My two daughters are “Wo girls.” I am referring, of course, to Camp Wohelo in South Casco, one of Maine’s oldest girls’ camps.

When we lived in the Washington, D.C. area, our daughters spent their summers “deep in the woods of Maine,” as one of their camp songs goes.

At Wohelo they learned much camp-craft. They can identify, for example, all the species of pine that populate the Maine woods. They became fine swimmers and excellent with their canoeing skills.

They can even light a fire without a match, a rare skill these days.

Much of the flavor of camp life was brought home to us just two years ago when my older daughter decided to get married at Wohelo.

Our wedding party took over the camp cabins. Fortunately, my wife and I had a counselor’s cabin, meaning it had running water.

Our daughters and their twin cousins (also Wo girls) treated us all to a medley of camp songs from atop a table in the camp lodge. It turned out to be an inspired venue for a wedding.

Camp Wohelo has a special place in our daughters’ lives. In many ways it was a respite from the frenetic activity of the big city, a place where the camp uniform meant you didn’t have to spend much time thinking about what to wear, a place where community values and traditions were carried on from generation to generation.

Maine summer camps have long been special places. They started just after the turn of the last century. Today there are more than 200 licensed summer camps in the state, serving some 50,000 campers each season.

The traditional camp season is seven or eight weeks, but in a bow to the more scheduled lifestyles of today’s youth, many Maine camps now have two four-week sessions.

Originally, camps were single-sex. However, the majority of summer camps today are co-ed. Many draw campers and counselors not just from around the country, but from around the world.

RESPECT AND COLLABORATION

Some camps focus on a particular theme. Perhaps Maine’s most famous in this regard is the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield.

The camp brings together Israeli and Arab teens to bridge the gap between these two cultures and to help develop future leaders in the region with a model of collaboration and mutual respect.

Seeds of Peace is a wonderful example of the power of the summer camp model. In truth, most of Maine’s summer camps work hard to build similar values with their campers.

This can be a daunting task. Today’s iPod-toting, instant-messaging youth are not necessarily drawn to the woods of Maine – or woods anywhere. In fact, this generation’s lack of knowledge of the outdoors is a national concern.

Richard Louv, a San Diego journalist, has recently written a book about this, aptly entitled: “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.”

In Louv’s interviews with 3,000 parents and kids across the country, he was struck by how much time this generation spends inside.

One fourth-grader told him he preferred playing indoors because “that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”

Hopefully, Louv’s book and the national attention it is getting will be a boost for Maine camping. Certainly there is no better place to attack nature deficit disorder than deep in the woods of Maine.

HELPING THE ECONOMY

Moreover, Maine camps have a significant impact on the state economy.

A study commissioned by the Maine Youth Camping Association suggests that Maine camps add some $245 million to the economy each year. That’s not just the camper fees and counselor opportunities, that includes the visits of relatives and friends – and their visits to L.L. Bean as well.

Beyond this economic impact, Maine camps provide connections to the state that often are lasting. Campers return to Maine with their spouses to summer or to live year-round.

I travel a lot in my job, and I continue to be surprised by the connections to the state that have come from an experience at a Maine summer camp.

Summer camps are a gem of a resource for our state. There is much to be said for “deep in the woods of Maine.”