Programs

Peconic Dunes Camp

Cabins, Bathrooms, and Showers

All campers live in cabins with one or more counselors.Cabins are rustic and campers sleep in bunk beds. Cabin assignments are made according to a child's age and grade. Bathrooms are centrally located within the cabin or just outside. Showers are located in the Sandcastles for girls and the Shower House for boys.

Cabin Requests

Our Philosophy

Camp has always been a place where campers forge some of their closest, lifelong friendships. One of the great benefits of overnight camp is making new friends from different places and backgrounds. Peconic Dunes 4-H Camp encourages campers to attend without being concerned whether they will know their cabin-mates since there will be many opportunities to meet and make friends.

We attempt to provide as diverse a cabin group experience as possible by limiting the number of campers in each cabin from any known social circle or specific town.

Our goal is to create cabin groups that offer campers the opportunity to meet as many new people as possible from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and life experiences.

Concerns

We want to avoid cliques that can form when too many campers from the same school or hometown are in the same cabin. These cliques can make camp life difficult for campers who don’t belong and for counselors who are trying to foster bunk unity and comradery.

While we understand the excitement that goes along with the possibility of bunking with a good friend, we want to make sure campers do not end up feeling “tethered” to one individual, counting on them for consistent companionship and support while they are at camp. This can create an uncomfortable dynamic for the rest of the cabin group.

There are also times when friends come to camp as bunk mates but have a minor (or even major) falling out, creating unnecessary drama and discomfort for other campers and staff.

Policy

With these goals in mind, we will honor one, and only one, cabin mate request from each camper.

For a cabin mate request to be honored, the request must be mutual. The other camper must submit a request for that camper.

Campers making requests to bunk with each other must be the same age by August 31, 2022.

Requests for more than one cabin mate will not be honored.

Cabin mate requests are NOT guaranteed. We will do our best to accommodate reasonable requests.

Contacting Your Child at Camp

  1. Cell phones:

    and other electronic devices are not permitted at camp for a variety of reasons: we want campers to disconnect from technology; cell phones are expensive and can easily be lost or damaged at camp; they can be misused. Please do not send your child to camp with a cell phone. Cell phones or electronic devices will be confiscated and returned to parents at departure.

  2. Calling home:

    campers are not permitted to use the office phone to call home. If necessary (injury or illness, or severe homesickness) camp staff will contact parents.

  3. Mail:

    Campers are permitted to receive letters and postcards that can be sent with one first class stamp. Oversized envelopes, which require more than one first class stamp, will not be accepted and will be returned to sender. All mail sent via USPS should be addressed to Camper's Name, Peconic Dunes Camp, P.O. Box 190, Peconic NY 11958.

IMPORTANT: Campers are NOT allowed to receive any packages while at camp. Please let relatives and friends know not to send your child a package while at camp.

If there is an essential item, such as a pair of eye glasses, toiletries or an article of clothing, that a camper forgot, you must contact the camp office in advance to arrange for package delivery. If you do not get the package pre-approved, it will be returned to sender.

  • Along with many other camps, we have determined that packages lead to unnecessary stress, anxiety and jealousy when parents feel obligated to send packages and when some campers receive packages and others don't. Despite prohibitions, campers continue to receive food products that pose a thread to other campers with food allergies and attract insects and pests in the cabin. Moreover, packages produce a large amount of waste that the camp must dispose of.

  • A one way e-mail service is offered to overnight campers and CITs. Log into your Peconic Dunes account, click on additional options, click on e-mail a camper. E-mails are received at the camp office, printed, and delivered to your camper once each day. There are currently no facilities for campers to send an e-mail reply from camp.