Camp Champions Blog

Today was another delightful day at Camp.

We had two former counselors (from 2003-2006) visit today.  They are now both teachers and have not been back for years.  They told me that they made a special playlist to listen to on the 5 hour drive, but never listened to a single note, “We just could not stop talking about Camp memories!!”  One said that camp enabled her to have the courage to switch schools and make new friends.  The other said that teacher has been so much easier because she was a counselor.

Neither were ever campers, but found camp as college-aged counselors.

Both radiated happiness as they walked and remembered.

We get visitors all the time.  One recent visitor explained, “I can leave Camp, but Camp never leaves me!” They also usually say that they cannot explain to their friends, colleagues or significant others why they love it so.

“I am going to Camp.”

“That’s nice.  Be safe.”

“No, you do not understand.  I am going to CAMP!”

“Allll riiight. Have fun!”

The visits are also great for the new counselors and campers.  They see the passion and joy in the visitors’ eyes.  It lets them know that this is a place that many people love – a place that people return to.  In short, it lets everyone know that we are a true community.

Wild Water Creature Wednesday

As I was strolling today (this time with a hat the is a full tiger head), I once again came upon the Outdoors Skills class.  They had the youngest girls (mostly 6 and 7) arriving.

It is time for some full disclosure.  6 and 7 year-olds do not really learn a lot of Outdoor Skills.  Instead, the counselors see this time as an opportunity to stretch their imagination.  As they arrived, the instructors declared (in the spirit of alliteration) that today is Throwback Thursday.  As a result, they must travel back in time to yesterday (to Wild Water Creature Wednesday).

The counselor told them to put their “flux capacitors” (they looked like towels to me) over their heads, say “flux capacitor” 3 times and turn in circles.  When they had done so, she explained that they were now back to Wednesday.  First rule – they must not go where they went yesterday (or is it today?) because their present self must not meet their past self.  They then declared that Wild Water Creature Wednesday would happen in the pool.

In the pool, another instructor led them in efforts to act out different creatures, including, dolphins, sharks, sea urchins, and otters.  By the way, one of your daughters does a scary-good dolphin imitation.  At the end, he also had them create the one thing that even sharks fear: a whirlpool.  They huddled together into a circle and swam clockwise.  The counselor, who weighs roughly 240 pounds, acted as if he were being knocked about by the midi-induced vortex.

In the Man Cave, we had a delightful chat with the youngest boys.  I was delighted by what good listeners and sharers they were.  You often do not know what you will get with 6 and 7 year-old boys, but they were funny and engaging.  Must be good parents.

Tonight, the boys’ side of camp redeemed itself.  Last week, the girls caught more fish than the boys (30-18).  Much angst on the boys’ side.  Today, they scored a clear victory 56-0!!!  Of course, it helps that the girls were not actually fishing tonight!

Rather than fishing, the girls had Miss Champini tonight, which is a big deal.  Every girl’s cabin dresses up its counselors as different people, places or themes from camp.  The entire event was precious (or so reports Susie Ma’am).  While I was not there, I got a report on the winners.

1. Most congeniality - Riggabamboo dressed their counselors as the two new pot-bellied pigs (Napoleon and Notorious P.I.G.).

2. Best costume – Cabin 6 whose counselor came dressed as the Arts and Crafts table. Looking like a Jackson Pollock painting, they think she would have perfectly blended with the actual Arts and Crafts table.

3. Best talent – Cabin 2 with the main character from the beloved camp song “Matalina, Catalina, Hoopsawhatalata, Hooka, Wooka, Pooka was her name”.  Her talent was adding new ridiculous lyrics to an already ridiculous song.

4. Miss Champini was (drum roll please), Cabin 8 with the Rainbow Chair Queen.  The entire cabin dressed as each of the Rainbow Chairs and she was the queen with songs and a great skit that included all the kids.

The boys had Open Mike night.  We used to call it Talent Night.  It might be best that “talent” is no longer in the title.  I, however, was proud of the 4 campers who sang, the 4 the played instruments and the 3 that told jokes!

Until tomorrow, I hope you had a great day too!

Steve Sir

Sunday nights are my favorite nights at camp.  The first Sunday of each term, I give a vespers talk.  (The second Sunday night belongs to the girls of 7-11 when they read their “love letters about camp” to the girls’ side.)

I try to choose topics accessible to all age groups.  Tonight I spoke about “being misjudged”.  My main point was this – if a person feels misjudged, then she must live her life to prove the accusation wrong.  Other people’s perceptions might be false, but they are important information nonetheless.  A wise girl asks herself why others misjudge her and decides if it’s worth changing her attitude or actions.

I shared a story from my freshman year of high school.  I was a fairly shy, not terribly confident freshman.  Like many tremulous teens, I sought the company of the most social and prominent students assuming their friendship would provide me validation.  My faulty choice in friends combined with my natural reticence had me labeled a snob.  The fact that I felt minimal connection with this crowd, perhaps, furthered my vulnerability.  When a friend accused me of being aloof, I was deeply hurt, defensive and somewhat bewildered. Heck, I didn’t feel I had anything to be snobbish about.

I shared my struggles with my parents.  I have a wonderfully pragmatic Yankee father.  The “Get over it.  Life is not a piece of cake” kind.  Rather than console me, both my parents encouraged introspection.  What perception had I created that people would think this of me?  Did it bother me enough to change it?  While I shared the details with the campers of how I successfully changed my image in high school, I’ll simply tell you that by the end of my freshman year I had a new group of friends (no surprise) and felt happy and accepted.  My snob reputation declined as I strived to be a friendlier and more engaging person.  To this day, I still have to cultivate my own extroversion.  I’m envious of people like Craw Ma’am and Garcia Ma’am whose extroversion is effortless.

