Changeover is a great two day period here at camp. Having a camp with only 70 or so kids in it allows us to do some things that we normally would not be able to do because of our numbers. On the first day we all enjoyed Olympic Day here at camp complete with many opportunities for the boys to compete in classic Olympic events like discus throw (ok….frisbee throw), shotput (ok throwing four square balls), ping pong paddle endurance test (ok….not an Olympic event!), trivia (see the preceding event), and surfing (ok…not an Olympic event, but it should be!). The day was wrapped up with with terrific barbeque on the serene and beautiful Lorber Point hosted by our program director. Delicious with an absolutely GREAT tone. And yesterday, got to sleep in, then travelled to a local state park for some swimming and barbeque, and then the boys got head into Duluth to watch a minor league baseball game. The game was a rout as the home team got demolished…but the kids got ice cream and soda, to dampen the disappointment of their team getting crushed. Then we came back to camp for a pizza night…50 pizza for 90 people….yeah, I know! It was a great couple of days. Still….by the end of Changeover, we all start to feel like we are missing something….
Well, we are missing it no longer. Within the past hour and a half we have been infused here with 100 doses of pure energy! Campers arriving from Chicago, California, New York, Austria, France, Vietnam, Scotland, England and MANY other places have arrived to begin their summers at camp. The pent-up excitement of over a month’s anticipation is evident in these guys. Within minutes of the boy’s health screenings near the infirmary, the four-square courts, ping pong tables, tennis courts, and village areas were absolutely abuzz with activity. Camp is full of nothing but smiles, laughs, and screams. The way it should be.
SO:
LET THIS SERVE AS YOUR OFFICIAL NOTICATION THAT ALL OF THE BOYS THAT WERE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE TODAY, HAVE DONE SO AND ARE SAFELY AT CAMP.
Tonight’s dinner will be our classic comfort food meal of spaghetti, followed by an evening of what we call “nesting.” The boys will be unpacking their belongings and setting up their areas in their cabins. Each boy puts his own touch on his area so that it feels comfortable to him. The combination of each boy’s different styles mesh together to create a new and real home in each cabin…a home that will serve as the base for stories, adventures, trials, mayhem, and great times over the course of the next four weeks. They are all psyched, and so am I!
If you are new to these “updates” you can expect to hear about the goings on at camp every other day on this page. While I can never adequately convey to you what it really feels like up here, I will do my best to share as much as I can in order to give you some sense of what is going on. To be clear, this is not done to make you jealous; it is to try to help you understand something of your son’s experience. I am looking forward to sharing it with you…
All is well in the North Woods….
