A Most Unique Site
Even when serving multiple groups spread out within our nearly 100 acres, a small, talented staff team strives to offer programs and opportunities to appreciate this remarkable site.
Sound View Camp is unique in so many ways. We learned a lot during the pandemic, including our special ability to run family camping year-round. We were also blessed that only a third of our beds are truly designed for traditional summer camp while others ideal for different flavors of groups. We learned that offering a small day camp can become wildly popular and are fortunate to have plenty of ways to keep multiple groups safe, separated, and happy.
Referring to the cluttered map above…
Summer Youth Camp is limited to 64 campers per session. Their base in the the 4 tent-cabins and 4 platform tents which make up the cabin village.
Day Camp Headquarters is located at the Garden Cabin and Field. This gives parents an easy drop-off / pick-up site. Day Camp is limited to 32 kids per day.
Family Camp (campground) uses the 8 shire cabins, RV field (6 sites), and spacious tent sites located in the forest and waterfront.
Outdoor Environmental Education is available for school children in the spring and fall. It is limited to 60 students staying up to two nights (Wednesday to Friday). Day trips can also occur. Overnight trips use Calvinwood, Lakewood, and Fircrest for lodging.
Groups / Retreats also happen year-round. Each group is different. Some use the entire camp while others use a particular lodge. Camp capacity is 180 (summer months) and 140 (winter months).
Even when serving multiple groups spread out within our nearly 100 acres, a small, talented staff team strives to offer programs and opportunities to appreciate this remarkable site.
Pizza-Pumpkin Garden
Our high-fenced garden is pretty cool! Thanks to heroic efforts by AmeriCorps NCCC, and Nancyrose Houston (and friends) the garden is easy to plant and easy to maintain with the help of all of our campers and guest. For 2022, it will have two purposes.
Fresh veggies will grow in the raised beds. Our wood-fired pizza oven is a popular family camp activity and building a pizza with the freshest of toppings is an added bonus.
Fall camping means pumpkins. Decorate your campsite or cabin porch with a Sound View Pumpkin!
Each of our spring weekends has time allotted for families to help prepare,plant, and weed the garden so everyone can enjoy the harvest time. Make a point of camping with us as everything turns green again.
Bilbo the Llama - ???? to 2022
Rest in Peace Bilbo the Llama
It’s a sad day. Today we lost the patriarch of the Sound View Farm. Bilbo has lived at Camp since early 2017 when he was rescued with our original menagerie of sheep and goats. Bilbo was their great Protector, always aware of the surroundings and their safety. Bilbo was a favorite of our staff and visitors. We will miss him terribly. He was loved and spoiled these past five years, as it should be. He was elderly and began to suffer from arthritis. We sat with him and gave him his final hugs and love as he crossed over the rainbow bridge. There will be no more pain. He is at peace. We will miss you Bilbo. We love you. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Bilbo Memorial Fund to help support Bilbo’s last home and final resting place.
Introducing ... Satur-DAY-Camps beginning in April
Every kid deserve to be outdoors when spring finally comes. Starting April 2, Camp Sound View will offer a day camp each Saturday so everyone can enjoy some great adventures outside with friends, old and new
Day camp, for kids, ages 6 to 12
Every kid deserve to be outdoors when spring finally comes. Starting April 2, Camp Sound View will offer a day camp each Saturday so everyone can enjoy some great adventures outside with friends, old and new. Every Satur-DAY-Camp will feature…
Games and a “sport of the day”,
Arts and Crafts,
Canoeing and Corcling (little round boats) if the weather cooperates,
Time on the farm and helping out in the camp garden,
The giant swing,
Environmental education (We love learning about nature at Sound View!),
Campcraft and living history,
A nutritious lunch
What does this mean for kids?
Camp is still the best place to stay active and safe - even at the tail end of a pandemic,
Day camp is a wonderful way for kids to try out camp adventures. Perhaps, a way to see how they would like overnight camp this summer.
Boredom is not an option! There is so much to do at Sound View under watchful eyes of a trained, caring staff.
What does this mean for parents?
For families that live on the Key Peninsula …. how about a free day to do things while your kids are treated to a health, active program?
For families camping with us in the spring … seven worry-free hours to do your own thing or to explore the Key Peninsula.
What does it cost?
$35 per day, per child. Includes lunch!
How do I register?
