About Camp Regis Applejack

I was very impressed with the dedication of the counselors. It’s rare to find so many who are willing to contribute so much to our children. I especially want to thank the drama coach, Peter.

I miss camp terribly. While I love my job, I feel as though there’s this chunk missing from my life. I guess Regis Applejack has been my summer home for so long, it just doesn’t feel right to be away from it. It’s too bad that it usually takes being away from something to realize its importance.

Camp is very fun. I hate to go home. I know I am going to drown in tears because I love camp so much. I would give a million dollars to stay for the winter. I love all the kids. I love the surroundings. I just love camp. I love Sunday Morning Meeting and I love the activities. I love everything in camp very mush except the clean-up in the morning. I love everything in Camp Regis.

This summer has been great for me. I have learned so much about camping, about kids, and life in general. I came way up here from North Carolina to work, to learn and to have a good summer. Thanks to all your help and kind words, that’s exactly what I’ve done. Hope to see you next summer.

Only when Matt came back from camp and told us of all that he had experiences and all the friends he made, did I begin to appreciate the valuable experience of this camp. I now know that I was very fortunate to have chosen Camp Regis Applejack. He grew in maturity, responsibility, and confidence. I was very glad that he was able to meet people with different backgrounds and people from different countries.

Camp Regis Applejack has become an experience of simple outdoor living shared with many different people. This has helped me to gain a sense of purpose, meaning in life, universal values of friendship, respect for differences in people and love of nature.

My children have developed long-lasting friendships, which I’m sure will be lifelong. The rich source of cultures and backgrounds has also been a major asset to the camp environment.

We look forward to the upcoming parent’s weekend. We not only enjoy seeing the beauty of the mountains, but also the pleasure of witnessing tolerance, gentleness, and thoughtfulness being encouraged. These values sustain the spirit as much as the water in St. Regis Lake sustains the life around it.

A summer at Regis Applejack is not a way of just passing the summer. A summer at Regis Applejack, it seems to me, becomes a summer of fulfillment and enjoyment… it becomes a summer which allows both campers and counselors to grow and learn… a more rewarding way to pass a summer I don’t think I’ll find.

Dear Kitchen staff: Thank you so much for your great food, especially the vegetarian meals. I really loved it.

Your philosophy for bringing these kids together and being responsible and cooperative is wonderful. Thanks for letting Julie be a part of it.

For the past 18 years, I have been visiting camps in my capacity as the director of camper placement for the American Camp Association, New York & New Jersey. I have visited hundreds of camps and think that Regis Applejack stands out for its warmth, nurturing environment and wonderful Quaker values. This is a camp where any child will feel that they are part of a community and can be themselves! Located on one of the most beautiful waterfronts in the Adirondacks, Regis is an amazing camp for a child to discover the benefits of an overnight camp experience.

I’d like to say this is the first time I’ve been to a camp without cliques. What a joy!

Camp Regis, its collection of staff and kids, the beautiful location and its, oh, so, special atmosphere and environment, collectively make a genuine, wholesome and unique contribution to anyone connected with and having a feeling for its cause. No matter wherever I go or whatever I do, Camp Regis will always be the most influencing factor in my life … and for that, I again want to thank you.

As you know, I don’t hesitate to refer to Regis as my second home. For so many years, it’s been my security, a rock, perhaps more than anything else, a resting place for me to stop and replenish my energies, my faith in people, my love for life. Regis has a security and a reality all its own.

It was obvious to me that everyone cared in a special way. It was really amazing to realize what a valuable experience this was. I thank you! Steve intends to return and hopes someday to be a counselor. I now understand why campers return year after year and then continue on as counselors at Camp Regis Applejack.

We’re family … not just another camp!

I will always treasure the summers I spent at Camp Regis Applejack and wish I could relive them all.

I feel I have so much to be thankful for. I felt warm and safe inside our cozy little camp community and I want you to know just how much you and the camp are appreciated! I have many fond memories that cheer up my loneliest times and I know I will always have family at Camp Regis Applejack. There is a poem I wrote at camp and read at a Sunday Morning Meeting – those reflective times when I often found my voice choked with emotion: Sometimes – I reflect upon those I love and I think about the times they have been so good to me, their warmth so comforting, their support so reassuring, and I wonder if they know how much I really do appreciate them.

Yesterday I climbed a nearby mountain and sat on the top for a couple of hours. As I sat there, I thought about all the fun times I have had at camp. I have so many memories from the last six summers. As I thought about it, I realized that, in retrospect, many of the happiest days of my life took place at Camp Regis/Applejack. Within only two months a year, I made some of my closest friends – both campers and staff… The conditions at camp force people to learn to live together, accept each other and understand each other… I owe a lot of my good qualities to the summers at Camp Regis.

