...are held during the evenings. Smores parties, Movie Parties, Cooking Parties and more.  Your child's bunk will be treated to a special  evening as you honor your camper by sponsoring this fun event. Email smores@frenchwoods.com or call (607) 637-8405 to get more information or order a party!

Later in the summer, we hold a Raffle with first prize being free tuition for the session of your choice for summer 2022.  Tickets are $50 each; 7 for $250 or 15 for $500.  A maximum of 500 tickets will be sold and winners need not be present to win. 

Counselors interested in applying for an HFWAA scholarship fill out a rigorous application and we strive to give those chosen a hand-up rather than just a handout. Food for thought: Part of the true magic of camp lies in the relationship between children and their counselors. Children who have been cared for all of their lives by “old” parents in their thirties and forties, or by “ancient” teachers moving through their forties and fifties, are delighted by the novelty of sharing adventures as well as their apprehensions and being cared for by appealing young adults in their late teens and early twenties. Those young adults are an intergral part of making the French Woods summer experience a great one.

Emails will be going out next week for the Big Brother, Little Brother/ Big Sister, Little Sister Program. To our seasoned campers, please make sure to get in touch with your little sib right away! 

Every child attending camp for the first time leaves home with apprehension. Make your child’s experience a positive one. His or her success or failure is totally in your hands.
Every parent wants what’s best for their child. What’s best is having a child who has self-esteem and is able to function in a supportive and friendly climate, without the constant need of their parent’s presence.
When a child does not finish what they have started there is certainty of failure. Taking a child home early leads not to rescue but to future loss.

Here are some simple tips to follow:
• Let your child know before they leave that they will have a wonderful time and that you love them.
• Do Not discuss a trial period or give the child any reason to think they will fail.
• Write letters & emails asking about the child’s experiences at camp. He does not need to know his dog misses him or his sister now rules the house.
• Most important, work with the camp director to make sure your child succeeds at camp.
Help us to help your child succeed. See you this summer,
Ron, Isaac, and Beth
800-634-1703
admin@frenchwoods.com

Every child attending camp for the first time leaves home with apprehension. Make your child’s experience a positive one. His or her success or failure is totally in your hands.
Every parent wants what’s best for their child. What’s best is having a child who has self-esteem and is able to function in a supportive and friendly climate, without the constant need of their parent’s presence.
When a child does not finish what they have started there is certainty of failure. Taking a child home early leads not to rescue but to future loss.

Here are some simple tips to follow:
• Let your child know before they leave that they will have a wonderful time and that you love them.
• Do Not discuss a trial period or give the child any reason to think they will fail.
• Write letters & emails asking about the child’s experiences at camp. He does not need to know his dog misses him or his sister now rules the house.
• Most important, work with the camp director to make sure your child succeeds at camp.
Help us to help your child succeed. See you this summer,
Ron, Isaac, and Beth
800-634-1703
admin@frenchwoods.com

The pre-camp season has now begun. The camp looks great. As we head into our fifty-first season we are working hard to put the finishing touches to the camp before any of the campers
arrive. Never before have we faced a summer so anticipated. I cannot tell you just how much I missed camp last summer.

This summer I will be working on four or five shows; four upper camp and one middle. First session we’re streaming performances. Hopefully by second we’ll be able to go live. I am so looking forward to seeing all of you soon.

                                            Ron