Monday June 19, 2023

Yesterday campers from all over the country and even the world arrived. The staff was so ready for them after a week of amazing training together. Campers arrived, moved in, and had an amazing dinner made in our new kitchen by our fantastic new chef, Eliza! We then gathered together at the value trees for a Welcome ceremony and land acknowledgement. From there we had a lovely fire at the water front where new folks were sorted into teams for our team competition. Campers and staff alike fell asleep surprisingly early after some song and story time. We woke this morning to directors bringing us homemade muffins to our sections! We headed up to a tasty and filling breakfast with eggs, potatoes, bread, and as always, oatmeal, fruit, cereal, and juice. We did swim checks, some cabin art projects, and games in the morning. Lunch was creamy mac and cheese, peas, sweet potato fries, and a very full salad bar. Campers and staff could be seen chatting and eating lunch outside, scattered over the lawn and theater porch. After lunch cabins participated in a camp wide checkpoint challenge activity (think an amazing scavenger hunt with group mental and physical challenges at each station). We had two blocks of electives in the afternoon where campers were able to join many amazing and fun activities. Before dinner we had cabin time where we hung out, got to know our cabins, took showers, and were led in a positive cabin wide discussion regarding personal boundaries and respect. After another amazing dinner tonight, we will play an epic game of stones (like super happy capture the flag times ten), and probably head for a shallow swim or dunk in Hosmer before walking off to our sections and small fire circles. If tonight is like last night, loons and bard owls will gently serenade us as we tuck in our sleeping bags for a cool and restful night.