Poland Spring Campground

You should have seeeeeen all the kids who showed up for trick or treating!

There were Barbie’s, cowboys, ghouls, witches, fairies, super heros, goblins, ghosts, dancers, and more:

After trick or treating the kids and I went back to the store for a Halloween Party! We played all kinds of games like Pin The Nose on the Jack-o-lantern, Fishing for Spiders and a sponge toss

The line to put your face in the clown was just as long as the line to toss the sponges!

Here’s Bryant showing off his favorite prizes

And look who I found wandering around the party . . .

The Burger King Man! Tami thought he was kind of creepy looking . . .but I said, “Gee Tami, have you looked in the mirror lately?

Then I ran away before she could yell at me!

Tami told these three they were a couple weekends too early:

I wonder if they’d let me borrow their costumes for Super Hero Weekend? I want to be

da-da-daaaaaah -

Suuuuu-per

Moose!’

(Psssst? Do Superman and Spiderman reeeeeeeally have orange vampire teeth? I’ve got to get me some of those!)

After the party Dave and his gathering of ghouls scared campers silly in the haunted house for just over an hour!! Tami and I could hear the screams from the office. We didn’t exactly get pictures of that - we were kind of, sort of, hiding in the back room of the store. Maybe we’ll be brave enough next Saturday ’cause we’re doing Halloween all over again!

On Sunday afternoon, Bryant and Alex’s Shakespeare in the Park troupe performed MacBeth. It was awesome!

The final fight scene was so intense, Tami forgot to take pictures!!

We were really lucky to have them perform right in our own playing field. We hope they “break a leg” at their remaining performances in the Poland area . . .

I think I might try out for next year’s troupe ’cause they look like they’re having a lot of fun. Do you think they’ll need a moose for Mid Summer Night’s Dream?

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!

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?

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!