We recently picked our 12-year-old daughter up from an overnight camp on the other side of Baltimore, Maryland, almost to the Delaware border. She attended the second of a two-week session so parents were invited to the closing ceremony on a Friday afternoon that took place in the outdoor amphitheater. As we stood around watching the counselors perform a funny skit and listening to them lead the campers in song, it brought back fond memories of wonderful days at summer camp in the heart of West Virginia.

I spent a month each summer at Camp Tygart in Randolph County, which was operated by the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, while my sister spent six weeks at horse camp at Ruby Farms in Preston County.

At Camp Tygart our days were filled with swimming, canoeing, archery, riflery, crafts, daily mass, and hiking. At least one night we hauled our sleeping bags out to a pasture and snoozed under the stars, careful to avoid any droppings left behind by the usual occupants of that particular field.

Every week there was a long hike up a mountain that often included the view of a large meadow covered in tall grass and wildflowers blowing in the breeze, a trail ride on mules that were often less than thrilled to be hauling us around, and a big bonfire where we sat around telling ghost stories and singing songs, many made popular by Peter Paul and Mary that were really meant as a protest against an unpopular war. But there were other songs that were part of our camp tradition. They were silly ditties about eating worms (which we always sang before a spaghetti meal), and the song of the sewer (which made little sense but was fun to sing anyway).

Camp Tygart operated one-week sessions, and at the end of each week we looked forward to a trip to nearby Kumbrabow State Forest, where we picnicked and swam in an icy mountain creek, complete with a waterfall to slide down. For campers who stayed more than one week there were weekend activities that usually involved hauling us in the back of a big truck somewhere like a drive-in movie, or to Cass Scenic Railroad.

At the camp my daughter attends they don’t sleep in cow pastures or haul the kids anywhere in the back of big trucks. But they do offer a ton of fun activities like international cooking, horseback riding, sailing, water skiing, and a challenge course with a zip line. They also offer their own traditions that I knew, as I watched that sea of young people standing arm-in-arm during the closing ceremony swaying side to side as they sang the camp’s theme song, were creating special memories that will last a lifetime.