We had our first session of Family Camp since the 80s this summer, and boy, was it great! We had 10 families (over 30 people!) join us for four days of camp activities, special programs, and, of course, a whole lot of Foley fun.
Although Foley has a long history with Family Camp and has hosted it many times in the past, that was more than 20 years ago. Needless to say, we learned a lot during these four days in 2026! We are so appreciative of the families who joined us and were flexible, enthusiastic, and passionate about everything we did together.
We wanted to give you a little sneak peek into what we got to experience during Family Camp and, hopefully, encourage you to sign up for our 2027 Family Camp session. Here are just four of our favorite highlights.
Seeing Alumni Rediscover Favorite Activities
We hosted activities at Family Camp much like our “special days” at summer camp, meaning they were all open activities. Families could flow in and out of activities as they wanted, with a few special programs scheduled throughout the weekend.
We ran Archery, Riflery, Trap Shooting, Tennis, Pickleball, Climbing, and Slingshots, along with tons of water activities like sailing, canoeing, swimming, skiing, windsurfing, and paddleboarding.
With flexibility being the goal, we could take stock halfway through the weekend of what families and “campers” were really enjoying, what we should keep open more often, and what people were ready to move on from. We could truly cater the experience to exactly what our group wanted, which means Family Camp won’t look exactly the same next year!
One highlight of the weekend was our Derby Car Race, where each family was highly encouraged to build their own Derby Car in Shop. We saw so many creative vehicles, and the race was a huge hit! The dads are already planning which designs might work better next year.
Campfires!
We hosted two campfires over the four days. (We mean program campfires, because technically, there was a bonfire every night!)
We kicked things off with an Opening Campfire featuring our core staff performing lots of gimmicks and tricks, much to the delight of our younger crowd. There were the classics, like the Green Glass Door and How to Draw the Moon, along with a great Scottish spit contest that ended with an epic spill all over Assistant Director Will.
We sang lots of repeat-after-me songs and encouraged families and kids to join us on “stage” to help lead songs alongside the Foley core staff. We rounded out the night with Purple Light, accompanied by guitar, and Taps. It was the perfect way to start our Family Camp adventure.
We closed out the four-day weekend with a Closing Campfire at Lower Mosquito. While Opening Campfire was mostly led by our core staff, this time we got the whole camp involved.
We posted a camp song request list and then tracked down alumni to help us lead each requested song at Closing Campfire. We also handed out superlatives for different activity achievements, from hitting your first clay pigeon to being the fastest on the climbing wall.
We finished with another round of Taps, this time led by the Revord family. It was a special tribute to their patriarch, Jack Revord, who was one of our oldest 100th Anniversary attendees and led Taps at a campfire during our 100th summer.
An Old-Fashioned Hot Dog Roast at the Beach
We had a hot dog roast on Friday night at our beach property for everyone, and it was grand fun!
There were plenty of games, including bags, Kubb, and beach volleyball. We brought out our giant paddleboards, which the little campers quickly turned into their own personal water mats, jumping off and splashing around.
AD Will curated a great beach playlist to rock out to, while everyone enjoyed hot dogs and s’mores around the campfire or along the shores of the beach. It was one of those classic summer nights that just felt like camp.
Passing on the Foley Love from One Generation to the Next
Last, but certainly not least, we loved the overall feeling of happiness and joy that came around every day of Family Camp.
Many alumni shared favorite memories during Closing Campfire, and almost every family shared how special it was to relive their favorite camp moments, this time with their children or grandchildren.
One of our attendees, Jenny Forward, shared this with us after she left Family Camp:
“What I didn’t realize when I was at camp and announcing my Foley First, this was the first time in a VERY long time I got to do something for ME. For 3.5 days I was truly a camper. I didn’t worry about meal planning, or driving, or phone calls or budgeting our next grocery trip. I didn’t watch the news and feel dread about the current state of politics. I heard many times this weekend that camp was always a safe place to be yourself and try new things. When you are a kid you take it for granted… as an adult you are responsible for safety all the time, even when sleeping. This weekend, I truly felt safe to let things go and be present in the weekend.”
That feeling is exactly what we hoped Family Camp could be.
Thank you to all of our Family Camp people! Thank you to everyone who joined us as “campers,” to all of our core staff who worked so hard to make the magic happen, and to everyone who told someone, “Hey, we should check out Foley Family Camp this year.”
Please spread the word! Our hope is to grow Family Camp bigger and better next year, and we would love to see you back on the shores of Lower Whitefish Lake in 2027.