At Camp Scully, young people can't wait to obey that order

(Editor's note: The Evangelist continues its year-long series of monthly articles that take a look inside large institutions in the Albany Diocese, places you might have driven by and asked: "What goes on in there?" This week: Camp Scully on Snyder's Lake.)

A parishioner of St. Patrick's Church in Albany, the 17-year-old is enjoying his first summer as a staff member at the North Greenbush camp, where he teaches such arts and crafts as friendship bracelets and tie-dye. A professional clown, he is also teaching children the finer points of face painting and clowning.

Arts and crafts are just some of the many activities in store for kids who head off to Camp Scully, now in its 78th season.

European touch

About ten of the 27 Camp Scully staff members come from Europe through the Camp America program, which brings teenagers and young adults from Europe to work at summer camps in the United States.

"Most of them have worked with kids [in Europe], and they wanted to see what it was like to work with kids over here," said Sue Mossey, director of Camp Scully.

Staff members arrive one week before camp opens to participate in training and team-building exercises, and the European counselors seem to fit right in with their new surroundings.

Jump in the lake

During a recent Tuesday at Camp Scully, campers and staff members were scurrying about as breakfast and cabin clean-up gave way to the first of the day's activities. A group of boys and girls made a beeline for the lake, and counselors kept a close eye on them as they splashed in the water and jumped off the dock.

Watching from the camp director's cabin was Scott MacKellor, assistant director, who has been working at Camp Scully for the past four years. He came through the Camp America program and is from Scotland; his duties include supervising the kitchen and maintaining the grounds.

Although he holds a degree in electrical engineering, Mr. MacKellor thinks he might want to work with children, based upon how well his experience at Camp Scully has unfolded.

"It's amazing when they see you. They run up to you and give you a hug," he said.

Fun at work

Camp Scully is akin to a working vacation for Mr. MacKellor, who finds his work very rewarding indeed.

"It's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of hard work. I get to enjoy myself, and I get to watch the kids enjoy themselves," he said.

One kid who's been enjoying himself is Jeff Hammond, 13, attending Camp Scully for the seventh year. He likes just about everything he does when he's camping, but sports seem to be his favorite.

Each year, Jeff sees familiar faces -- "I always see Miller," he said of his buddy, Andrew Miller -- and he's carrying on a family tradition by returning to Camp Scully every summer: His father, brother, sister and cousins also were campers.

Irish flavor

Another staff member who's at Camp Scully thanks to Camp America is Joan Doyle, 18, from Ireland. She spent part of her summer at a camp in Maine after she completed her examinations for secondary school. Since she arrived at Camp Scully, she's been overseeing the boating activities. When kids don life jackets and take pedal boats for a ride, she makes sure they don't stray too far from shore.

There's a lot of camaraderie among staff members and campers, she pointed out, and she's glad to have peers she can hang out with each night.

"Everybody gets along with everybody. Sometimes, people just need a bit of a laugh at the end of the day," she said.

Although she plans to work in adult nursing, her time at Camp Scully might convince her to pursue children's nursing instead.

Organized chaos

Many of the staff members have several years of experience at Camp Scully, which helps Ms. Mossey run a well-organized and safe camp each summer.

In fact, several staff members are former campers who remember what a good time they had, and they know what kids will want to do during their week at Camp Scully.

"They know the background, the traditions. It's not the buildings; it's not the land. It's the people," she said.

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