Camp in a Box

Tour guide Ben Bernier and Education & Interpretaton Manager Chris Kauffman prepare for in-person camp in 2016.

The last week of June is normally one of the busier weeks of year for me at Lexington Historical Society. Typically, our historic houses are open and just starting to buzz with the influx of visitors to Lexington and we have just finished up with our school group season so I’m crunching numbers on how many smiling faces learned what Rev. Clarke ate. However, one of my favorite tasks of this week is finalizing craft materials and plans for our First Shot Summer Camp.

Our summer camp typically runs for a week the week after Independence Day and allows campers to not only view our historic sites in person, but also become active participants as they complete crafts and activities similar to what Lexington residents would have been completing during the Colonial and Revolutionary War eras in Lexington. It has always been such a joy to see how artistic and thorough the campers are as they craft a tin lantern from an aluminum soup can or design & sew their own haversacks.

However, like many things so far this season, we have been challenged to reimagine what a camp would look like for this summer. With the small touring spaces in our historic homes and the uncertainty of site-specific COVID-19 protocols, we’ve decided to offer the summer camp virtually. This year’s version of camp will be held the week of July 20-24 and will consist of two sessions each day (1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon).

Campers will go on a virtual tour in the morning with a member of our staff and then in the afternoon will receive instruction on a hands-on craft relating to Colonial life. Our “Camp in a Box” kits will be available for pickup (or mailing) as we approach the dates for camp.

While we understand that one of the unique aspects of camp in interacting with staff and other participants in a person-to-person setting, we are hopeful that participants of our virtual camp will at least be able to interact with the history we normally experience during First Shot Summer Camp.

If you’re interested in signing up for the camp, please visit our website. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me personally at ckauffman@lexingtonhistory.org.

-Chris Kauffman, Education and Interpretation Manager

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