Read our Q&A with camper Liam below.
Liam’s Gallagher Experience
Year(s) that you attended Gallagher
3
What session(s)?
3,3,4
What lodges have you been in?
I only remember Quilcene.
Who were your lodge leaders?
Greg, Hannah, Joe
Favorite camp meal
Grilled cheese
Favorite Camp Gallagher tradition:
Kickball
Favorite overnight spot:
Blake Island
Favorite camp song:
Sundown
Favorite camp craft
Chevron friendship bracelet
What do you think makes Gallagher special? How is it different than other camps?
Gallagher is one of the few camps that actually allows you to do what you want. Want to go flip your buddies off paddle boards? Go ahead, but don’t hurt each other too bad. Want to paint a tire and then hang it up in a tree, I mean of course just don’t forget to eventually take it down. Gallagher truly taps into the idea of creativity and the idea of having an open mind. I’ve never had a camp let you do whatever in reason. Usually the idea of jumping on other sail boats, flipping them, and then yelling YAR after is usually looked down upon but at Gallagher it was my favorite pastime.
Gallagher allowed a kid to truly be a kid and just enjoy the moment. Gallagher is different because it gives you this feeling of just pure fun for a week. You don’t worry about things at home or how well that test went, your mind is only focused on what adventure are we going to peruse next.
Was Camp Gallagher different than you expected?
Gallagher was completely different than what I expected. I never had a feeling of such freedom at a summer camp and just had a blast the whole time. I thought it was just going to be the motions of a normal summer camp, but Gallagher took that and expanded upon it. We could sail, canoe, build fires, jump in the bay, we could do it all.
Gallagher made me feel like I had a home away from home. Instead of feeling like I was stuck in some musty cabin for a week, I felt like I was given the opportunity to stay in a musty cabin for a week
Tell us about one camp experience that sticks out as particularly memorable.
My favorite camp memory was paddling all the way to Blake Island in the big canoe. Who knew 80 miles could be so mentally straining but the trip has stuck with me to this day. The vivid conversations of “oh not that peak, the one even farther than that” or “ya so we have probably another 5 hours of paddling, but the first 8 are done for the day” are completely burned into my memory. It was strenuous but the feeling of accomplishment knowing we were the farthest overnight to ever go anywhere in 3 days was more than any award. It’s some thing my cabinmates and I still talk about to this day and has forever made a lasting impression.