YMCA Camp Mason
January 8, 2013
Hardwick , NJ
While home for Holiday break in Rochester, Jack and I became stir crazy and contacted some of the camps that we had in our own North Eastern backyard. Dave Deluca at Camp Mason was excited about having us come down for the day and learn about his camp in South Jersey. Camp Mason is now 113 years old! Camp Mason has all of the classic accoutrements to provide a perfect summer experience. Rock wall, pool, garden, athletic fields and even a skateboard park! They have an awesome location that allows them to access the Appalachian trail and take trips to the Delaware river and they take full advantage of it. Dave the CEO and Executive director has been at Mason for 5 years. He comes from being the director of Beckett in Western Massachusetts and Camp Abnaki in Vermont. Dave knows Camp. He has an attitude of continuous improvement and shared with us some of his future dreams for Camp Mason. We were also lucky enough to meet Dave's wife, Lori and go out to dinner with them at an awesome Thai Food restaurant. The food was amazing and we got to learn so much about the Y and about Dave’s camping philosophy. He helped us understand that a director can often learn the most about camp while playing basketball with a group of campers and staff, something Dave tries to do everyday at camp.-Laura