Irreplaceable

Our final video recap of Summer 2026 belongs to Tamary, our oldest campers and the leaders of camp.

Every year, Tamary chooses a theme to represent their final summer together, and “T ’26” chose “Irreplaceable.” After watching the way they led camp this summer, it is hard to imagine a more fitting word.

Being Tamary comes with a special responsibility. As the oldest campers, they help set the tone for everyone who follows them. Younger campers watch how they participate, how they treat one another, how they respond when things don’t go their way, and how much enthusiasm they bring to camp traditions. This group embraced that responsibility and led with an incredible sense of positivity and friendship.

They cheered loudly (we hope you take a moment to read through the next segment “About That Roll Call”), participated fully, supported one another, and showed our younger campers that being a leader doesn’t mean being the loudest voice in the room. It means helping the people around you have a better experience. Throughout the summer, their genuine friendship with one another seemed to spread across camp.

Of course, being Tamary also means knowing that many of the moments you’ve experienced year after year at Vega are happening for the last time as a camper. This video captures some of the fun, silliness, friendships, traditions, and memories that made their final summer together so special.

It is always bittersweet watching Tamary leave. Every year, another group steps forward to take its place, but no age-group can ever actually be replaced. Each leaves its own mark on Vega and becomes part of the generations of campers who came before them.

To Tamary 2026: We miss you!!! Thank you for the example you set, the positivity you brought to camp, and the friendships you shared with all of us. You helped make our 90th summer an incredibly special one.

You chose your theme well.

Irreplaceable.

***

About That Roll Call…!

If you’ve spent any time at Vega recently, you may have heard Tamary participating in a tradition known as Roll Call. And by “heard,” we mean you may have heard it from the other side of Echo Lake.

Roll Call actually began with a very practical purpose. Campers were assigned numbers alphabetically by last name, and calling out those numbers was a quick way to make sure everyone in a bunk was accounted for. Somewhere along the way, about 15-20 years ago, Tamary decided that simply saying your number wasn’t nearly enough.

Today, Tamary takes great pride in shouting their numbers with as much volume and enthusiasm as they can possibly muster. We generally contain this tradition to Lawn Lunch, both to preserve its special place in the day and, admittedly, to preserve everyone else’s sanity.

But beneath the volume (and occasional obnoxiousness), there is something about Roll Call that we have come to appreciate. Camp asks girls, little by little, to find their voices and to raise their hands, try something new, perform in front of others, stand up for a friend, and become increasingly comfortable being themselves. By the time they reach Tamary, there is something fitting about watching them stand up and unapologetically announce, “I am here.”

And when that many individual voices do that together, “I am here” becomes “We are here.”

Maybe that’s why a simple attendance check has survived and evolved into a tradition they love so much. It’s loud. It’s a little
ridiculous. It’s definitely Tamary. And after all those summers of growing up together and making Vega their summer home while helping others feel the same, they’ve earned the right to make their presence known.