Many times I reiterated this point to the girls: no one can keep you down but yourself.  I couldn’t depend on the interest of the general freshman class to get to know me well enough to see my shyness.  I was the one responsible for changing their view of me.  I was keeping myself down.  Whether or not I felt that I had been misjudged was irrelevant.  I was the only one who could fix the situation.

The vespers speech also included the topic of misjudging others.  My high school experience had taught me not to judge others quickly as I myself had been judged.

After I gave my speech, I asked for the girls to share their own stories.  At least fifty hands popped up immediately and more kept coming.  (I am not exaggerating)  The minis chose to relate this story to camp.  Many shared their fears of the Glob, the Climbing Wall, Waterskiing etc. They all resolved to overcome their physical fears.

The evening got a little more interesting when girls shared struggles with cabin dynamics.  They’d been impatient or intolerant with cabin-mates. One admitted she could be bossy, another’s disorganization was impeding cabin clean up.  Another said that her cabin has misjudged her as mean and rather than stay angry at them, she publically pledged to prove them wrong through her kindness.

I was even more thrilled when some girls admitted their tendency to judge others too quickly, to be superficial and to let others’ opinions influence their own.

Many girls pledged to make the rest of their lives as good as camp.  Camp creates such a feeling of support, love and possibilities, campers feel confident and open.  But when they get back home, that confidence diminishes.  I constantly challenge campers to note the qualities they love about themselves while they are here at camp and then bring those qualities back “to the outside world”.

Finally, the really good stuff.  I occasionally tear up when I listen to my wonderful girls show their maturity and insight.  (I’m such a softy and they all tease me for it, which I love.)  So tonight I choked up when one first year camper admitted that she’d been unfair to her stepfather as she blamed him for not being her dad.  She had misjudged him and resolved to be more accepting and to make it her responsibility to improve their relationship. Another said that her family was moving to a new town and that she and her brothers had made life intentionally difficult for her parents and that they deserved better.

When I hear these confessions, I am so proud of my campers I can’t stand it.  It’s hard enough to admit our shortfalls to ourselves.  But to admit them to the entire girls’ side and then hear the murmurs of support and “snaps” from their peers is tremendously powerful and affirming.  I can’t wait to follow up in the days to come and hear about the successes these girls are going to have at camp and in their lives.

I love your daughters!

Susie Ma’am

At our first day of Man Cave, I heard a wonderful tale.  Before I go further, let me say that Man Cave (and its close cousin Friendship Games) are our daily efforts to spend time getting to know every cabin.  I will describe more about the history of Man Cave/Friendship Games in soon-to-be-written blog.

On to the story.

Every August after camp ends, we spend several days brainstorming ideas to improve camp.  We read the parent surveys, share comments from our staff and make our own observations.

We then create a list of potential projects.  From there, we call colleagues from other camps to ask about their summers.  We read articles and we call experts.

After all of this, we come up with a final project list.

This year, it was ridiculous.  Most of you already know about the physical improvements.  I will not go into detail, but let me briefly outline them:

1. The Outdoor Cooking Pavilion – I told you about this yesterday.
2. Herb Garden at the OCP – With a great facility, we wanted great ingredients.
3. Petting zoo – pygmy goats, pigs, tortoise, box turtle and bunnies.  I am already getting great stories from the campers.
4. Rainbow Serpent – new element at the Ropes Course.  We will show pictures later.
5. New Rookie Bathroom – we finally demolished the original bathroom and built a brand new, highly attractive one.
6. New Entryway – you saw some of it at opening, it will be finished by closing!
7. Rebuilt Boathouse – bigger, more slips, more solid, really cool.
8. New top-of-the-line Nautique Ski Boat – featuring the colors of the Jamaican flag, this 22.5 foot v-drive boat is the best we have ever had (and is now the pride of our 5 boat fleet).
9. The Jungle Joe Inflatable Water Toy – I hope you have seen pictures – much fun.
10. 10. Bigger and more buoyant Lily Pad on the girls side – the girls love to hang out and chat on the lily pad during free swim.  The new one just makes it better.
11. 11. Rock-It Inflatable Water Toy (in the pool) – the campers have adored this addition.  I am sure you have seen pictures of the campers climbing on, rocking and playing.
12. 12. Improved Indy Track – over the past 4 years, we have bought new go-carts, added a tunnel, signs and flags.  This year, we widened the course, laid down a better surface and banked the turns slightly.
13. 13. New Horse Corral- the fence around the corral had become tired and unattractive.  We put in a massive welded pipe structure that is safer and better looking.
14. 14. Trees – we always plant between 8 and 12 trees each year.  We were on the high side this year.
15. 15. Stand-Up Paddleboards – We are so excited to add a new water activity this year.  I tried one last year and loved it!
16. 16. Resided all rookie cabins and several girl cabins.  We also added new doors.
17. 17. Fillin’ Station extension – No camper will ever see this, but it makes live easier for the kitchen crew, giving them more storage and a break space.

Whew!  We have never taken on this many projects in one year.  As you might imagine, we have been busy.  During January, we had 5 different crews working at camp.  We called it the Camp Champions’ Stimulus Program.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about a scheduling change we made this year that is making for a lot of happy campers!!!

Steve Sir

Opening the OCP

It is almost 11:00 and your children are in bed and resting for another day at camp.
Camp is peaceful. A light breeze blows through the screens and the cabins are cool and quiet. I often take this time to share some thoughts with you.