Clinic Blog: 2011 Fishkill 1 Clinic Blog
July 11, 2011
New York Adventures!
By jolson
We started week two strong amidst the mountains at Camp Mariah. Today we screened 150 campers, provided 71 exams and made 68 pair of glasses. Our biggest compliment of the trip came from a camper who was very impressed with EyeLeen. “Wow! This is a lot nicer than last year!” It’s interesting to see how the campers are even competitive with their vision screening results. I have learned that it’s easy to talk a kid that doesn’t need glasses out of wanting glasses if you tell them that they can brag about being 20/20! We also got the experience of dispensing the eyewear that we made to the campers. It’s always rewarding to see the reaction that a kid has when they really experience clear vision! I would estimate that about 80% of the camp ended up with the same frames!
The truly remarkable thing that we learned about the Camp Mariah kids is that they make a three year commitment to the year round program. Camp Mariah is a college prep camp where the campers attend class during their three week stay. They also attend programs at home and return to camp twice more during the school year. The time invested in the campers is evident by their manners.
Today we welcomed Terrence and Dan to their first full day of camp. We kept both of them busy in the lab! Terrence was busy blocking lenses and tracing frames while Dan was working both of the edgers. The day was very organized and flew by!
We had an action packed weekend from touring NYC, relaxing at All Sport, and culminating in the enjoyment of our tapas and silent auction. Saturday we spent the entire day in NYC! We started our excursion with cupcakes at Crumbs and finished with cupcakes at Magnolia. We saw Grand Central Station, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, Chinatown, The Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport, Mario Batali’s Otto, and Central Park. I experienced my first subway ride, which was a bit intimidating! We also visited Sunglass Hut’s flagship store on 5th Avenue where we modeled sassy sunglasses. One of my favorite parts of the day was the skyline over the trees from Sheep’s Meadow at dusk! Our Sunday was spent poolside at Allsport. We indulged in a game of water volleyball with the septuagenarians that were eager to boss us around. At one point Anne and I were referred to as more athletic, taller and linebackers – not exactly a compliment! We rounded out our weekend with the silent auction where we achieved our fundraising goal! Hot items in the auction were unique handcrafted items, a golf flag and a custom Louisville Slugger signed by the team, as well as custom dog tags and OneSight Oakleys. The bidding did get competitive, especially on the golf flag and Oakleys!
Tomorrow we will be back at Camp Hidden Valley where we expect to see 130 campers! Good night EyeLeen!
Quote of the Day:
“Am I gonna get smacked again?”
(in reference to their experience at the NCT)
2 Comments
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Rupesh Sharma says:
Jen,
Great job on the blog.
Posted on Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:06 pm EST
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Jade Doyle says:
So jealous you guys got to dispense glasses!! Miss you all.
Posted on Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:06 am EST