Growing up in rural Ontario, Canada, Alison Wilcox’s sole camp summer experience was non-traditional: a two-week Air Cadet boot camp where she drilled, marched double-time and operated planes.
“I had read about camp, and it was always a dream to be able to go to one,” Wilcox recalled.
When she learned of a job opening at a day camp, Wilcox jumped at the opportunity. It was the summer after her first year at university, and she served as director, supervising a team of counselors. The experience was formative. It set Wilcox on her future career path and opened her eyes to the life-changing magic of summer camp.
“It was amazing to see how much the kids got out of it,” Wilcox, 48, said.
Last August, Wilcox became just the second-ever CEO at the Double H Hole in the Woods Ranch in Lake Luzerne. Established in 1993 by actor Paul Newman and upstate amusement park operator and philanthropist Charles R. Wood,
