July 3rd – Days of Camp

Hi Folks,

Camp is finally back into its groove. It has been running like a well oiled machine, counselors are leading great activities and campers are hitting milestones left and right. 

Sunday we had our first Lazy Breakfast of the season, lots of orders being yelled out and lots of fun coming from the kitchen. That was just the beginning of a very, very fun day. We threw in a game of Capture the Flag after a rest period, had a fabulous dinner, and an evening program of All Camp Clue. To bring an end to a wonderful day, we celebrated with an ice cream social complete with M&Ms and whip cream! 

We rolled right into the first day of activities on Monday. We had a full day of excitement and learning! Campers were all over camp, filled with joy to be moving into a version of camp that felt a little closer to “normal”. Evening Program that night was blue and white games.

Tuesday was a bit different, hit with some heavy dew, we had to change our schedule a bit. We had some rainy day activities, including Bingo, puzzles, and rec hall games. We were able to fit in a few regularly scheduled activities in the afternoon. We ended the night with Camper Night off, where campers were able to do some of the things our staff enjoy on a normal summer’s time off. We had a laundromat, casino, bingo table, movies, and even a waterpark. While not a totally accurate representation of what staff time off looks like, the kids sure had a ton of fun. 

Wednesday was Cruiser Day. A little different than years before, everyone stayed in camp and we had regular activities in the morning. The afternoon was where it got really fun. We had a huge Carnival Afternoon. All of the usual fun of Carny Night, but way less Chippewa Ranch Camp girls. We had boat tours heading out around the lake, music playing with hula hoop and limbo contests, face painting, caricatures drawn by the amazing Rick Jones, carnival games, and a dunk tank run by our PA and PA+s. It was so much fun and a great way to celebrate the day. We went into an Organized Free Period after dinner with Trampball open and Free Swim being particularly popular. 

Thursday morning we all slept in a half hour later to reset from a great day the day before. Our PA+s left shortly after breakfast to brave the mighty waters of the Peshtigo, coming back a little less dry than when they left, but with huge smiles on their faces. We had Cabin Challenges that night, where cabins had taken to the loud speakers to challenge another cabin to games such as Ultimate Frisbee or Flag Football. We had some great competitions between the cabins and everyone had a great time. 

Friday we signed up for another round of activities, the second series of the summer. We had campers sign up for even more great activities, testing out new things and growing in those they had tried before. That night was the first all-camp Campfire of the session. We sang some great campfire songs, listened to some guitar playing, and heard a fantastic story from Rick Jones. It was closed out with some of our campers becoming Extreme Trippers, meaning they had completed 7 or more Wilderness Trips or have successfully finished one of the trips that has been deemed “extreme” due to challenge in terrain or length of the trip. It is always inspiring to see the perseverance and talent brought to our Wilderness Trips Program by both campers and staff. 

Today brought on the final day of activities for the first series. We had doubles day down at the ski docks and a number of campers tested out of swim lessons. It was a hot one with the high into the upper 80s, so Free Swim during the afternoon was extremely popular. We had tons of people in the water, everyone from campers to staff enjoyed a refreshing dip in the lake! We finished the night with an exciting game of Counselor Hunt. Resembling a large game of hide and go seek, our counselors and staff hid all around camp to be found and brought back for varying amounts of points. All the points were tallied to go towards Blue & White scores that are accumulated throughout the session. 

We are looking forward to another exciting week ahead full of activities, Wilderness Trips, and Evening Programs. 

Benches Up,

Sam