The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Camp Fair’s debut at Hawken School garners rave reviews
Shopping for appliances, clothing or furniture online is one thing.
Deciding where to send your children to summer camp is an entirely different, and infinitely more critical, matter.
Thanks to a new exposition hosted at Hawken Lower & Middle School and organized by Northeast Ohio Parent Magazine, moms, dads and children of all ages had a chance to get up close and personal with dozens of summer camps during the first-ever Camp Fair Jan. 27 at the Lyndhurst venue.
“It was great,” said Sara Jane Fowler, a Chagrin Falls mother of two who came to the event with husband, Steve, 5-year-old son Isaac and 2-year-old daughter Zoey. “It’s nice to have a lot of information available like this.”
Both Sara Jane and Steve said they’d easily recommend the event to families looking to send their kids to camp.
“It was nice because there were camps here not only for kids that are going to be three, but also those for older kids, too,” Sara Jane said. “And I learned about some camps I’d never even heard of around the area, plus a lot of camps in other parts of Ohio.”
Inside the gymnasium at Hawken, there were 45 camps on hand presenting exhibits and activities, providing information and insight and even getting to know their potential attendees.
“I think this is wonderful for families to get exposure to all different styles and various disciplines of camps in one place,” said Cathy Huser, co-owner of Beachwood-based Thrive Arts Center, which offers summer camps and various weekly classes and lessons year-round. “And I think for parents it’s easier to come to one place and be able to speak to people from different organizations because it’s important to be able to ask questions and gain knowledge about the different camps.”
She added that an upclose and personal experience offers families an insight not possible online, in a brochure, by word-ofmouth or over the phone.
“In this atmosphere, we get to meet the children. We ask them how old they are, what they like and it gives us a chance to have a conversation to see if we’re the place to send them to fulfill their interests,” Huser said.
Rachel Stoneking, who is a studio facilitator at Thrive, added another important feature of an event like Hawken’s Camp Fair.
“Yes. It’s good for summer camps. But, also, it’s good for things that are going on all throughout the year,” she said, confirming that Thrive offers programs year-round for children of all ages. “People may not know about all the opportunities that exist other than summer camps. So this helps families get to know what’s available all year.”
One particular 3-year-old South Euclid boy who paid a visit to the Camp Fair with his parents knows exactly what he wants to get into, camp-wise, and had the perfect opportunity to explore his interest as his mom and dad learned more about what Thrive has to offer.
William Sundermeier got right to business sampling the camp’s exhibit as he played around with a little xylophone and made friends with Stoneking while his mom, Faith Han, asked questions and perused the organization’s offerings.
“Han later said she really enjoyed the fair because it provided insight into such a wide variety of camp fare.
“I think it’s so good for kids,” she said. “We only have one son and camp can expose him to so many things that we can’t at home. Here, we can find out what he really likes.”
Han’s husband and William’s dad, Thomas Sundermeier, agreed.
“It’s great to have all these people in one place and to be able to see all these options,” he said. “Because we only have one son and he’s only three, we’re sort of new at the summercamp game. So this really is a great resource for us.”
The event’s organizers seemed equally pleased with it, as well.
“We had a great turnout today,” said Brad Mitchell, owner and publisher of Northeast Ohio Parent. “We have 45 camps here and have had over 500 attendees. So it’s been better than expected.”
He said the in-person aspect of the fair was one of its most favored attributes among families.
“They were very glad to have face-to-face conversations with these camps to learn more about their offerings,” he said. “When you check out a website, you only get a certain amount of information. But, when you have a face-to-face conversation, you get such a better idea of the culture of a camp, so to speak. And that’s important.”
Mitchell added that he was happy such a diversity of camps was represented at the fair.
“We’re so glad to see such a variety of camps here,” he said. “There’s everything from arts, and sports camps to adventure, overnight and academic offerings.”
He said Northeast Ohio Parent plans to present the event again in early 2019.
When asked whether they had any advice for families planning on coming to next year’s fair, the Fowlers from Chagrin Falls said simply to come to it.
“Actually, you can move through it pretty quickly, so it’s not a huge time commitment to pop in and find out what’s available,” Steve Fowler said. “It only took us about an hour.”
Thrive’s Huser said it may take families of different sizes from an hour or less to the whole 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window during which the fair played out to look, learn and enjoy.
“It’s kind of like a car show for people looking to buy a new car,” she said. “Some may have only one child. Others may have four children and, while some people may be in and out in an hour, others may stay the whole day. It’s really up to them and their needs.”