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Dear Camp Family… The stage is set, and you can feel the anticipation. For weeks, campers have been buzzing at meals and during activities about the lineup. A veritable who’s who of singers, songwriters, musicians, and performers. The bill is packed for three hours of pure musical magic, stretching well into the evening. She steps up to the stage. Guitar in hand. Breath held. Looking out at the sea of familiar faces, heart racing with a mixture of excitement and nerves. A famous celebrity? A rock icon? Taylor Swift, maybe? Beyoncé on a camp tour stop?

Dear Camp Family… The two most difficult moments of a K&E summer are very easy to pinpoint, though you might be surprised at them. For parents, it’s the bus engine humming in the parking lot while you watch your child step up and out, finally embarking on that big moment. Off to Kenwood & Evergreen. You spent hours packing their bags a couple of weeks back and stuffing them with carefully labeled clothes, favorite stuffed animal peeking out from the top, and a heart full of mixed emotions, mostly excitement.

A little more than 50 years ago, I received one of the greatest gifts I could have ever imagined, even if I didn’t 100% see it like that at the time. It was when Sheila, a single parent in New Jersey, working on her college degree at night, took out a payroll loan in order to send me to Kenwood & Evergreen. We didn’t have much, but she made camp the top priority because she knew my cousins loved it there. She knew I would love it. She believed it was the right thing for me, at the time, and for my future. She was right.