History

Camp Vega was founded in 1936 as an all girls residential summer camp.  Over the past 80+ years, Vega has flourished while preserving its cherished camp traditions.  Nestled along over a mile of shoreline on beautiful Echo Lake, Camp Vega has been helping girls become confident and capable young women.  Vega is named after the brightest star in the summer sky.  320 acres of pristine forest, and two miles of majestic lakefront have been a summer home to generations of campers.  Our truly beautiful setting with continuously updated facilities is the backdrop for our rich traditions and nurturing environment.

Vega was founded by Ruth Cohen in 1936, who ran the camp until the mid-1950′s when it was passed on to Matt and Mary Penn.  Matt and Mary continued to carry out Ruth’s vision of excellence in girls camping.  Their motto was, “Too low they build who build beneath the stars.”  This motto was taken to heart by Vega’s next owners, Dick and Linda Courtiss.

Since the mid-1970′s, Camp Vega has been owned and operated by the Courtiss family and has been directed by Kyle and Emily Courtiss since 2009.  Vega is known as one of the first girls camps to provide our campers with a customized sports, fine arts, and performing arts program in facilities unlike any other.  Vega continues to lead the way in girls residential camping while preserving and respecting it’s many traditions, from our all camp campfire Sunset Circle to continuing to pay homage to our camp tooth fairy and philanthropist known as Varna.

Today, Vega’s motto is, “The most exciting thing a girl will find at Vega is herself.”  This saying embodies the intrinsic growth Vega campers experience during their summers together.  Girls at camp live by the Camp Vega Values – Believe in Yourself, Build Unity, Choose Gratitude, Have Empathy and Live with Integrity.  By spending summers at Vega, campers discover that they can accomplish anything.