Poland Spring Campground

Clean Up Weekend

What a fabulous crew we had this weekend!

It all started Thursday, when Dave gave the boy scouts a lesson in planting trees . .  . 

Then on Friday, 55 campers rolled in to participate in our annual Clean Up Weekend.  It’s free, in exchange for approximately five hours raking sites and planting trees on Saturday.  We met some new campers, and welcomed back some regulars who’ve been helping us for 8+ years now.

The big day was overcast . . . and   brrrrrrrrr   chilly!  But everyone was out and about by 8am, eager to get going!

We fed the hungry workers

Then they got to work!

Believe it or not, we actually had a couple sites with snow and ice under the leaves!

Here’s  a couple before pictures

the main street

and site 1.

And here’s what they looked liked after . . .

What a difference!  132 sites raked, as well as the roads, playground, fire circle, around the pool and the game room!  What used to take me a full month, raking every day, is now accomplished in a few hours thanks to these energetic campers.

But they weren’t done. Oh, no!   I then gave out about forty trees to happy, smiling faces like these

I can’t tell you how it warms my heart to see so many kids (and adults) eager to plant trees off the sides of their sites.  It’s such a wonderful, important thing they do . . . replacing young trees that are inevitably damaged during the course of a camping season.

Thanks so much to all our helpers this weekend! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Maxwell Posts for Tami

Tami and Ben have been sick with the flu for a week. So, I trudged through the snow to check in on them.

“Maxwell,” Tami said between coughs, “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure! Anything!” I put my hand . . . um, hoof . . . over my heart. “Your wish is my command. Clean the bathrooms? Answer the phones? Play with Ben? Take Cookie for a walk?”

“I need you to blog for me. There’s been no new posts since the 11th. My customers will think I’ve given up on it already.”

“Blog? Me?” I paced back and forth in front of her, scratching my antlers. “But, but, Tami . . . what’ll I say? What’ll I do? Who’s gonna want to read a moose post?”

“Your fans would, sweetie.” Tami patted my head and kissed my nose right before she sneezed, once, twice, three times. Flopping back on the couch and covering up with a blanket, she mumbled, “Write about what you do best, Maxwell. Fun and games.”

Yeah! I can do that!

Recreation is one of the best things about Poland Spring Campground! It’s why I hang around. Every day in July and August is loaded with awesome things to do. There’s arts and crafts at least once a day where you make stuff like catapults, boats, candles, princess hats or super cool glitter glasses

We play volleyball, basketball, bocci, horseshoes, relay races, water balloon slingshot, penny hunts, ping pong and pool tournaments for teens, bingo, flag football. We have ice cream making once a week. Pool games. Hayrides! Bingo! Jewelry making! Bubble play! Trash Bag Theater! Story time with moose feed!

You can see a sample of our recreation schedule here, on our website.

Every Monday night we have candy bar bingo. Tuesday has free pony rides

Thursday night brings popcorn over the campfire with scary stories told by the kids.

We theme every weekend too!

Pirate Weekend was new last year and an instant hit!

Here’s a scene from a skit Alexz wrote called Who Wants to Be A Pirate. Bryant and JMoney showed all the pirate campers how it’s done and then swore them in by reciting the pirate code.

Medieval weekend is always a lot of fun too! Jousting with noodles, Viking ship races, and a porridge eating contest are just a few of the awesome things you’ll find on our schedule that weekend.

Let’s not forget Christmas in July

Halloween in August

or Fiesta Weekend with a big South of the Border Party, donkey rides on Ricco Suave, pinatas and the bouncy house

But you know what I can’t wait for this year? Our brand new theme -

Super Hero Tryouts Weekend!

Who are you going to be? I think I’m going to dress up as . . . da-da-DAH . . .

Super Moose!

Shhhhh! Don’t tell anybody, but I’ve been practicing my jumping and running so I can try out at the silly Olympic events. Tami says there’s gonna be a toilet paper tie up contest and water balloon target practice too! There’s so many cool weekends, I can never choose just one favorite. But I think Super Hero Weekend is going to be top of my list.

What’s your favorite weekend?

A look toward warmer weather . . .

Another question I get asked a lot by potential campers:

How’s the fishin’?

I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves, most were taken within the last 3 years

If those aren’t enough to convince you to book a campsite with us, how about this:

brown trout have been released off our point for the last three years!

The truck backs up

Opens the tanks one by one

And lets them go!

Yep. The fishin’s good.

If you don’t believe me . . .

ask the eagle family.

Sad News

I received word this week that one of our favorite magicians, Bob Nixon, passed away.

Bob was a showman extraordinaire! My campers adored him . . . my kids adored him.

I adored him.

I’ll never forget the first time my daughter and I saw him pull that rope through his body! We almost fell off our seats! Alex and Ben grew up watching his shows, as did many of my campground kids.

He was always cheerful, even when performing for the third time on a 100 degree day. And whenever I was in a “booking” bind, he was there with sound recommendations and a helping hand.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, as well as his magical community of friends.

Bob . . . you’ll be sorely missed.

Bob’s Obituary

Edited to add:

Almodarr and Angelique of The Magic of the Steelgraves will be dedicating their August 2nd Medieval weekend show here at Poland Spring Campground to Bob.

Snow and more snow . . .

So what do we do in January when we’re snowed in?

We send out our Think Spring letters with a Calendar of Events to all our repeat customers! We’re trying to coax you into booking early. If you don’t receive one by the end of January and you’d like to, just send me an e-mail with your address through the website and I’ll put one in the mail to you. Or you can see it on our website here.

Pirate Weekend

and Medieval Weekend

were so much fun last year, that we decided to add a new theme.

Are you ready for this?

Super Hero Tryout Weekend!

It’ll be August 22 - 24. We’re encouraging the kids to bring their superhero outfits and tryout at our silly Olympic events: run faster than a speeding bullet, leap tall buildings, water balloon target practice and toilet paper tie up. Mad Science will perform their Spin, Pop Boom show on Saturday night!