Welcome to session 13D or (6D for the one week kids). We have planned a wild, wild west way to close summer 2012- it's hard to believe we are down to the last two weeks of camp.
It never ceases to amaze me where our campers come from. Yesterday, we checked in kids from as far away as Nigeria, Russia, Spain and France. We are a wonderful global community here, and it is pretty awesome how the spirit of summer camp unites everyone from around the world.
Following check-in, we ran through our typical orientation process in spite of distant thunder rumbles. By dinner, the thunderstorms were no longer distant and we had to scrap plans for unit cheer offs at dark. Still, the campers starting learning their cheers and had cabin photos taken which we will upload later this morning.
Today is Monday Fun Day with opening campfire on the agenda for tonight. I will give you the details tomorrow!
Jamie
Monday, August 6, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
August 3, 2012
Session C Closing Campfire was terrific last night, a great evening down at the amphitheater with some fabulous songs, skits and awards.
Songs:
Songs:
- Shawnees: A song from the movie "Mulan"
- Iroquois: "We Come from the Mountains"
- Lahanna: "Lean on Me"
- Jasmin and Diani "Fireflies"
- Lopatcong "Tune Maker"
- Anna K. "Jar of Hearts"
- Jamie "Froggy Song"
- Markus and the CITs "Wonderwall"
- Camp Bernie Band "Time of your Life"
Skits:
- Brandon & Pachu "Jet Li"
- Markus, Deacon, Josh & Nic "Johnny Got Hit by a Bus 2: Revenge of the Bus"
- Owasanoke- "Invisible Bench"
- Pioneers- "Doctor's Office"
- Kiowa/Owasa-- usual closing campfire performance...don't ask!
- Presentation from the Nation- gave a special award to Deacon
- Seb & Josh- "Kitty"
Awards:
- Honesty: Anna K.
- Caring: Alexis
- Respect: Jay
- Responsibility: Katie
- Spirit: Nicole
- Spirit, Mind & Body: Alex
- 5 Year Paddle: Nicole
- Unit of the Session: Shawnee
Thursday, August 2, 2012
August 2, 2012
Here we go with the final day of our third session. The excitement will be building for free choice awards and closing campfire tonight, but first, it's one last round of regularly scheduled activities this morning.
Last night was the dance in the Pavilion- kids could also hand out in the pine grove, visit trading post or watch a movie if they weren't in the mood to dance.
A couple of quick reminders about closing day tomorrow: pick up time at camp AND at the Ridgewood bus is 11 AM. Please try to get here by that time or shortly thereafter, we will not have a lunch service for campers tomorrow. Also, if you are picking up at camp, please be sure that you stop at our main office to sign your child out before proceeding to the dining hall.
Have a great day- I will post a full rundown on the award winners tomorrow morning.
Last night was the dance in the Pavilion- kids could also hand out in the pine grove, visit trading post or watch a movie if they weren't in the mood to dance.
A couple of quick reminders about closing day tomorrow: pick up time at camp AND at the Ridgewood bus is 11 AM. Please try to get here by that time or shortly thereafter, we will not have a lunch service for campers tomorrow. Also, if you are picking up at camp, please be sure that you stop at our main office to sign your child out before proceeding to the dining hall.
Have a great day- I will post a full rundown on the award winners tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
August 1, 2012
Hi again everyone!
Unit night was held last evening, here is a quick recap:
Pioneers: Held their ceremony, had s'mores and a cheer off against the Iroquois, and had a camping overnight on the tent platforms by Turrell.
Iroquois: Also had a ceremony and a cheer off with the Pioneers (obviously!). They made a fort in the back chapel and had their sleepover there.
Nation: Played a game called "Gauntlet"- I still don't know exactly what that means but it must be fun!
Shawnees: Messy Goo-- another activity that I don't entirely understand but everyone seemed to enjoy. You can see a few pictures of it on the photo upload.
Unit night was held last evening, here is a quick recap:
Pioneers: Held their ceremony, had s'mores and a cheer off against the Iroquois, and had a camping overnight on the tent platforms by Turrell.
Iroquois: Also had a ceremony and a cheer off with the Pioneers (obviously!). They made a fort in the back chapel and had their sleepover there.
Nation: Played a game called "Gauntlet"- I still don't know exactly what that means but it must be fun!
Shawnees: Messy Goo-- another activity that I don't entirely understand but everyone seemed to enjoy. You can see a few pictures of it on the photo upload.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
July 31, 2012
We forgot to tell you yesterday that the London Color Wars winner was the Red Team- great job Red!!
