Inside the summer camps for the 1%

Discussion in 'Business & Economics' started by StrangerInAStrangeLand, Jul 24, 2014.

  1. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    Inside the summer camps for the 1%

    By Jane Ridley

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    International Riding Camp attendees Tess McNulty (from left), Melano Popiashvili, Soleen Bir, Aidan Williamson, Sibilla Schapira and Tatiana Filatkina are chauffered around Manhattan.

    Sitting down for gourmet fish and chips and sushi at the Ocean Grill, 14-year-old Melano Popiashvili and her pals discuss their morning horseback ride through Central Park and the fun afternoon that lies ahead — a chauffeur-driven tour in a stretch limousine that will stop by FAO Schwarz and a tony equestrian store.

    “Traveling in the limo will be really cool,” says Popiashvili, a high school sophomore from Ridgewood, NJ. Sipping Shirley Temples with her fellow tweens, 11-year-old Anna Friedland of Manhattan breathlessly chimes in: “I’m going to buy my favorite candy to take back to the dorm.”

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    Sharon Vainer trots through Central Park.

    The glamorous trip to the city — a $600 optional extra for lucky students enrolled at the International Riding Camp in the southern Catskills — is arguably the highlight of the 2014 summer program operated by the ritzy upstate stables complex.

    Other attractions include up to 4.5 hours per day of horseback riding, water-skiing on a nearby lake and the chance to spend a luxury three-night break in the Hamptons.

    “We’re one of the premiere camps in the world for girls who live and breathe horses,” says Arno Mares, founder and director of the $2,150-per-week institution (the discounted price for an eight-week stay totals $12,500).

    “They come here to fulfill their dreams.”

    For those aiming for the full-scale fantasy, deep-pocketed parents can sign up their daughters for the camp’s annual $8,500 eight-day Russian riding vacation in Moscow and St. Petersburg, scheduled for next month.

    While the rest of us might associate sleep-away camps with ramshackle huts, creepy-crawlies and a diet of sloppy joes, upscale venues catering to the wealthy leave the “Hello Muddah” prototype in the dust.

    They offer the kind of facilities you’d expect from a five-star resort — air-conditioned bunks, organic food, state-of-the-art fitness equipment, so-called “wellness centers” instead of sick bays and a veritable who’s who of pro sports instructors.

    In common with the International Riding Camp, these swanky, high-class playgrounds come with a price tag to match. The average fee for a two-month slot at a blue-chip camp in the Northeast — the most desirable “Ivy League” venues being camps Mataponi, Wildwood and Androscoggin, which are concentrated in the bucolic lakes and mountains of Maine — is around $11,000. That’s the equivalent of a semester at a state university.

    Meanwhile, on the West Coast, High Cascades, a trendy snowboarding camp based on Oregon’s Mount Hood, charges clients up to $3,990 per week. For that, your little thrill-seeker gets private chalet accommodation and one-on-one coaching with a team headed by Bud Keene, who trained two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White.

    Despite the Great Recession, business is booming at these pricey summer camps. Many are booked nine months in advance. In order to stay competitive over the last few years, owners have sunk millions of dollars into shiny new attractions, such as the expansive lakeside creative arts and sports center at camps Equinunk and Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania and a giant water slide at Timber Lake Camp in upstate New York.

    It’s a question of supply and demand. Build the 8,000-square-foot indoor field house (like the impressive hockey, tennis and basketball facility at Camp Laurel in Maine), and the spawn of Wall Street will come.

    “Discerning parents, like all parents, want the best for their children, and choose to appropriately invest in them, based on their personal means,” says Jill Tipograph, CEO of the Midtown consulting firm Everything Summer, which helps well-heeled parents choose suitable camps and programs for their kids and teens.

    “They have high standards for how they live their lives, including the best educational and instructive resources for their children. Wanting the best camp for their child is an extension of this.”

    As she points out, the bonding experience of camp and the relationships that are forged frequently pay off in the long term.

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    Melano Popiashvili (from left), Tatiana Filatkina and Soleen Bir of the International Riding Camp enjoy a lunch outing at Ocean Grill.

    “Adults often cite their camp friends as the most important ones in their life,” continues Tipograph.

    “Connections through camps often lead to college friendships and networking. The investment in camp has a lifetime value.”

    While her son Ben might only be 7, Long Islander Sandy Burko was already thinking of the future when she signed him up for the $12,000, eight-week Timber Lake Camp. The establishment prides itself on its golf coaching, gluten-free buffet choices, aquatic sports program and air-conditioned bunks (although Burko says the A/C is rarely turned on because of the pleasant climate, and is mainly used by kids with allergies).

    “During the tour last summer, I wasn’t just looking at kids my son’s age, I wanted to see how the older children turned out,” recalls 33-year-old Burko, the wife of a chief financial officer, of Roslyn, NY.

