Camp Hollis ‘Family Fun Night’ Provides Families With Camp Experience

by Matt Watling | August 6, 2021 7:00 am

OSWEGO – Last night Oswego County’s Youth Bureau hosted its first ever Family Fun Camp Night at Camp Hollis[1]. 

On the beautiful night, families from the area joined together to enjoy the campgrounds and learn what Camp Hollis has to offer for children, even those that have not attended Camp Hollis before. According to the camp’s director, Zach Grulich, most of the attendees are new to the camp, which was a bright spot for the bureau. Tiffany Halstead, the bureau’s Youth Services Specialist and event organizer, was happy to see that the guests did not have much experience with it as it was a way to “show off the camp.” While the promotional side of things was a huge positive, Halstead originally was just looking for a nice family event that was fairly easy for families.

“I have a big family myself and so do many of our staff members like Brain Chetney, our Executive director, he has four kids,” Halstead said. “We were just looking for something fun for families to do that was free and easily accessible, something right outside the city.”

Halstead brought her children and husband to the campgrounds who were enjoying time in the swimming pool, an activity that Halstead described to be a “fan favorite.”

As the night wound down, guests found themselves right on the edge of Camp Hollis enjoying a bonfire with s’mores. While the event was booked full with over 70 registered guests, roughly 35 showed up which was somewhat disappointing for Halstead and Grulich. Grulich believed it was due to an error in the registration form where attendees could not be contacted with reminders. Despite the lower than expected turnout, those that did show up had an excellent time with their families.

“This is great. I grew up in Oswego but never came out to Camp Hollis,” said Dustin O’Neil, a parent at Camp Hollis. “It’s pretty cool to be out here and let my son experience this.”

O’Neil’s son was actually signed up for two weeks of camp and has grown to love it more and more each day.

“He’s really enjoyed it,” O’Neil said. “It started a little rough but each day is better than the last.”

Beyond the swimming and s’mores, guests were treated with nature hikes through the woods on property, arts and crafts and the Camp Hollis playground. For many, it was just nice to see their children smiling and interacting with others after an especially difficult school year due to the challenges associated with COVID-19.

“It’s just fun,” Halstead said. “It was such a hard year for everyone being stuck home, so it’s just exciting to see people outside of our little unit at home.”

O’Neil also was happy to be able to send his son off to camp given everything that has happened. While this is the only Family Fun Night that Camp Hollis could host due to the counselors leaving for college in a matter of weeks, Halstead expects another event like this to take place before camp starts next year as it could help get more people in for the summer of 2022.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/camp-hollis-family-fun-night-provides-families-with-camp-experience/

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