It’s that time of year again! The Syracuse Area Music Awards (SAMMYs) People’s Choice Awards voting is well underway in the round of 16 for all categories, and we are asking for your support of our students and community to keep us all progressing through the competition!
Our very own Camden High School band is looking to defend its title in the category of “Local Academic or Musical Organization”.
Our neighbors in Camden at Good Life Tavern are also seeking a repeat in the “Best Venue” category.
Local band Buffy & The Boyz is also back in this round under “Local Artist/Band” and has done a lot of campaigning on behalf of the Queen Village and our students.
Finally, Camden’s own Curteis Harlander Memorial Summer Concert Series is in the running for “Best Local Event or Music Series”.
Voting is free and open to the public. Per their rules, one vote per IP Address per day, so if you’re on WiFi at a particular location and it won’t let you vote, try your cellular data.
https://www.syracuseareamusic.com/peopleschoice/
Voting for this round wraps up on Sunday, February 8th.
Save the dates - Friday, February 27th, and Saturday, February 28th! More details to follow soon!
On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 28th, the Camden varsity bowling programs celebrated their class of 2026 with senior night festivities at King Pin Lanes in Rome. Congratulations to Braylon Lyke, Ayden Gerow, Pietra Van der Werff, and Harley Kenyon on great careers, and hopefully the best is yet to come for our bowlers!
Section III Championships are upon us for both teams! The Camden boys will compete on Sunday, 2/1, at Strike-N-Spare Lanes in Syracuse, and the Camden girls will follow on Sunday, 2/8, at Flamingo Bowl in Syracuse. The Section III Individual Shootout begins on 2/26.
For more information including tickets, visit https://section3.org
For championship results, head to https://www.section3bowling.com/calendar/
Graduating wrestlers Astro Johnson, Peyton Kelley, Ryley Narolis, and Mason Butler were celebrated, and three of the four graduating seniors won their matches to add to the festivities.
On Tuesday, January 27th, the Camden High School boys’ basketball team notched a second straight win, and honored a group of six seniors in the process. Ahead of a 74-62 win over Oneida, the Blue Devils basketball and winter cheerleading programs recognized their Class of 2026 for an immense contribution of time and energy to their respective squads.
Mykenzie Gardner was the lone senior representing the winter cheerleading program, and was joined in the festivities by boys’ basketball players Landon Loomis, Adam Gonzalez, Zack Odom, Cody Piersall, and Trenton Brower.
The program also took the opportunity to honor longtime coaching staff member Mark Trusso. Trusso, a retired CCSD technology teacher, has dedicated his time working with the boys’ and girls’ basketball programs at Camden during his career, with a coaching tenure that began in 1978. As he gets ready to depart the Camden area for a new chapter, Trusso was presented with an engraved piece of the current high school’s original gym floor, which was recently replaced.
In the game itself, the Blue Devils overhauled an early deficit to take a one point lead at halftime, then methodically expanded their lead in the second half to lock down their fifth victory of the season.
Photos: Braelin Page / Imagesbyb
Some students even took on the task of preparing for multiple select ensembles at once. Fiume played this show a week after playing in the All-County orchestra, and Schulz has been preparing for the upcoming Junior Area All-State Festival that will be held in Camden on January 30th and 31st.
Meanwhile in Utica, indoor track programs from across the Mohawk Valley will recognize their seniors at the TVL Championship Meet, to be held at Utica University's Todd and Jennifer Hutton Sports and Recreation Dome. In addition, the CHS Morgan's Message Club will also be on-site to spread the word about the work they're doing in the arena of student-athlete mental health.
There will be a ceremony around 5:45, with wrestling beginning at 6:00 PM. Please join us.
The Camden High School Chapter of the National Honor Society had a quartet of special guests yesterday to discuss opportunities for volunteerism in Camden and the surrounding areas! Thanks to Mary and Jim from the Camden Lions Club, and Leslie and Julia from the Leslie's Laundry Foundation for coming to speak with our students about how they can make a difference in our communities!
Between matches of a junior varsity/varsity doubleheader against Tri-Valley League opponent Whitesboro, a formal dedication ceremony was held in recognition of the Morgan’s Message Club mission, and in memory of the organization’s namesake: Duke University women’s lacrosse student-athlete Morgan Rodgers.
Rodgers died by suicide in July 2019 after years of mental health difficulties. The Morgan’s Message organization was created to honor her legacy and provide a framework for student-athletes to take a proactive approach to their mental health. It empowers student-athletes to support one another through their challenges, cultivate a supportive environment where needed support can be sought rather than stigmatized, and take ownership of the narrative surrounding mental health in athletics.
As part of the ceremony, Morgan’s Message Student-Athlete Ambassadors Kamryn Gloude and Aubrey Mitchell each spoke about the organization and its goals. Current volleyball student-athlete Lynzee Szczesniak delivered a powerful and courageous keynote address where she detailed her own challenges - a poignant reminder to all in attendance that they are never alone.
A resource table and message wall were also provided by the club for the evening, and the home team wore specially designed t-shirts for warmup activities. Those t-shirts will become a wearable reminder of the spirit of Morgan’s Message in the Camden High School hallways throughout the year.
To get ready, students are performing a memorization activity where they break into pairs and perform for each other, over and over again. While getting vitally important repetitions with the material, the students are also sharing notes and feedback with each other. In addition, students are supplied with expert feedback from Camden’s resident Shakespeare aficionado - retired ELA teacher Robin Edkin. Edkin brought the Shakespeare Competition to Camden over 30 years ago, and continues to offer guidance to students in her retirement years.
The finals of this year’s Camden High School Shakespeare Competition will take place on Wednesday, January 28th.
