““My experiences at Camp Wachusett are absolutely the fondest memories from my childhood. I can look back and say that, without “Camp”, I would never have grown into the kind, responsible, and compassionate man that I am today. Beginning my very first summer, from the moment I left camp until the moment I returned, I longed to be amongst my friends in those woods on the shores of Lake Hortonia. I cannot put into words the importance that Camp had to me. As I reflect now, with the “adult” perspective of a trained mental health professional, I can see that my time at Camp provided me just the right mixture of freedom to explore and structured safety. In that perfect sweet spot, I developed independence and responsibility while fulfilling my needs for excitement, adventure, and community. Exchanging school and the suburbs for the hills of Vermont each summer provided an annual rhythm that promoted my growth both in and out of my time at camp. The sense of comradery I experienced at camp somehow persisted throughout the school year, such that even when I was having a tough time, or struggling with bullies, I always felt a sense of belonging that never left me.

Although it’s been many years since I was a camper, Phil Williams was a very important part of my camp experience. He has always been a steady backbone to Camp Wachusett, and with him acting as Camp Director, I know that Camp will continue to provide amazing experiences for the campers of today. As is the case with many camp alumni, I feel such a strong connection to camp that I typically make annual trips to visit during the summer, and when I’m there, I experience the same Camp Wachusett that fostered such amazing experiences during my childhood.

If you are a parent thinking of Camp Wachusett for your child, I can’t recommend it enough. The only downside of having a Wachusett child will be learning to nurse him through the “camp sick” (rather than homesick) that he is sure to feel during the months between camp seasons.”

“Having not come from the camp tradition myself, I was (and continue to be) a bit of a nervous mom in sending my boys to camp. But over now many years, the staff and leadership have been unfailingly kind and attentive in making sure parents and kids are comfortable with everything. This is especially true of Camp Director, Phil Williams, a true professional dedicated to the camp experience. Of course, a stunning Vermont lake location helps also.

Camp Wachusett is a classic and cozy boys camp that offers our boys something very hard to find anywhere else these days. I’ll never forget picking up my boys one summer and offering them the phones they hadn’t seen in weeks, and my younger son saying, “no thanks. I’d rather wait a while. I got used to spending time just sitting on the cabin porch and I liked just having time to think.” Camp Wachusett offers the kids an opportunity to engage with other boys of different ages and enjoy that unique boy sense of humor, fun, and competition in a way that is hard to find outside of camp. They also learn from older kids they respect about new skills and life lessons. I always say sending them to Camp Wachusett is the best thing we do for our kids each year.

I don’t think I realized until standing with the boys and young men at the end of the last night’s campfire how deeply meaningful the camp experience is for these boys. Watching the firelight reflect on their faces as they acknowledge the season’s end was very moving.”

“Our family has been making the annual trip to and from Wachusett for about a decade now for our boys. Our older two are now counselors, and our younger son will be a fifth year camper in the summer of 2021. To say that Camp Wachusett has been a formative part of our boys’ lives is an understatement. They have developed skills they might never have discovered here in Washington, gained independence, and met close friends that I believe will be lifetime relationships. Camp has also strengthened the bond between the three of them as brothers. We will always be grateful to Camp Wachusett for becoming such a special part of our boys’ souls.
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“My 3 sons (currently 10, 14 & 16) have spent several summers at Camp Wachusett and each one of them has had a wonderful experience! They are all quite different but each of them feels very “at home,” comfortable and safe. Whether they are working in the woodshop, playing tennis, basketball, archery or swimming & boating, there is something special and challenging for each one of them. The friendships they have made will last a lifetime and they love all of the traditions that are unique to Camp Wachusett. They will certainly return this summer and when they age out, I am sure they will continue to return to visit. Camp Wachusett is their happy place!”

“We wanted to let you know how impressed we were with your camp - from the activities to the excellent leadership to the personal touch and small size. ”

“Wachusett’s 2020 three-week season came to a close. It was not simply successful. It was extraordinarily successful. The Weisses were there, helping with odds and ends as best we could while maintaining appropriate distancing from the boys and the staff. We were close enough, however, to sense that the boys may well have been having more fun than they’d had in quite a while. The energy and excitement were palpable. Certainly the boys, the families, and the staff deserve high marks for the way they handled circumstances that no one could have foreseen. But, to be abundantly clear, the highest marks go to one Phillip Lee Williams. His leadership both before and during the season was nothing less than magnificent. Preparations beforehand were extremely thorough; no detail was left untended. No less thorough was his management of the three weeks, with careful attention to keeping kids safe while allowing them plenty of freedom to be kids again. It was a tour de force that anyone with links to Wachusett, current or past, ought to celebrate. -Jim Weiss”