Hi Folks,
ANNOUNCEMENTS: If you’re new to the Directors’ Journal, welcome! We’ve been having a grand ol’ time around here. This is the section of the Journal where we’ll share any important news with you. If it’s really important, we’ll also send an email, so you won’t miss anything.
Please be sure you’ve familiarized yourself with our Parent Handbook. We get lots of questions from parents during the summer, and that’s just fine. We’re here to answer them for you. At the same time, many of those questions are already answered in the handbook, so if you could reference that first, and then if you’re still unclear about something, give us a call or email, that would be helpful. Thanks.
Our 4th Series of activities (the first one of 2nd Session) is all signed up, so you can now look at your camper’s schedule and see what he has signed up for. You access that from your Keylog Page. If/When your son signs up for a trip, that is also going to appear on your Keylog Page. This is our way of keeping you informed, but also maintaining that important distance between home and camp. Remember, we have any activity preferences you have sent us, and we share those with your son. Ultimately, though, it is going to be his final decision, as long as he meets our requirements that 2 of his 4 activities are active.
So, let’s just say that camp is ice cream. We know not everyone loves ice cream, but the percentage of people who do is very, very high, so we’re going with the analogy. Camp is ice cream. Each summer of camp has its own unique flavor. You’ve got your vanilla summers, your chocolate summers, your strawberries, caramels, mints, etc. Each is delicious and satisfying in it’s own way. And then, you’ve got what we could call the sub-flavors. So in the chocolate category you might have moca almond fudge, for instance. And that might have some hints of similarity with your espresso cashew or a cappuccino macadamia. That’s not even to mention the mint chocolate chips, right? Well, those can represent the individual sessions of camp. They too can have a slightly different feel and flavor to them even though they are in the same summer, and they have a lot of the same kids who come for both sessions. They are similar, but different in sometimes very subtle ways. There. Now you understand how camp sessions can feel, AND you’re hungry for ice cream. That’s one darn effective paragraph, if you ask me.
This summer so far has been chocolatey by my estimation, but only because I really love chocolate ice cream. And all the “heavy dew” we had gave us some muddy ground periodically, which – to stretch the analogy beyond recognition – may look like chocolate to some. It has been a very sweet summer so far. The boys have stuck to each other through all the good times and the occasional challenges. And they have grown so much in a short time. We have savored the summer so far, but like any good ice cream cone, we finished the first session way too quickly. That’s okay…we ordered 2 scoops!
Enter Second Session! We’re only a day or so into it so far, but it has sure been great! It seems like it could be a slightly different blend of chocolate, but just as sweet and rich! The boys rolled into camp about 4 hours after we concluded our Visiting Weekend (which was also fantastic!). It was a gorgeous afternoon, warm but with a nice breeze. And a strange thing happened…everyone arrived on time. Even the baggage. It was really nice, but not something we plan to get too used to. So the kids arrived, we introduced everyone to their counselors and cabin mates, and they had time to go unpack and have a look around. That night we had our traditional first-night dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, with some green beans and a nice salad bar. And that night we had all the cabins playing games together so they could spend some fun time together as cabin groups. It was a wonderful first day, and that night it got cool outside, making it ideal sleeping weather.
Yesterday morning our “early riser” phenomenon was back! A bunch of kids were up early looking around, playing on the courts, sitting and talking, and playing some cards. It was a nice, brisk morning, and it was fun hanging out with those boys. Most will “retire” from early-riser status after the typical camp schedule has kicked in for a few days. After breakfast we took care of some routine stuff for our 4-week campers, and had some clinics going on for the 8-weekers. It was a perfect morning for getting in the lake, so our swim assessments went very smoothly. By lunch we were all done and we were able to sign up for the new activity series that afternoon. We finished off with a nice free period before dinner.
Last night we had our Staff Scavenger Hunt. The boys paired up with partners and had a list of more than 60 questions about members of our staff. They had to try and get answers to at least 40 of them, and this was a fun way for them to talk with all the different counselors, trippers and activity specialists to get to know them a little. And – of course – it involved some running around which we like doing before bedtime. It was a comfortable night, and a really fun program.
This morning our early riser group was significantly smaller, but still ample. After breakfast we had the last of our “red-tape” routines with Picture Day. The professional photographer took photos of the whole camp and of each cabin group. He also took individual portraits of the four-week kids, and then we had some cabin activities to finish the morning. And that was that.
This afternoon it was time to get activities cranked back up. We experienced a slight delay due to some threatening weather, but once it passed by we were able to get 2 shortened periods in. It’s really helpful this early in the session to get the kids out into their activities, so we made it work as best we could. Tonight we will have Blue & White games, and though the forecast is iffy for the evening, we’re hopeful we’ll get the games in. If not, we’ve got alternative plans to utilize the Arena and play some Ga-Ga with the whole camp.
The forecast looking ahead is for some perfect camp weather for at least the next few days. We’ve got some huge programs in store coming up, and we’re really excited for that.
Today’s Trip:
-Tettegouche State Park, MN – 4 days rock climbing
Tomorrow’s Trips:
-Isle Royale National Park, MN – 6 days backpacking
-Northern Highlands Recreation Area, WI – 3 days lake canoeing
Thursday’s Trip:
-Brule River, WI – 3 days river canoeing
All of our 1st year campers are taking Outdoor Wilderness Living Skills (OWLS) as one of their activities this series. Once that concludes, they will be eligible to sign up for some great trips that are suited to their age and experience level. We have many trips on the calendar ahead!
We’ll write again soon. Thanks for sending us such great campers!!
Benches up,
Mike & Leslie