Both Roland and Ridley have spent plenty of summer days at Camp Thompson, and Ridley has been going to the day program for years. But this summer he leveled up: his first sleepaway camp.
Same beloved Camp Thompson, only this time I actually left him there overnight.
He came home even more convinced that it is, unquestionably, his favorite camp.
I understand the appeal. Camp Thompson feels like somebody preserved a little pocket of 1990s childhood in the woods outside Carlisle. There are cabins and bunk beds, campfires and trails, bikes and a giant Alpine Tower tucked among the trees. Every time I drop my kids off there, I’m at least a little jealous that I’m the one who has to leave.
Photo credit: Rachael Benion
And while plenty has changed in the world since Camp Thompson welcomed its first campers in 1926, that wonderfully old-school camp feeling has survived.
This year, as Camp Thompson celebrates its 100th anniversary, more than 60 people showed up to make sure it can survive for a whole lot longer.
One day. A very long to-do list.
On September 11, more than 60 team members from Charter Homes & Neighborhoods and its trade partners descended on the Carlisle Family YMCA’s Camp Thompson for Charter’s 2026 Make A Difference Day.
And this wasn’t a ceremonial coat-of-paint volunteer project.
The list included improving roads and drainage, clearing trails and roadways, repairing fences, rebuilding fire rings, power washing and sealing campfire benches, tuning up camp bikes and refreshing signs around the property.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
Inside the buildings, crews tackled projects that are less photogenic but pretty important when you’re sending your kid off to camp. The Nurse’s Station received new paint and flooring. Climate-control units were added to the Dining Hall and kitchen/pantry area. The Dining Hall and Program Building got deep cleanings. The bathhouse received new counters along with cleaning and power washing.
And the cabins got some attention too.
Crews added improvements including new ceiling lighting and enclosed ceilings, which hits a little differently when you have recently deposited your own child and his sleeping bag inside one of those cabins.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
There is also a new 22-by-22-foot concrete pad that can be used for pickleball, games and other camp activities.
According to the Carlisle Family YMCA, some of the projects completed during the makeover could have taken its own team years to get to while also handling the everyday work of operating Camp Thompson.
That makes one very busy September day a pretty significant birthday present.
Keeping the Camp Thompson part of Camp Thompson
There’s something important about the timing.
Camp Thompson has been part of the Carlisle community since 1926. Generations of local kids have spent summers here doing the things kids have been doing at camp for generations: getting dirty, trying something that looks a little scary, making friends, sitting around fires and coming home with stories their parents only hear approximately 60 percent of.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
The goal of this project wasn’t to turn a century-old camp into something sleek and shiny.
That would miss the point.
The magic of Camp Thompson is that it still feels like camp.
What this work does is take care of the bones of the place, improving the facilities and tackling years’ worth of maintenance while preserving the woods, cabins, trails and wonderfully old-school atmosphere that make kids like mine want to come back.
Charter Homes & Neighborhoods selected Camp Thompson as its 2026 Make A Difference Day community partner in Central Pennsylvania specifically as the camp marked its centennial year.
And when more than 60 people with actual construction skills show up with tools, equipment and an entire day set aside to work, it turns out you can get quite a bit done.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
Families will get to see the changes
The work may not be finished yet.
Brittany Rose, Camping Services Director for the Carlisle Family YMCA, told us she is looking forward to spring open houses when families can see some of the improvements for themselves, and there may be additional updates continuing during the off-season.
That means when another summer of campers comes bouncing down the road in 2027, Camp Thompson will still look and feel like the place generations of Carlisle-area kids remember.
Just with a few fewer things on the hundred-year-old to-do list.
And, if Ridley gets his way, with at least one returning camper who is already quite certain where he would like to spend part of his summer.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Carlisle Family YMCA
Camp Thompson is operated by the Carlisle Family YMCA and is located at 800 Pine Grove Road in Gardners. Make A Difference Day photos are courtesy of the Carlisle Family YMCA. Additional photos by Rachael Benion.
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