Last May, I was heading to Central Park on my bike like I do every year to join the Skier family (of AMSkier Insurance) and many of their friends for the TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour, which helps support the American Diabetes Association. As I was on my way to meet the group, I noticed an incredibly tall man and a petite woman by his side speaking to Henry Skier. Both faces looked very familiar, but I couldn’t place them right away — maybe because it was 8am in the morning, and I don’t like to be up before the crack of noon (especially on a Sunday). I began to wake up real fast when I realized that this couple was Marc and Caroline White, the directors of Kutsher’s Sports Academy, the camp I attended over 25 years ago! Memories from camp flashed through my head and in typical Aimee fashion, all I wanted to do was chat them up about camp, old friends, counselors and the latest on the new spot in Great Barrington, MA, where the camp is now located.

Fast forward to last Sunday, when the opportunity came to be that Camplified, in its ninth season, would roll onto the new KSA property — sound crew in truck, staff in Camplified van, followed caravan-style by Thomas Fiss’ branded Samsung van, Rachel Platten and Highbench. This would mark the first time that Camplified would embrace Kutsher’s, as well as my first time back at camp since the 1980s, a place that shaped many parts of my life, my brother’s and many of our Florida friends. Driving up to camp, along the windy roads, I nearly jumped out of my skin with enthusiasm, as if I was back on the bus so many years ago, pulling into camp with all my friends. And then there was that moment, where you realize your not 13 anymore, you are grown up and in front of you rests the place that inspired Camplified in its entirety. It was so surreal — the tears rolling down my face partially attributed to happy childhood memories of camp and also the reality of what my life was like back then. I remembered Parents’ Day at camp, when my grandmother was still alive and she would accompany my parents to see all the activities her grandchildren were enjoying at summer camp. It amazes me how fast we all grow up. (more…)