Confiscating contraband candy

— Sometimes a packing faux pas isn’t about what parents neglect to include, but what they sneak in.

“Food, snacks and candy” is the second item under “What to Leave at Home” on Ferncliff’s checklist of what to pack for a week of camp. (The first is “Pets.”) But parents will tuck treats into their children’s luggage anyway, says Joel Gill, program director.

There are good reasons for the no-foodin-cabins rule. “It’s not necessarily because we don’t want the camper to have those; it’s for insects that get in the cabins,” he says. “Also, it’s a sharing thing.” Kids whose parents observed the rules may be jealous, and the candy-laden might not be generous.

There’s no canteen at Ferncliff for campers who need a Snickers fix, but snacks are on the menu — a popsicle in the afternoon, watermelon or other fruits in the evenings, cookies, and maybe cupcakes when a camper has a birthday.

Candy is also high on the contraband list at Camp Ozark, near Mount Ida. Food is banned in the cabins, and on opening day of all one-week and two-week sessions, there’s a sweep.

“That evening when everyone is settled in, one of our top staff members will go in” and check for food and the other popular banned item, water guns, says Alana Tarkinton, store manager.

Candy, chips, soda and other treats are available at the large camp store, she says. And parents can pay to treat a child’s entire cabin to an ice cream party.

Parents who’ve seen too many spy movies will still try to circumvent the system by mailing in treats.

“The funniest thing is they’ll cut stuffed animals and stuff candy in them,” Tarkinton says. Workers at the camp post office have learned to be vigilant. “When they pick up a 10-pound teddy bear, they know something’s wrong.”

Family, Pages 35 on 05/30/2012

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