Summer Youth Programs for Ages 6 to 15
Check out what’s going on at Sound View for youth and teens this summer!
THREE SESSIONS of overnight camp for ages 9 to 14
FIVE WEEKS of our unique Day by Day Camp for kids, ages 6 to 12.
LEADERS IN TRAINING (LIT) is back. This summer, they will be working with day campers..
Rebooting Spring Break Camp for Youth and Families
When we introduced our new Outdoor Environmental Education (OEE) program in 2018, we wanted to make sure that kids whose schools did not provide this valuable experience has a chance to learn in our program. So, we offered the same adventure during the weeks of spring break. Not only did the participants benefit, but the Sound View spring staff gained some great “kid experience” to prepare them for the busier months of OEE.
Because we were safely able to run summer camp in 2021, we feel that we can once again offer two Spring Break camps using what we learned to prevent COVID exposure. This includes requiring proof of vaccination, testing, and establishing sleeping and program cohorts early. With spring break camps being a mostly outdoor experience, this is easy.
Because our family campground is in place, we also can offer the ability for some spring breakers to participate while lodging with their families that book Shire cabins over spring break. All can enjoy great food in the dining hall and shared evening programs.
Sadly, we know that schools may not be offering OEE trips for their students this year for various reasons - all related to the ongoing pandemic. However, we are fortunate to be able to reboot our own successful program to fill the void.
Our Four-Legged Stool
Remove just one leg, and we are wobbly at best. Remove three legs (as was the case in 2020-21), and camp is very much incapacitated.
Welcome to 2022! I am so glad that you have been a companion for this journey! THANK YOU for helping keep Sound View Camp afloat.
I have always considered Sound View’s core programs (Youth Camp, Outdoor Environmental Education, Family Camp, and Group Retreats) to each represent one leg of a stool. Remove just one leg, and we are wobbly at best. Remove three legs (as was the case in 2020-21), and camp is in a very precarious position. Although family camp thrived in the pandemic, we must get back to to having all four legs of the stool firmly in place.
The past two years have caused Sound View Camp to reinvent itself. Although frustrating, exhausting, and sometimes uncertain, this transformation has actually been good for camp. I know that in 2022, the camp will continue to be creative, and move forward., and eventually, all of the pieces of the puzzle that have been scattered or lost will once again be on the table - and fit to a completed picture. Each leg of the stool will once again help support our outdoor ministry.
THANKS AGAIN and I hope to see you and your family at Sound View Camp very soon.
Peace and Blessings for the New Year,
Kurt Sample
Camp Director
Help keep the critters fed and the lights on!
Your end-of-year financial gift to Sound View will help “keep the lights on” as the camp weathers still yet another winter where normal retreat revenue is impossible because of the lingering pandemic.
Picture: Dave Petterson
Dear Friends,
I wish you a happy and safe New Year!
For me, the early part of 2022 will be a time of planning, recruiting spring/summer staff, and overseeing winter projects. However, I am very worried about how we will keep up with the expenses during these lean winter months.
Your end-of-year financial gift to Sound View will help “keep the lights on” as the camp weathers still yet another winter where normal retreat revenue is impossible because of the lingering pandemic.
If you have already donated towards Sound View’s end-of-year campaign - THANK YOU! If not, please consider donating soon. Every little bit helps!
Picture: Dave Petterson
I am looking forward to April when, in the full bloom of spring, the camp can once again open up fully for families, school kids, and groups.
THANK YOU again!
Blessings, Hope, and Peace for the New Year Ahead,
Kurt Sample
Camp Director
Nisqually Land Trust Conservation Easement APPROVED!
On Saturday, December 11, the Presbytery of Olympia voted to approve going forward with a conservation easement for Sound View Camp.
On Saturday, December 11, the Presbytery of Olympia voted to approve going forward with a conservation easement for Sound View Camp. This is a really big and positive step forward to ensure that the land on which our camp sits will be preserved and properly stewarded.
MOTION: The Sound View Task Force recommends that the Presbytery of Olympia accept the Nisqually Land Trust’s offer to purchase a conservation easement on the Sound View property and authorize the Stated Clerk to sign it when finalized. November 20 was the “first read” of this proposal
The motion passed 51 to 0.
Although details need to be finalized, this easement purchase price will be a little under two million dollars. In return, the Sound View property will have restrictions that will discourage, or make impossible practices that would harm the area and sensitive ecosystems - including selling the property for development. The easement would be passed on to any subsequent owner.
