• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

304.645.1316

Contact Us

Camp Alleghany for Girls

Camp Alleghany for Girls

A Summer Camp for Girls in Lewisburg, WV

  • About Us
    • Empowering Girls
    • Mission and Philosophy
    • Our Directors
    • Camp Videos
    • Testimonials
    • Camp Alleghany Alumni Association
      • Board Members and Committees
      • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
  • Parents
    • General Info for Parents
      • Opening Day Procedures
      • Closing Day Procedures
    • FAQ’s
    • Packing List and Information
    • Dates and Rates
    • Parent Resources
    • Forms and Info
    • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
    • Camp Store
    • Visiting Alleghany
    • Parent Log In
  • Campers
    • Mother Daughter Weekend
    • Mini Camp
    • Term Camp
    • Leaders-In-Training
    • Family Camp
    • Is Camp Alleghany Right For You?
    • For Campers
      • A Day at ‘Ghany
      • Activities
      • Programs
      • Meals and Food
      • Traditions
      • Hear Our Songs
      • Alleghany Colors
      • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
  • Staff
    • Apply to be a Camp Counselor
    • Is Camp Alleghany the Right Place for Me as a Counselor?
    • Apply to be a Family Camp Counselor
    • Apply to Be a Mini Camp Counselor
  • Blog
Register For Camp 

Tri-State Camp Conference 2022

It was so refreshing and wonderful to be back with other camp professionals in person at the American Camp Association's Tri-State Conference!

April 5, 2022 By Elizabeth Shreckhise

Professional camp conferences are back to being held in-person! After two years of virtual conferences – which were fine and educational but not the same – both the American Camp Association (ACA) National Conference and the ACA Tri-State Conference were held in person this year! And it was so refreshing and wonderful to be back with “my people.”

The ACA National Conference was in February in Portland, Oregon this year. I was registered to attend and slated to be a presenter on a panel with some colleagues, but the dates ended up bumping up too closely to a planned family trip to Disney World and Universal Studios, so I ended up backing out. My friends and colleagues had a great time, learned a lot, and confirmed it was wonderful to be back in person.

So that got me super excited for my trip to the ACA Tri-State Conference, an event held annually in Atlantic City, New Jersey, put on by ACA New York-New Jersey. It’s the largest camp conference in the world, with more attendees than any other camp conference. This year they announced that about 3,000 people were in attendance.

At the opening keynote, the president of ACA NY-NJ and the conference chairs made some great opening remarks, one being that we were probably the very last conference on earth held before everything shut down back in 2020 (we arrived home from Tri-State on March 12 of that year!), and one of the first to get back together after a long two years.

And the reunion was spectacular!

This year, our Program Director, Casey Tucker, came along as usual. He learned so much and enjoyed it, as always.

We also included our Head of Family Camp, Stephanie Astley. As it’s our 100th summer, and we have a lot cooking for Family Camp, we thought this would be a great way for her to make some connections in the camp world and get some ideas. Plus, she’s on support staff for much of the summer leading up to Family Camp, so the more ideas we can get for camp, the better! It was Stephanie’s first camp conference and I’m hoping she’ll write her own blog about experience as a first-timer.

On the Ground

This year we decided to stay in an Air BnB a couple miles from the convention center and walk in to the conference every morning. It was nice to have our own place, cook breakfast and pack lunch every day, and have a brisk morning walk near the ocean to start off the day. After a day of listening, learning and networking, it was restorative to have a place to unwind in the evenings.

The sessions were, as always, highly informative and educational. We went to sessions on staff training, hiring, staff morale boosters, parent communication, incorporating wellness at camp, positive leadership strategies, teaching leadership, and much more. These sessions always provide us with tools, tips, and ideas to make camp better, stronger, and even more positive. I always come away with more ideas than I can implement in one season!

The Exhibit Hall is always one of my favorite parts of the conference, with hundreds of vendors representing everything you could ever want in camp. We saw crafts, clothing, mattresses and bedding, tennis courts, water activities, COVID testing companies, camp registration systems, and more.

It was meaningful for us to connect in person with some of our favorite vendors like our food service company Wolfoods, our camp registration system CampMinder, and some of our clothing reps like Everything Summer Camp and Outfit Your Logo (and others!). It’s always great making new connections as well and getting so many new ideas for camp – whether programming, clothing and gear, furniture, and more.