The re-scheduled river trip went out on Sunday and returned yesterday after a successful paddling trip. We are fortunate that the weather cooperated enough to get the trip in for this session.
Free choice week two began yesterday, as campers started their second week of activities. It was fun for me to walk around and see the kids playing disc golf, one of our newest programs here. We installed a 9 hole course back in June and it wraps from around the athletics field, out to the nation, back down the pond trail and into the center of camp.
Lopatcong is winning our Spirit Points competition so far- they have earned points by cheering loudly, being spirited, winning competitions, exhibiting the four core values and keeping a clean cabin. Other cabins will be trying to catch up before the spirit points competition ends later in the week!
The re-scheduled river trip went out on Sunday and returned yesterday after a successful paddling trip. We are fortunate that the weather cooperated enough to get the trip in for this session.
Free choice week two began yesterday, as campers started their second week of activities. It was fun for me to walk around and see the kids playing disc golf, one of our newest programs here. We installed a 9 hole course back in June and it wraps from around the athletics field, out to the nation, back down the pond trail and into the center of camp.
Lopatcong is winning our Spirit Points competition so far- they have earned points by cheering loudly, being spirited, winning competitions, exhibiting the four core values and keeping a clean cabin. Other cabins will be trying to catch up before the spirit points competition ends later in the week!
Monday, July 30, 2012
July 30, 2012
Here is a complete rundown on the past weekend:
Friday Night: Opening Ceremony for London Color Wars, fires lit on the athletics field. Team cheer offs. Plus the typical Color Wars pranks overnight on Friday!
Saturday Morning: Color Wars kicked off with a new game invented by Stu and some of the Unit Leaders. It was a take on capture the flag- each team was given supplies to decorate a building of camp with their team color. Then, they had to get past other teams to take all of their decorations and move them to a different location, while simultaneously trying to stop the other teams for getting to their buildings. Does that make sense? If not, just trust me that everyone enjoyed it!
Saturday Afternoon: A few Olympic style races- canoeing and swimming. Then, thunderstorms rolled in and things were moved indoors. There were more Olympic events inside, such as shooting, rhythmic gymnastics and limbo (not Olympics, but still awesome!).
Saturday Night: Kind of a dance/paint party in the pavilion. Plus a traditional English meal for dinner: bangers and mash, AND fish and chips!
Sunday Morning: Lazy breakfast and chapel, led by the CITs. This was followed by a much needed all camp clean-up.
Sunday Afternoon/Night: Clever all camp activity prepared by the CITs- a version of "Apples to Apples", but using counselors as the playing cards. Dinner was unit cookouts and then the CITs led us in "Extreme Construction Craze".
A great weekend to say the least- thanks to all who planned these special events. Oh, almost forgot--- Deacon, our Nation Unit Leader, dressed as the Queen of England to kick things off. That explains the photo of him in the group picture posted to Sunday's photo gallery!
Friday, July 27, 2012
July 27, 2012
I think session C is turning into our "unsettled weather" session of 2012. There is always one stretch like this! I'm sure many of you experienced the wild thunderstorms last night- epic, in fact. This disrupted our planned unit night scheduled for evening program, and due to understandable safety concerns, the unit leaders treated all of camp to a movie night instead.
I am excited to share that the CITs presented their project idea to myself, Stu and Victoria yesterday afternoon and have settled on a plan to do trail maintenance on the Amphitheater trail. They also will be sprucing it up a bit with some painted rocks, perhaps some signs as well. We all felt this was a terrific idea and one that will really enhance a trail we use during our summer season. The goal is to have this ready for presentation by closing campfire next Thursday night.
Things are gearing up for the All Camp Day tomorrow, London Color Wars! The blog will be taking two days off for the weekend but will be back on Monday morning with an extensive re-cap of the festivities. Have a fabulous weekend.
I am excited to share that the CITs presented their project idea to myself, Stu and Victoria yesterday afternoon and have settled on a plan to do trail maintenance on the Amphitheater trail. They also will be sprucing it up a bit with some painted rocks, perhaps some signs as well. We all felt this was a terrific idea and one that will really enhance a trail we use during our summer season. The goal is to have this ready for presentation by closing campfire next Thursday night.
Things are gearing up for the All Camp Day tomorrow, London Color Wars! The blog will be taking two days off for the weekend but will be back on Monday morning with an extensive re-cap of the festivities. Have a fabulous weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)