For Sound View, the easement will be a continuation of the environmental practices we have set already in motion, including:
Moving program areas away from sensitive areas of camp,
Running boating activities at higher tides to protect marine life from being trampled,
Offering outdoor environmental education (OEE) for school groups and integrating OEE into all we do,
Keeping guests housed in managed areas of camp with no plans to build new lodging in environmentally sensitive areas,
Managing woodlands and planting trees,
Partnering with user groups and others to work together to steward the property.
The use of the funds from the purchase of this easement have not as yet been determined by the Presbytery of Olympia. It is the hope of the Sound View Board and director that the funds will be placed into a significant endowment to create reserve funding for perpetuity. With this, the land, the facilities, and the program will thrive for generations to come.
It is our intention to hold a town hall meeting in February to answer questions about the easement and our proposed scenarios for the funds. If you are interested in attending, please send an email to info@soundviewcamp.com and we will send you a zoom link to the meeting when it is scheduled..
THIS IS GREAT NEWS!
Please Help Keep our Critters Happy at Play
Goats love to climb! Heath has some fun on the wood pile while Bilbo watches with interest. They're all looking forward to your next visit.
If you'd like to help keep our animals stocked up on treats, please donate!
Sea Lions Set the Tone
On spring days, it is fun to canoe out to the #2 buoy to see these critters.
Have you ever taken a walk through the forest while listening to the bark of the sea lions echo through the trees ? Oh what an experience it is. Reserve your visit now so you can make some memories.
https://www.soundviewcamp.com/youth-summer-camps/#overnight
https://www.soundviewcamp.com/twentytwenty
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Sea Stars don't eat S'mores
These are some really 'fluffy' Sound View Starfish. We keep telling Kurt to stop making them s'mores!! All jokes aside, Sound View strives to protect our beaches and wildlife for all to enjoy. No, we don't really feed s'mores to our starfish.... But if you'd like to help support the feedings of goats, llama, sheep, chickens and kitties we would love that!
Happiness is Smelling Like a Campfire
Don't you just LOVE a rip-roaring fire !! This is just ONE of the great things to do at Camp. Sending campers home smelling like a campfire... that's the BEST!!
Register your camper now so you know you'll get a spot. If you'd like to help send a kid to Camp, please donate now.
https://www.soundviewcamp.com/youth-summer-camps/#overnight
https://www.soundviewcamp.com/donate
Flower Power
Junior is all dressed up and looking forward to your next visit. While he's waiting for you, would you be able to send some snacks ? You can make a donation to help keep Junior and his farm friends stocked up on hay and treats until he sees you again. Thhhaaaannnnkkk yoouuuuuu!!!
Bilbo the Great Protector
Happy November!! Bilbo the llama is a great protector of the farm animals and has taken on the responsibility to make our new goat Heath feel safe and secure in his new surroundings. If you'd like to help support our Farm Animals they would be very appreciative.
Welcome to Tranquility
This is the entrance to peace and tranquility. There is beauty to enjoy in every season. From the forest to the farm to the beach, you can bask in the joy of the outdoors. Tents, cabins or your own RV. Come and visit us. Make your reservations early, they fill up quickly.
High Ropes Course Upgrades
Our course is still uses natural trees (Douglas Firs) which thankfully are healthy and strong. In 2020, regulations changed which caused some of the hardware (high up in the trees) to expire and thus needs replacing. At the same time, we hope to take advantage of new technology to improve the course. These changes will make the challenge course more accessible and easier to run with our small staff team. Estimate: $20,000
Mattress Mania
Mattress Mania!!The Longhouse got a major facelift this summer and looks fantastic. What we need NOW is 36 comfy mattresses to finish up the beauty with a splash of comfort. Would you be willing to donate to purchase a mattress ? Part of one ? Our goal is $7,000. Please consider making a donation to help us reach our goal.
Heath Finds a Bed
Heath has found his bed in a pile of hay. That way he can snack and relax at the same time. We don't want to use hay for our Longhouse mattresses. If you could please help us with buying new ones that would be great!! And please don't eat your s'mores in bed, it gets really sticky.
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KP Farm Tour
Once again, Sound View will be a stop for the Key Peninsula Farm Tour. More details are here.
If you are interested in history, this is a fascinating video.