    “I was floored by the Michigan college student [who was our tour guide] because he was so polite and put-together. He said: ‘Timber Lake made me like that.’ He was doing an internship at a law firm that he got connected to through his first camp counselor. That’s the sort of relationship that you establish and sustain at camp.

    “Timber Lake has a philosophy of sportsmanship, tolerance, appreciation and respect. People might say it’s the ‘jazziest, most spoiled camp ever’ because of the A/C and the amazing facilities, but it’s way more than that.”

    Others reveal that the “keeping up with the Joneses” element that has inevitably crept into the blue-chip Northeast camp scene has had a less wholesome effect.

    “These camps are really broken up into more pampered and more rustic,” says Manhattan mom-of-two Erika Katz, a parenting and beauty expert who wrote the book “Bonding Over Beauty: A Mother-Daughter Guide to Foster Self-Esteem, Confidence and Trust.”

    “Oftentimes it’s not coming from the child. Most children are not saying, ‘Mom, I need air conditioning!’ The parent is imposing their own ideals onto their child.

    “They might say: ‘My child could never be in a camp without air-con!’ But, of course, your child can and should rough it a bit. There are parents who like to brag about the amenities, the gourmet chef and the sheer fabulousness of their kids’ camp just to one-up each other in the way they might do about their vacations or their homes.

    “Unfortunately, there are always going to be parents who view their child’s camp in terms of social status.”

    But down-to-earth types who send their kids to these chichi camps are ready to defend their decision. Stay-at-home mom Staci Rama, 32, of Rye, NY, who paid $7,400 for her 10-year-old daughter Ava’s month-long stay at the International Riding Camp, maintains it is worth every cent.

    “She is having the time of her life,” says Rama, who presented Ava with the camp’s extracurricular shopping and riding trip to Manhattan as a surprise gift for graduating elementary school.

    “She has made friends with girls from all over the world — her roommate is from Paris and her closest friend is from Washington, DC — and has become so much more independent and confident.”

    Chimes in Mares, the owner of the camp: “We serve organic food and have tennis instructors from England, but that isn’t so important to the girls.

    “They don’t care whether the dorms are luxurious or not. Given the choice, they’d rather sleep in the stables with the horses.”
     
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  3. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    What should the extremely rich do with their wealth? - a difficult philosophical question. Spending it on self gratification / indulgence seems on the surface very shallow in a world where many, if not most, are sick and hungry; however, many gain a living by providing the services the rich consume. It just seems to me to be a low efficiency way to aid others; as building clinics and soup kitchens can immediately reduce human suffering much more than good salaries for horse trainers, country club staff, etc. but the total of human suffering seems to still increase.

    Many years ago in college in a discussion with an Indian undergraduate student I was shocked to hear her opposition to humanitarian aid US was then providing to India. - Reducing infant mortality in India was exactly the wrong thing to do, she asserted - That only increased human suffering.

    Again: What should (morally) the very wealthy do? - Is a tough philosophical question.
     
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  5. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    We each must do what we can with what we have without hurting others that may or may not have the same things we have. Some of us are born into wealth while the majority are not but still live a comfortable life if they so desire but that's up to them to find what they can afford. Never flaunt wealth but make it work to achieve your goals and hopefully those goals will be altruistic in nature.
     
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  7. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    So "Stranger in LA" what exactly angered you about this "rich girls in limousine and riding ponies" scene?

    Because their not the rich fancy girls from LA but are actual immigrant girls having a great rich time?

    Anyways social status means a lot to a child education in the future, if they will not experience it, they will not strive for it, or perhaps strive to stay on the poor side avoiding all the associated management required from them and negating the stress from it.
     
  8. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    A simple tenant to live by:
    "An it harm none, do as ye will."
     
  9. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    substantial differences in social status do cause harm...revolutions.
     
  10. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    they don't necessarily have to... you can have a social structure with an upper and middle class... the problem arises, much as we are finding out here in 'Merica, when the Upper Class is so far and away ahead of the next class, and the middle class is almost lower class, while the lower class is, by its very definition, impoverished.
     
  11. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    Manhattan is for the ultra rich, is time to grasp that. Comparing Long Island houses to Queens houses is like comparing heavens to depths of the sea. Lifestyle is so different and the extremely expensive rent in Queens doesn't make up for the feeling of low social status. This gap between elite and middle class will widen even more in the future. After all, middle class is no longer "middle", 65,000$ hardly cuts for a survival lifestyle in NY.
     
