by Bruce Netherwood, VP of Camping Services

In 1997, in my third year as Executive Director, I decided that along with the closing campfire we needed something special to end our summers at Burgess & Hayward. And M & P was born. During the last two days of session four all the campers are split into two teams – the Mariners, who represent water and are the blue team. And the Pioneers, whose color is red, and which represents fire. Each team has four designated leaders from Burgess and Hayward, and over the two days the campers partake in a series of competitive events – swim meets, boating regatta’s and round the lake relays. Over the past 26 years the games have been incredibly close, with the Pioneers having won fourteen times and Mariners twelve, including the last two years. To say that M & P has become a highly anticipated, much-loved part of Camp would be an understatement. From the moment session four begins there is a countdown calendar in each dining hall. What started off as campers and staff simply wearing a red or blue shirt to represent their team, has morphed into a complete dying of hair and body.  When staff alumni of the past twenty-five years meet for the first time, the first thing they want to know is “are you a Mariner or a Pioneer?” Some staff have even gone so far as to get M & P tattoos.  And so that alumni and current session four families can feel part of the magic, several years ago we started the M & P challenge – an online fundraising competition where individuals can donate to the team of their choice. The challenge takes place during the actual games, and the winning fundraising team earns points towards their team’s total.  But in the end everyone wins, because all the money raised goes towards sponsoring kids to Camp, who otherwise would not have the opportunity. This year, we raised nearly $10,000 to send kids to camp. Thank you to our wonderful camp community for the support.