Into the swing of things

A lot of great things have happened since the last blog post! We're at the tail end of a heat wave around these parts. Even though we don't have air conditioning, it's not hard to cool down since we get to go in the lake so often each day. In addition to morning dips, instructional swim, and free swim, we've also had a steady stream of evening dips and even "hippo wallowing" during free time in the afternoon, where campers could enjoy submersing themselves in Panther Pond's cool waters.

On Saturday night, we had our first cabin cookouts of the summer. Each cabin has their own spot to gather each week and make dinner over an open fire. You'll probably get 10 different answers for who has the best cookout spot, as everyone thinks it's theirs! It's hard to beat burgers with friends sitting out under the pine trees, except if you count the dessert afterward. As the weeks progress, campers will develop their skills in building fires and grilling burgers, and everyone learns to be helpful pitching in with cleaning up the cookout site so it's ready to go for the next time.

In addition to having Pineman give a great Chapel talk, we also had our first Council Fire, where the whole camp gathers each Sunday evening to reflect on the week that was (a short week, in this case). All campers pull together on a rope to help create the spark that starts the fire. It's a time to recognize campers for awards earned and good deeds done, and to bond together in a tradition that has been taking place in the same exact spot for over 100 years.

Another tradition restarted is the Twilight League, which is an informal intra-camp softball league played during many evenings throughout the summer. Every single camper is on a team, and each team has boys across all age groups. To announce the start of the season, each group of counselor-coaches puts on a creative and always-funny skit, to go along with team names like the "Pit Stop Pirates" and "In Loco Dentist". The only thing more fun than watching the team announcements is playing in the games themselves.

We are really into the swing of things now this summer, as the traditional flow has gone from acclimating to camp life to settling into a routine and signing up for activities each morning and afternoon. Familiar options like sailing, archery, riflery, soccer, woodshop are offered alongside newer activities like Ultimate Disc, which has continued to grow in popularity over the years and is now included in our series of land activity awards. Campers are trying new things, learning what they like, setting goals, building skills, and having sheer fun while they're doing it.