  12. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Old girlfriend of mine lived in Manhattan. She was a former actress and worked as a Shiatsu instructor. She was definitely not ultra rich.
    Girlfriend mentioned above lived OK in Manhattan (Chelsea) for much less than that. It took a lot of work, but it's doable. Now, if you want someone else to worry about your roommates, security, central air conditioning etc you're going to pay a lot more. Your choice.
     
  13. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    Other than in the OP's title and the title of the hate-mongering article that has been cut and paste and fobbed off as a topic here, there is no mention or evidence that these young ladies are actually of the top one per cent.
    Even if they were, what is the point of cutting and pasting an article about rich girls enjoying their summer vacation here?
    What I see is the OP once again cutting and pasting stuff from the internet in a pathetic attempt to call attention to himself. Are you envious of these girls? Are you inviting us to be?
    None of us may be as materially wealthy as they are, but (I can only speak for myself) I have had fun summer days with my friends every bit as enjoyable as theirs. As poor as I am, I have even ridden on horses, in limousines and even eaten sushi and drank Shirley Temples. What's more, I possess other sorts of riches, knowledge and experience that these girls probably do not and may never have (though I wish them all the best in their young lives).Should they be jealous of me?
    The truth is it is unwise and petty for any one to ever be envious of any one else. Those young ladies probably also have trials and tribulations of their own as young as they are that we know nothing about.
    So again, what is the point of cutting and pasting an article about rich girls enjoying their summer vacation here?
    Stranger in a Strange (what?

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    ) La (?) : why do you insists on cutting and pasting pointless threads in which you usually offer no comment of your own, and even on the rare occasion you do it is just a series of remarks calculated to rile people up?
    I could go on for pages with examples of your sticky-fingered work, but to confine myself to your most puzzling pair of 'contributions' to this forum: your devotion to inciting bigotry to the Christian faith - usually in an offhand, off-topic manner, and then (and this is what is truly bizarre) your posting of Christian religious art.
    It's not that your choice of posts is so schizophrenic, but that you think we are dumb enough not to realize that you are not particularly interested in any topic you bring up; for you it is all about inciting argument and forcing a reaction to your inflamatory pastings. (Yes, I said pastings, not postings).
    When I log in to Sci Forums and click new posts, three-fourths are invariably your nonsense. Perhaps one reason is that so few members waste their time falling for your bait. Can you take a hint?
     
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  14. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    What exactly angered YOU??? What immigrant girls??? I'm guessing "Stranger in LA" is meant to refer to me.
     
  15. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    Is there an echo in here, or are you really just that dumb?
    You set up the situation, you implied that there is something to despise about these girls, and then you feign innocence.
    Maybe Your Eyes thinks these children are immigrants because the first is clearly Oriental, but named Tess McNulty, then Melano Popiashvili, Soleen Bir, Sibilla Schapira and Tatiana Filatkina are 'ethnic' sounding names. Maybe he thinks only WASPs can be rich, but that's neither here nor there. He's just making an assumption that may actually prove to be correct.
    My question is: what the hell are you doing?
     
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  16. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    I do not despise any person & do not influence anyone to do so & have never given the slightest indication of such.
     
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  17. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    I'm puzzled. Are you referring to your manic participation in the misbegotten 'stupid things famous christians say' thread that you swore not to let die? Or are you referring to your constant stream of cut and pasted cartoons on the political cartoon thread denigrating Christianity? Or perhaps your 'clever' use of the term 'The Holy Babble' whenever you troll any serious threads about Holy Scriptures?
     
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  18. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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  19. Arne Saknussemm trying to figure it all out Valued Senior Member

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    :facepalm:You were never on topic. However, you are now on my ignore list. :wave:
     
  20. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    John Stossel thinks the poor aren't so bad off since they have TVs, cars & microwave ovens. Before I looked this up just now, I thought this was years older. Did he do a very similar program earlier?


    John Stossel - Economic Myths - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hET-zSJDbgA


    John Stossel Runs Hour Long Program Attacking The Poor And Our Social Safety Nets - By Heather May 27, 2012

    As Media Matters reported, Fox's John Stossell went on Fox & Friends to discuss his special Rich Man, Poor Man which aired on both of their networks, and made some dubious claims about what's happened to income growth for those who are living in poverty: http://crooksandliars.com/heather/john-stossel-runs-hour-long-program-attack
     
  21. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    Which criteria suits a particular group of people to be considered poor?
    Do you agree with John Stossel POV?
     
  22. youreyes amorphous ocean Valued Senior Member

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    Chelsea rent prices are quite steep, what was her wage to allow her this lifestyle?
    I also don't seem to recall the logical social schematics behind the paradigm nowadays of how the people of a "liberal" nation with animosity towards socialism have gotten themselves a life package of tons of roommates sharing in a scrumpy closet like spaces all for a price of a Columbian beach bananza for a month.
     
  23. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    Yes. Primum non nocere.
     

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