Events
Events and Celebrations
A Message From Sarah, Foley Alumni
A Historic Summer
You only turn 100 once, so it was important to properly celebrate this historic occasion! While it seemed impossible to cover all the decades of camp, we did our best to bring back as many memories as possible from the past century. Each camper received a special 100 year t-shirt that was worn during picture day and our traditional Founders Day ceremony, which was the day we focused on celebrating our history. Founders Day included sharing of stories, memories, and artifacts from the past, creating items to add to our time capsule that was buried this year, and of course a talent show. We also listened to some recordings of Father Foley talk about the beginnings of camp, before each camper received their 100 year pin for their lanyard. The night before Founders Day, campers were shown a video that tried to capture the story of Camp Foley over the past 100 years, an extended edition of this video can be seen here. During third session, we did calisthenics before breakfast, like they used to do every morning in the early years of camp. Also, each cabin was tasked to complete our Decade Bucket List Challenge, which had them do an activity that represented each decade of Foley. It included things such as doing a polar plunge, going on a snipe hunt, and passing a military style cabin inspection. We found many little ways to represent the history of camp each day, while also trying to create new experiences to kick off the next 100 years of camp!
2024 Programming
Battle Through Time
Alpha Games celebrated the history of Camp Foley and took us through the decades of special programs in our history. To kickoff Alpha Games each session we played a game of Camp Foley Quidditch. This was started during the banquet era at Foley, and is an homage to the game made famous by Harry Potter. This unique mixture of soccer, ultimate frisbee, and soccer was a great way to get the competition going for the session. On the last full day of camp, Alpha Games wrapped up with a giant relay race, where each section represented a decade of our history. It was so cool to gather all of camp on the soccer field to watch the conclusion of the session long competition. We can’t wait for next year where we bring back the first Alpha Games theme from 2019…Cardboard Boat Races!
REMINDER!! If you attended camp in 2021, 2022, 2023, or 2024 you will be on the SAME TEAM for the rest of your time at Foley. Make sure to bring clothes that match your team color. If you are not sure which team you were on, let us know and we can tell you! If you have not been here the past two summers, you will find out your team when you are at camp this summer, so make sure to bring at least one green, blue, red, and yellow item of clothing!
Congrats to our Winning Alpha Teams:
1st Session – Yellow Team
2nd Session – Blue Team
3rd Session – Blue Team
Late Night Adventure: Square Dance and Flick ‘N Float
Late Night Adventure was no exception in taking part in recognizing our history! This year we not only brought back by the popular event of Flick ‘N Float, but we also hired a professional caller to come and host a square dance at camp! In the past, Foley has often hosted dances for the campers, including inviting square dance callers to come and teach everyone how to do-si-do, promenade, and much more. Each session the campers and staff dressed in their finest cowboy apparel, went over to the barn, and took part in this historic event! After working hard dancing to the music and learning new moves, it was time to head down to the marina for a relaxing end to the evening. Campers and staff sat in boats and on the dock and watched a movie under the stars. The movies we watch for Flick ‘N Float were (in order of sessions): Little Rascals, The Sandlot, and Cool Runnings.
Baseball
America’s pastime was an important part of Foley for many years. From competitive games against other camps to even hosting a clinic put on by the Minnesota Twins, baseball has been at camp for many years. However, over the past 15 years or so, it has not had much of a presence at Foley, so we thought this was the perfect year to bring it back! We had many excited campers excited to put on gloves, grab a bat and head out to the field to play this great sport. We even bought Cracker Jacks that we gave out as a snack to make the experience more authentic!
4th of July
Celebrating the 4th of July is always one of the most exciting days at Foley. The day started off with a flag raising ceremony led by our CITs and from there the patriotic festivities took off in full swing! Throughout the day campers and staff dressed in patriotic outfits as they went about their day. There was no better way to celebrate independence day by having a barbecue in the afternoon before moving into our traditional 4th of July cabin challenges. If you have never been here for the 4th of July before, it includes a watermelon eating contest, a pie eating contest, dress up challenges, and finishes with an epic game of kumcha!
Tropical Party
Everyone was excited for the Early Bird Party, this summer it came with a Tropical twist! Campers enjoyed ice cold popsicles and sodas (some combining the two into yummy slushies) while playing games of limbo and trying out their best hula dance moves. Décor included adorable inflatable toys and wading pools, and a keepsake flower lei that each camper got to take home. Don’t forget to register before October 15th to snag an invite in 2025!
Foley Records
Second and Third session campers got to enjoy a special day of history making after the 2nd activity sign up. We set up 12 different Foley records for campers to try and break over the course of a special day morning. It was hilarious to see campers raisin spitting, broom balancing, trying basketball free throws, staring for as longas possible without blinking, doing pushups and sits up, balancing spoons on their faces, and coin spinning. Some of these records were set in the 90s by parents of camper in attendance this summer! Each session we had multiple campers set brand new records that were recorded in the Foley Books.
Last year we introduced Skaldborg (which means shield wall) to the East End of camp. This event, which is intended to bring all the boy’s together from the youngest cabin to the oldest, returned for it’s second year in a new format. This summer, teams were formed and we learned about how to create a strong Viking Ship, metaphorically. Campers were split up into teams and played a game that was a mixture of capture the flag and dodgeball. After the tournament was completed, all the East End formed their own Viking Ship and rowed their way to the top of the Marina. Once they arrived at the Marina, we talked about how the East End of camp is like a ship, if we do not all support each other we will sink, but together we can conquer any storm and accomplish great things! Skaldborg wrapped up by throwing a counselor (or assistant director) into the lake to cap off this epic night of bonding!
Assistant Director Ally hosted a West End Slumber Party for all the girls and staff living on the West End each session. Campers were treated to heated pools and salt scrub pedicures and oatmeal (and cream of wheat!) face masks perfect for exfoliating skin after a day running around camp. Girls could choose from a variety of Neon colors to use to paint their nails, the best part being all the different pack groups mixing up to help paint each other’s nails. Campers also made beaded friendship bracelets to trade and show more West End pride.
Campfires
Campfires held a special weight to them this year, it’s a lot of pressure to plan the 100th year opening or closing campfire! We are so proud of staff who pulled off some great songs and acts at each campfire this year, and for the wonderful participation from our campers. We were lucky to not have any weather issues like 2023, and got to enjoy each opening campfire all together at Lower Mosquito, and each Closing at our beloved Beach. The creativity was off the charts this summer with themes ranging from Time Travel with Father Foley, Inside Out- Riley Goes to Camp, The Foley Oscars, Camp Barbie, and a spectacular 3rd session Willy Wonka closing campfire featuring the one and only Alli Faricy reprising her role as an Oompa Loompa, a character not seen since 2012! Of course, we also had our traditional Friendship Campfires, where we took time to reflect upon the memories and bonds made at our time during camp, gave out pins representing the number of years each person has been at camp, and awarded the anchor award.
