At Oahu Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, the annual family campout transforms the club into an overnight experience for about 150 people of all ages, complete with a big BBQ dinner and a bento breakfast by Executive Chef Michael Longworth and team.
“Each year, we really try to up the game with what we offer,” says Melissa Warner, CCM, Oahu CC’s Director of Membership. “Everybody camps outside. They bring all their own supplies, their tents and sleeping bags. A lot of people have been investing in air mattresses. It’s a lot of fun.”
This past year, the event featured a kids’ pajama party rave. Right before bedtime, the indoor space was transformed into a glow-in-the-dark dance floor with neon accessories, glow balloons, and a smoke machine. The club’s fitness manager served as the DJ, while on-site staff joined the dance floor alongside members.
“This year,” Warner says, “we’re doing a big game of capture the flag over some of the course.”
Longworth has been with the club for the past 10 years, so he’s seen the campout from its inception pre-pandemic to today.
The food on offer varies some, but the idea is the same: comfort food that speaks to the casual nature of the event.
“We’ve done it different ways,” notes Warner. “Sometimes it’s traditional barbecue food—hot dogs, hamburgers. Sometimes there’s sausage or chicken. We’ll have watermelon, chips, usually potato salad—classic comfort food.”
Weather permitting, cooking happens outside on the grill. If the movie’s inside, or if the weather doesn’t cooperate, there will be an indoor buffet.
“In the morning, we do breakfast bentos [with] pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon,” says Warner. “It’s an early morning, but it’s so fun to see everyone outside the norm. Usually everyone in the club is in their golf attire, or dressed to the nines, so it’s fun to see [the membership] more casual and comfy.”
Family-Centric
The club has 1,300 memberships, or close to 3,000 people, including spouse and dependents.
“It’s in our mission statement to be as family-centric as possible, and it’s something I think we’ve really strived for over the past few years, especially since the pandemic, to try to integrate more family programming,” says Warner.
Other family-friendly events include a Fourth of July celebration, a Halloween party, and a kids’ art show.
“Of course, we have brunch with Santa and the Easter Bunny,” Warner notes. “We really try to do a good variation of bigger events and then some of the smaller, more niche events for the kids.”
“And we have a huge golf program,” she adds, “so it spans not just clubhouse programming, but also junior golf. We have the PGA Junior League teams, we do clinics multiple times a week, and monthly tournaments for the juniors.”
In keeping with the club’s ‘”family-centric” mission, Longworth and his team recently rolled out weekly lunch and dinner menu specials just for kids, in addition to the standard kids’ menu.
A few recent specials include pigs in a blanket, baked spaghetti, and ravioli.
“Simple stuff, but different than your traditional cheeseburger and chicken tenders,” Warner says. “The pigs in a blanket was the most popular so far—with a lot of adults trying to order it, too.”
