Hello everyone! If you’ve been waiting for me to write it’s because I got to go out on a trip this summer! I was gone for four days and three nights with our oldest campers on a local-area adventure we called the Scout Capstone Trip. These guys spent their time learning to move silently on the land, tune in to their senses and work together as a team. For the three staff, it was a great opportunity to see how well our older guys have learned to live and work together. After a few days of sleeping out under the stars (and one night of drizzle) and wandering around and playing in the forest, I’m proud to say that we’re sending out a truly amazing group of young men into the world at the end of this summer. We’ll miss them dearly, but I can’t wait to see them all back on staff in a few years!
Our other campers all went out on trips too, ranging from hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, to climbing over Mount Mansfield, the tallest mountain in Vermont, to the F&W classic “Pico, Killington, Shrewsbury” hike that takes the campers over three great local mountains in four days. I’ll see if I can get pictures together, and if your camper comes home with some good ones, be sure to email them to me!
In other news, we’ve also had TWO Naming Ceremonies since I last wrote. I’d like to take a moment with you to meet the newly named Flying Clouders from August session, 2008. It’s an amazing batch of names for an amazing batch of men:
At the first Naming we had:
Meteor Fox
Cedar Summit
Canyon Heart
and the counselor: Mountain Sound.
For the second Naming we honored:
Horizon Dance
Snowmelt Rabbit
Ironwood River
Buffalo Greets the Sun
and the counselor: Owl at Dusk.
It’s hard to believe, but Fair is coming really soon. This saturday, August 9th, we’ll all be gathering together as the Farm and Wilderness camps to celebrate a wonderful summer with friends, family and alumni of all ages. If you can make it we’d love to see you. You can catch the first shuttle to the Fairgrounds at 11:00 AM, and the Fair officially opens with the Saltash Mountain camp skit at 12:30. After that it’s four hours of games, food and friends before dinner and the Flying Cloud Fire Raising ceremony. Dancing, singing and a huge fire built by TL and IB wrap everything up and then we’re all off to bed. Of course, if you’re around, we’d love to see you up at FC the next day to join us for Meeting for Worship around 9:30.
Though the summer’s almost over some of the most fun parts are yet to come! Be sure to check back soon for photos and more musings on what makes Flying Cloud such a wonderful place.