People who've gone to a sleep-away camp know there's just nowhere better to make friends for life than in a tent or cabin, sharing quiet time, stories and chores; around a lively table sharing breakfasts, lunches and dinners; or canoeing a peaceful river, sharing cooking around a campfire and s'mores before bedtime. At Aloha you'll do most or maybe even all these things in a camp summer -- and talk about them with your friends all year long.

Aloha is special in a lot of ways, but what kids really remember are the times another camper or a counselor came through for them when they needed it most. When a word of encouragement made all the difference in finishing a marathon swim. When an honest, caring comment got them thinking about a better way to be. When a well-deserved award came with a pat on the back and a special appreciation from someone they particularly admired. Things like that happen at Aloha every day.

A big part of the fun at Aloha is just silly, nutty fun, plain and simple -- dressing up in wacky costumes for unit parties; kidding campmates and counselors in funny-but-kind sorts of ways in skits and made-up songs; breaking all the rules (safely) for eight crazy hours of "MJ's Mayhem"; pulling pranks on our "brothers" at Camp Lanakila. It's one more way great camp friendships get cemented. You really can't have pure laugh-out-loud fun without loving the girls you're doing it with.

Next to breathing, singing may be thing Aloha campers do most often -- at breakfast, lunch and dinner, in assemblies and around campfires, up mountain trails and down winding rivers. A lot of the songs we sing at Aloha are about friendship. Here's a verse from one of the favorites: "Love is summer's promise / like a ring it has no end / and a smile is summer's beauty / like song from friend to friend." If you phone the Aloha main office and get put on hold, that's one you'll hear while you wait!