Dearest Chef Frank: For the past 5 years I have taken your camp cuisine for granted. I must apologize for this. After being at a boarding school where they apparently feel the students can survive on bread and water… I would say that you are far beyond master cook, keep up the great work and mail me some recipes.

It has been so hard for me the last few weeks knowing that camp is in session and I am not an active part of it. I always feel that I am part of camp whether I’m there or not, but sure would like to be with a group or out on the lake or playing guitar at Sunday meeting.

Karen had a wonderfully happy and productive summer. We are very pleased with her attitude, outlook, and enthusiasm. Her bunk and counselors were super and that makes for a terrific summer.

As parents, we appreciate very much the kind of non-competitive, interesting and motivating camp programs you’ve built at Regis Applejack over the years.

Having spent eight of my best summers between seven and fifteen years old at Camp Regis Applejack, I couldn’t recommend a better place to send children. It was there that I developed my love for folk music, people from other cultures and my lifelong commitment to world peace and the environment. Aside from its extraordinary setting in the Adirondack Mountains, the uniquely supportive atmosphere encouraged each child to develop and explore new skills and experiences at their own pace.

The unspoiled Adirondack surroundings, the “safety first” philosophy, the wide variety of activities and the multi-cultural/multi-ethnic atmosphere all combined to help me feel I chose the right place.

I want you to know that we were pleased at picking Camp Regis Applejack for Paul, out of more than half a dozen camps considered. Bob and Holly did a great job stimulating interest for Paul in the boating program. He now has a new found love for sailing.

I can’t tell you what it means to us to have Kate tell us about the plot and characters of Phantom, Les Mis, Little House of Horrors, or Bye Bye Birdie, and to watch her listen to the music from these shows with great appreciation.

My husband and I thank you for a wonderful camping experience. Tom and Chris are full of camp stories, songs, jokes and reminiscences of all sorts. Please add the family to your long list of admirers. We enjoyed our visit with you in your lovely woods and we’re sorry it had to be so brief. Much love from the boys.

I made lots of new friends and learned how to waterski.

Hank and I want to thank you for providing another successful summer for our daughter Katherine. Each summer we have seen a big leap in her independence and development of social skills. Thanks for your diligence in providing a safe atmosphere in which learning and childhood joys appear to be intertwined and flourish.

This is just a line to tell you how pleased we were with Karen’s summer at your camp. Your counselors are superb, kind and thoughtful people and the campers are truly delightful. In addition, Karen’s tennis improved remarkably under Dan’s direction. We are sure she will make Jr. Varsity on our school team that boasts ranking New England players.

I’ve never been to a camp before that had counselors that were so friendly, and everyone was so supportive.

I thank you for the recent packet which you sent concerning Andrew and his activities at camp. This recent mailing reminded me that since he returned from camp, I’ve been meaning to write you to thank you for making this summer one of the most memorable and meaningful summers that he has even had.

When we awoke, it was raining so hard that we couldn’t continue to canoe to the different lakes. As the rain poured down we all learned something that day that was great. We learned to work together. Everyone knew that we had to cooperate to overcome the challenges and problems that we had ahead of us.

What a great time we had at visiting day this year. It always brings back feelings of being a child again when I walk along the trails and smell that clean Adirondack air.

My name is Steve Darby. I’m a former camper from 1976 – 1978 and was a counselor for the summer of 1981. Summer 1976, my parents and I were on a month long camping trip from Michigan and just happened to be near Paul Smiths; so, my Dad (Randal Darby) wanted to see if the camp was still there because…He was a counselor there in the ’50s; not sure of the exact year. We pulled into camp around the 3rd week of an 8-week session. Earl & Pauline were at camp that day and remembered my Dad and promptly invited them into their cabin there. Mike Humes was also there and kindly offered to take me on a tour. A couple of hours later, Mike brought me back to the Humes’ cabin and Earl asked me how I liked the place. Of course, I was in awe of what I was shown. A couple hours later, I was a Camp Regis camper and had one of the best summers of my life. The next summer I came back for the entire summer and then graduated to AJ camp for summer 1978. After I graduated high school, I came back to the cabin I first started at, now as a junior counselor. To this day I have not had an experience that compares to my years at Regis! Learning to water ski was my favorite thing, which I became very competent at too. Bill Vesley was the camp director during my tenure, and I got to know his kids pretty well, Todd and Sharon. I loved to watch Todd water ski…awesome! I learned how to sail those years and enjoyed that too. I often thought after I retired from the Air Force that I would love to be part of the camp in some capacity again, but it always seemed to be more of a dream than a reality for my life. This is why I’m so happy to see stories like mine of how much Camp Regis has filled so many hearts, and I’m thrilled to see this resurgence in getting camp back to its glory days.