Grown-Up Camp
Where adults can act like kids without any prying eyes or judgments
By Andy Pritikin
Photos: Liberty Lake
The email to camp parents read like this: Every year, we get dozens of parents who half-jokingly ask if we can host a day of camp for PARENTS. Well, guess what? We're calling your bluff—the day you have been waiting for has finally arrived! Liberty Lake and Screamin’ Hill Farm Brewery present … GROWN-UP CAMP!
And the event was AWESOME.
Five hundred young-at-heart grown-ups gathered for a day of unbridled fun in the sun that normally only campers get to experience at Liberty Lake Day Camp in New Jersey. Egg toss, tug-of-war, dodgeball—these folks couldn’t get enough of the camp spirit! As the owner/operator of a large day camp, plus the New Jersey Renaissance Faire, and a picnic business, I can say with certainty that since the pandemic, people want to get outside and play—especially grown-ups. Our picnic business, which serves businesses and families, is almost back to pre-pandemic levels, and the Renaissance Faire was sold out every day; across the country, these types of events are seeing record-breaking crowds. The year and a half (or more) of hiding in our houses going stir-crazy, staring at screens, has created new recreational opportunities that many are whole-heartedly embracing.
A Classic Lineup
For Grown-Up Camp, “campers” were required to sign a serious waiver to prove they were 21 years of age since beer was being served. Everyone gathered at the amphitheater as is typically done at camp, and we revved up participants with music and a terrific master of ceremonies (the camp’s event director).
A program schedule was posted in strategic locations around the camp, as well as available through a scanned bar code on campers’ phones (yes, phones were allowed—and the resulting posts on social media were amazing). Staff members were positioned in areas for boating, arts and crafts, basketball, archery/laser tag, a rock-climbing wall, and pickleball, and ran events like tug-of-war, dodgeball, egg toss, and a Ga-Ga tournament a few times throughout the afternoon. There were three food trucks, and a local brewery that helped promote the event sold so much beer employees had to run back to the brewery and get more.
Most of the participants were parents, and many were parents of campers and thrilled to be able to let their hair down and be goofy without their kids around. Bouncing on the water trampoline, using the pool slides—the adults were so happy. All the while, a rock band played the classics on a small stage in a central location. It was like a giant park where grown-ups could actually do things together. Many groups wore matching T-shirts—putting great thought and effort towards the day’s success—and the number-one question throughout the day was, “Are you going to have this again?”
Tips That Pay Off
With one event completed, there are some things I might change the next time around. For instance, while the food trucks were great, they created long lines, which I hate as a camp director. Next time, we will have more food trucks or the food-service folks can charge for food—in the ticket price or a la carte, like we do for the Renaissance Faire.
Also, some program areas were probably overstaffed, like basketball and pickleball. We probably could have left out the equipment for participants to play on their own.
For anyone looking to tackle an event like this, here are some tips:
Create a relatively “open” schedule in which participants can move freely between open athletic/art/waterfront activities and fixed-time, special event-type activities.
Stick to an afternoon timeframe like noon to 5 p.m.
Market the event more toward grown-ups 35 and older, who are less apt to become drunk and create issues.
Host the event on a Sunday to keep things “calmer.”
All in all, we had a great day and grossed $13,000 for 5-plus hours of hard work!
As the tired, sun-burnt grown-ups headed for their cars (there were plenty of designated drivers, by the way), my wife stood at the edge of the parking lot with an ice-cream cooler, handing out 500 purple ice-pops the kids had avoided eating at camp (for some reason, purple ice pops have fallen out of favor). As she handed the snacks out, she smiled and told the participants, “Make sure you tell your kids that you had a great time at camp today!”
Andy Pritikin is the owner/director of Liberty Lake Day Camp in Bordentown, N.J., host of the Day Camp Podcast, producer of the New Jersey Renaissance Faire, and partner of Everwood Day Camp in Sharon, Mass., and Camp Southwoods in Paradox, N.Y. He is also Past President of the American Camp Association, NY/NJ. Reach him at andy@libertylakedaycamp.com.