Friends and Colleagues

The networking is also a fantastic piece of these conferences. We meet so many other camp professionals from so many walks of life and from ALL different types of camps – day camps, co-ed camps, science camps, wilderness camps, medical needs camps – you name it, there’s a camp for it. It just proves that there truly is a camp for everyone. I love making connections, talking to other camp professionals, getting ideas, and sharing my own ideas and what works at Alleghany. I’ve gotten so many ideas and tools from those conversations over the years, it’s just invaluable.

And we built in some time to socialize with those we DO know as well!

Many camps from Virginia and West Virginia attend Tri-State, so it was fun to see those camp professionals around the conferences center. We planned in advance a happy hour for all of us to get together. Represented at that happy hour were colleagues and friends from Camp Carysbrook, Camp Twin Creeks, Camp Hidden Meadows, Camp Horizons, Camp Friendship, the Skelton 4-H Educational Center, and Congressional Day Camps. Several of us meet via Zoom on a weekly basis to share ideas, concerns, challenges, and it was fantastic to be in person for once.

I posted several pictures on our social media throughout the week, and one dear camp friend of mine from my Junior Counselor group saw the pictures and messaged me that she lives just 20 minutes away from Atlantic City, so we decided to get together for dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years, and it felt like not a day had passed! It’s a truly amazing thing about the deep bonds of camp friendships, and how they last a lifetime.

In It Together

Perhaps one of the best parts of this year’s conference was how affirming it was in the challenges that we faced last year as an organization. It wasn’t just us and our organization, the entire industry faced the same challenges. We all had to deal with COVID policies and procedures of course, staffing shortages and other staff issues, mental health, and more. I was surprised by how many speakers or presenters mentioned very specific challenges that I thought were unique to Alleghany, but were apparently more ubiquitous. A few times I thought, “How does she know that happened to us last summer?!” It was truly affirming in that we’re all in this together. It wasn’t just Alleghany, and we’re not alone in facing many post-pandemic challenges.

Overall, it was such a positive experience on so many levels, and I feel refreshed, energized, and full of ideas for Summer 2022!

— Elizabeth Shreckhise, Director, Camp Alleghany for Girls

Filed Under: Directors Tagged With: American Camp Association, conferences, leadership, professional development, staff training, team work

About Elizabeth Shreckhise

Elizabeth is the Director of Camp Alleghany for Girls, the third generation member in her family to hold this position. But she also spent her childhood (ages 7-16) as 'Ghany camper, then held various counselor positions, and spent a decade here as the Assistant Director. She has a Masters in Education and Human Development and is a former School Counselor. Elizabeth lives in Staunton, Virginia during the "off-season" with her husband Matt and sons Mason, Ellis, and Noah. In addition to staffing, enrollment, program planning, outreach, and camp management duties, she helps keep the website current, writes and updates camp literature, and oversees the blog.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Tips on Staying in Touch with Camp Friends During the School Year
  • How we Foster Healthy Habits at Camp and How to Continue these Habits Post-Camp
  • Our Summer 2024 Counselor Applications are Open!

Get Our Blog Updates

Get our latest news. No spam -- Your e-mail is safe with us.

Footer

Contact Us

304.645.1316

304.362.0134 (fax)

Info@campalleghany.com

Camp Alleghany for Girls
428 Camp Alleghany Road
Caldwell, WV 24925

Main Pages

  • About Us
    • Empowering Girls
    • Mission and Philosophy
    • Our Directors
    • Camp Videos
    • Testimonials
    • Camp Alleghany Alumni Association
      • Board Members and Committees
      • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
  • Parents
    • General Info for Parents
      • Opening Day Procedures
      • Closing Day Procedures
    • FAQ’s
    • Packing List and Information
    • Dates and Rates
    • Parent Resources
    • Forms and Info
    • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
    • Camp Store
    • Visiting Alleghany
    • Parent Log In
  • Campers
    • Mother Daughter Weekend
    • Mini Camp
    • Term Camp
    • Leaders-In-Training
    • Family Camp
    • Is Camp Alleghany Right For You?
    • For Campers
      • A Day at ‘Ghany
      • Activities
      • Programs
      • Meals and Food
      • Traditions
      • Hear Our Songs
      • Alleghany Colors
      • Apply for the Lantern Scholarship
  • Staff
    • Apply to be a Camp Counselor
    • Is Camp Alleghany the Right Place for Me as a Counselor?
    • Apply to be a Family Camp Counselor
    • Apply to Be a Mini Camp Counselor
  • Blog

Other Pages

  • Alumni Hub
  • Request Info
  • Job Openings
  • Families Log In
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Vimeo

Copyright © 2023 Camp Alleghany for Girls.