SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Camp Leif Ericson is hidden in plain sight, tucked away in the trees along the Big Sioux River in Sioux Falls.

The popular day camp has been part of the city for more than a century, and this year has a new leader.

There’s a certain appeal to Camp Leif Ericson.

“It’s like fun, you get to be outside and you get to run around, have a lot of fun, there’s lots of activities,” 8-year-old camper Brenna Thury said.

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8-year-old Brenna Thury is back at camp for a second straight summer.

“I really like to do soccer here, I like to go fishing here, I also like to take walks all the way to where we’re going,” Thury said.

She’s even managed to make friends.

“Every time I come to camp, I’m like meeting a lot of new friends, it’s so nice,” Thury said.

And then there’s the new camp director.

“He’s nice, I would say,” Thury said.

“Camp has been an essential part of my life. Growing up, camp was the foundation of who I am now,” Camp Leif Ericson camp director Justin Lassen said.

Justin Lassen grew up in Slayton, Minnesota. He’s spent the past eleven years in the Twin Cities, and made the move to Sioux Falls last year to take over as camp director at Leif Ericson.

“My role is to get the best out of our staff, it’s to get the best out of people when they come out here, and instead of just another camper, we view each camper as a person with a story that wants to be seen and heard and loved,” Lassen said.

“Justin’s excitement and attitude about camp and his enthusiasm was phenomenal. His experience through the camps he’s been a part of in Minnesota were clearly really important to us and he just brings a fresh perspective and a fresh look at how Camp Leif Ericson could run,” Sioux Falls Family YMCA CEO James Oppenheimer said.

James Oppenheimer is the Sioux Falls Family YMCA CEO and says selecting the right person to run Leif Ericson was huge.

“There are a lot of things that have been really successful for a long time here, a lot of great traditions, a lot of great people that have been involved for a long time. We want to uphold those traditions, uphold the authenticity of Leif Ericson, while evolving into the 21st century,” Oppenheimer said.

Lassen appreciates the long history of Camp Leif Ericson, but is also building for the future…sometimes it’s one in the same.

“There used to be a teepee village out here at camp and that, unfortunately due to the flooding and just the aging of the teepees, they had to be taken down four or five years ago, but the community, our staff, the campers expressed that this is something really important to them and so this year we brought it back and we have eight brand new teepees,” Lassen said.

With camp up and running, Lassen will now deal with hundreds of campers, ranging in age from four to fifteen, on a daily basis, but knows there’s no shortage of help.

“We have people that are passionate and able to connect with those age groups, so it’s been fun to get all of our staff here, our hundred counselors that come out for the summer and to find their sweet spot, the things they’re passionate about,” Lassen said.

He’d even like to someday bring the camp experience to anyone and everyone.

“How can we continue to expand our programming? We have summer camp for most of the summer, but how can we do that year-round? What does it look like to open this space up for the entire community?” Lassen said.

Lassen has worked in maintenance, as a counselor, assistant director, and now camp director… but it always comes back to his days as a camper.

“I’ve worked with hundreds, thousands of kids over the course of my career and I remember myself, I put myself in their shoes and I remember those things and that’s what gets me excited to be able to do this role,” Lassen said.

And week one at Camp Leif Ericson wasn’t bad.

“To see the kids come off their buses with the smiles on their faces, how excited they were about camp, about this magical place that it Camp Leif Ericson was something that I’ll never forget, that moment when those 4- and 5-year olds came off, giving them high-fives, this new world they’ve never seen before, that’s what gets me up in the morning, that’s what gets me here, that’s what our counselors are all about, it’s about these kids,” Lassen said.

There is still time to attend day camp at Leif Ericson this summer, with two-week camps running through early August.