2023 ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN!
Where community is a state of mind.
Camp Kawanhee is a resident camp located on the eastern shore of Webb Lake in the Town of Weld, nestled among the Appalachian Mountains of western Maine. In continuous operation since 1920, Kawanhee welcomes boys ages 7 to 17 from all corners of the United States and abroad. Kawanhee is committed to a broad-based camp program, offering an evolving and rich mixture of enduring traditions and innovation…of intentional learning and spontaneous, unbridled joy. Camp Kawanhee is operated by the George and Raymond Frank Foundation, a Section 501(c) (3) charitable organization.
Introductory Zoom Sessions
Do you want to learn more about Camp Kawanhee and meet camp directors, other camp families and have the opportunity to ask questions? We have 3 sessions scheduled. Sunday February 5th @7:30, Sunday March 5th@7:30 and Sunday March 19th @ 7:30. Prospective and current parents and campers are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Please contact liz@kawanhee.com for information on how to join.
Kawanhee is a place where trying out new things and pushing beyond the familiar are celebrated, and where life-changing interests are born.
Where boys check their cell phones at the door and instead lift their eyes to infinite possibilities around them. Where they come to know, or are reminded, that star-gazing from a sleeping bag in the casual company of one’s friends is more satisfying than any text message or YouTube video. Where there is nothing virtual about the exhilaration of a sweaty hike to a mountain summit.
And most importantly, where boys make enduring and honest friendships, daring to embrace their new-found brothers and their quirky summer community. It’s no wonder that camp friendships often last long after a camp career has given way to college, a livelihood and a family of one’s own.
Kawanhee gives boys some distance from their identities back home and at school, allowing them to catch their breath and create a vision for the bigger picture of their lives. It’s why we do camp, and why we so fervently believe that boys of the 21st century need such a place more than ever. Our shared goal is to return campers to their lives back home more confident and resourceful, eager to pitch-in, having made fast friends with people from all over, and having developed many new interests and talents.
Kawanhee is a place where trying out new things and pushing beyond the familiar are celebrated, and where life-changing interests take root.
Where boys check their cell phones at the door and instead lift their eyes to infinite possibilities around them. Where they come to know, or are reminded, that star-gazing from a sleeping bag in the casual company of one’s friends is more satisfying than any text message or YouTube video. Where there is nothing virtual about the exhilaration of mountain biking in Maine’s backwoods.
And most importantly, where boys make enduring and honest friendships, daring to embrace their new-found brothers and their quirky summer community. It’s no wonder that camp friendships often last long after a camp career has given way to college, a livelihood and a family of one’s own.
Kawanhee gives boys some distance from their identities back home and at school, allowing them to catch their breath and create a vision for the bigger picture of their lives. It’s why we do camp, and why we so fervently believe that boys of the 21st century need such a place more than ever. Our shared goal is to return campers to their lives back home more confident and resourceful, eager to pitch-in, having made fast friends with people from all over, and having developed a broader and deeper sense of what is possible.
Camp Kawanhee for Boys
On a mountain lake in the Maine woods since 1920. Venture northward!
Dear Liz and Mark,
S – – talked nonstop for three hours on the way back to Brooklyn from Maine—truly not an exaggeration—and intermittently for the next four hours as well. He told me about overcoming his fear and leaping from the high rock in Coos Canyon, the knots he learned to tie and what each is useful for, unsuccessful attempts at kayak rolls and face-plants attempting slalom skiing (“I’ll get it next year”), completing the Bass Rock swim, about his friends and counselors, card games in the lodge and sort of scary mountain bike trails, trivia questions and pranking the Mr. Clean inspection, polar bear swims, improving his range skills, the camp dogs, tetherball games, collecting points for the Maroons …
I loved hearing about every detail and especially loved how this summer especially he tried so many things without concern about whether he would be good at it, because camp is a place where it’s OK to enter a tennis tournament even though you’re a rank beginner and to lose in the first round, or to fall repeatedly trying to get up on one ski. I loved watching him walk around camp, tossing his arm around a friend as they sat on the bench—his whole demeanor was so relaxed and happy. I loved watching the boys celebrating one another’s accomplishments at the awards ceremony, with their cheers and hugs and high fives.
When we returned to our ordinary life back home—to youth baseball coaches yelling at umpires, to toxic political discord and the assault of bad news on so many things—I felt regret that S – – can’t hide away at Kawanhee for longer. But I am so grateful to you all for creating such a lovely “haven,” as S – – called it, and hopeful that he can keep a bit of that Kawanhee spirit inside him, to last until he can return for another dose next summer.
All best,
Tracy
The Camper Experience
