News From Camp Riverbend

April 2008
Open House for Enrolled Campers on Saturday April 26

Considering sending your child to Camp Riverbend? Come to our Open House on Saturday, April 26, from 11 am to 2 pm. (Rain date Sunday April 27) Play sports, games and make beautiful crafts with our camp counselors and enjoy a BBQ lunch. Continuous tours of Camp with the Breene family. Please RSVP by April 20

March 2005
Camp Riverbend Legends and Lore

     After 42 summers of fun, games and special events at Camp Riverbend, we have accumulated a whole bunch of special traditions that are unique to Riverbend. Where did they come from? We’ve dug deep into our memories to find out their origins....
     Gaga: This overwhelmingly popular game was reportedly brought to Camp Riverbend by a counselor from Israel in the 1970's. The game was first played with 6 picnic benches tipped on their sides as the 6 walls of the court.
     The Friday Cartwheels: According to Harold Breene, our Camp Director, he did a cartwheel on the first Friday of the very first season of camp on the front lawn as the buses were pulling out, just to celebrate the successful completion of one week! At the end of the second week, he added a second cartwheel, and a third cartwheel after the third week. Since about 1991, Robin Breene Hetrick, a gymnast in her childhood days and now our Waterfront Director, has had the gig. When Robin broke her arm in the summer of 2003, Lindsay Fontana (Head Counselor Joe’s daughter) filled in for her.
     The Fire Engine: We've had a fire engine at Camp Riverbend since we began in 1963. In the early days, Mr. Breene used to drive the old 1938 Pirsch Pumper in Memorial Day and 4th of July parades in Plainfield. We acquired our new 1969 Mack model a few years ago, on E-bay! Our shopping methods may have changed, but campers still love to climb and play on the fire engine as much as they did 40+ years ago.
     The Closing Campfire: In the first few years of camp, we had our “floating campfire” on the last day of camp on the Passaic River! All the campers and counselors sat along the bank of the river and all the parents came too, to watch. Each camp group floated a candle out on the river (which we collected later as they floated downstream to the canoeing launch area.) The closing campfire was moved to the pool in the early 1970's. We have been singing the same campfire songs since the very beginning—“Taps,” “Kumbayah,” “Each Candle Lights Anew,” and “Witchcraft,” as the campfire lit magically without being touched. Although we have revealed lots of other inside information here, our fire-starting “witchcraft” remains a closely guarded secret!