Falcon Camp, widely known as Ohio’s premier overnight camp, is an intentionally small private camp located in the forest on an 8-mile lake. With a maximum capacity of 110 campers, there are enough young people to make friends and find someone interesting, while keeping things small enough that every face is familiar and counselors know everyone by the second day.
For many, the best part of camp is that campers are given lots of choices throughout their daily schedule, meaning they always enjoy what they are doing, since they chose it! We have four 90 minute periods between breakfast and dinner, with two to three activities during each of those times. Each day, campers get to choose which activity they will go to. They can make a different choice from day to day, or specialize; the choice is theirs! Activities include archery, tennis, drama, athletics, riflery, horseback riding, sailing, canoeing, swimming, crafts, nature study, and more!
In addition to the daily activities, Falcon offers some unique activities sporadically throughout the week. These include music, photography, overnights, cookouts, movie-making, field trips, half-day activities, weekend competitions, and others. For some, campers have the choice to participate in them instead of their regularly scheduled activities. Others are planned for entire units.
Campers live in cabins in units; units are cabin groupings by age and gender. We have six units, ranging in age from six to sixteen. There are three boys units (Blue Jays, Kestrels, Eagles), and three girls units (Robins, Cardinals, Hawks). Campers travel to daily activities by unit and eat with their cabin. Cabins often form special bonds during camp; there is something unique about living together for two weeks or more, that can’t be replicated by a year spent in the same classroom at school. We frequently hear about lifelong friendships formed in one session.
Falcon Camp is designed to maximize fun while also encouraging learning. Campers learn to be more independent, resilient and tolerant. Camp teaches problem-solving, decision-making, respect for others and leadership. Because Falcon is a longer term camp, with two week sessions as our shortest time (aside from our one week introductory session for our youngest campers), we are able to have more of a focus on learning skills, as opposed to jam-packing each moment with excitement til you drop. Falcon’s wonder comes from building a daily routine around exciting activities in which campers get to gain expertise, while also introducing them to new people who will become close friends.
Falcon Camp has a no cell phone policy, and while that may seem daunting at first, most of our campers leave feeling like it was one of the best parts. Children today are not given many opportunities to disconnect, slow down and experience what’s going on around them. We spend most of our time out of doors, whether that means we are learning about nature, how to build a fire, or just playing a game of soccer. Removing worries about social media and contact back home also means our campers focus on their authentic, in-the-moment face-to-face interactions. This helps young people learn how to have positive, productive social exchanges.
Falcon Camp has been around since 1959, with owner/director Dave Devey in his role since 1984. The administration at Falcon is key to the training, support and oversight of the staff. In order to make sure that the staff have the tools to be successful, the administration team works hard all year round. With over 100 years of camping experience and expertise in a variety of other related fields, our directors are uniquely qualified to create the environment where both campers and staff thrive.
Our Falcon counselors (between the ages 18 – 25) are carefully selected and trained in first aid, CPR, child abuse prevention and much more. Many of our staff are “home grown,” having been Falcon campers and completing our Staff Development Program. This program trains our oldest campers and junior counselors to support the counselors, campers and activities. Our caring staff is passionate, well-trained, knowledgeable and ready to share a fun-filled summer with their campers. They are skilled in their activity area(s), and know how to build communities within their cabins and units. We require all counselors to participate in pre-camp Staff Training. Falcon staff are the foundation of our close-knit camp community, and we ensure that they are prepared to help campers have the best summer they can.
We are looking forward to Summer 2019 at Falcon Camp, and hope your family will be a part of it! To learn more about Falcon Camp, visit www.falconcamp.com, or contact us at [email protected] or 216-991-2489.
