Melissa Kaiser

Review of Hidden Valley Camp

I worked at this camp several years ago. It s in a...

I worked at this camp several years ago. It s in a secluded area and the positives are: good location overall and some good activities for kids. There s also a nice lake.

The kids are great as any summer camp would be. These kids mostly come from cities and urban areas so they have little to no experience in the woods unless they are a repeat camper. Taking them on a hike or a bike ride, they get really tired and complain a lot. However, working with kids can be really rewarding.

I worked here as a camp counselor after I graduated from college and before I went to grad school in the summer. The couple that owns this camp are really strange and weird. The guy Peter is very bad tempered and moody.

Like several organizations in New England that are in rural areas, the owners make up their own rules and pretty much do whatever they want - little dictators in their own fiefdom who are ready to throw out anyone for just asking questions.

They don t pay hardly anything but just offer meals and basic housing (bunk beds). They also bring in a lot of people from Europe, Australia and NZ as cheap labor in exchange for a visa and permission to come here.

It would be good if there was some regulation in this industry both from labor perspective to just how they run things. There were so many areas that were broken and run down. They charge the parents of the kids a lot so that really should not be happening.