It’s 10:30 p.m. and I hear some staff gathered near me. They sound like they’re having such a good time, I feel I ought to join them. Turns out, they were really enjoying recounting the day and how much fun it had been. Counselors have been coming to me during the day to share how much they like their cabin. There is a real sense of enjoying being with each other.
The first night, there were intermittent rain showers all evening. This did not making fires to cook S’mores very easy. I visited several cabins and saw a real spirit of wanting to see things through and get the fire built right. There was also an understanding that a few drops of rain weren’t going to drive us back indoors.
And there has been a tremendous amount of giving back to the community. I saw today how Bears cabin stepped up and did another cabin’s chore in addition to their task of cleaning all the pots and dishes for 160 people. They all seemed to grow a inch after that.
Cabins also stepped up and each did good work writing up a cabin contract. I have already heard reference to these when there is inappropriate behavior: “remember guys, we talked about this when we made the contract.” We also had a little workshop today about personal space and how having good boundaries means we’ll all get along better. As a group is forming, behavior is never going to be 100% perfect and this provides many teachable moments.
And the old-fashioned running around fun? Tonight’s all camp game was Kingdoms, which involves bandannas, strategy and a lot of charging around from hilltop to hilltop. The weather was sunny and perfect and I could not be happier about how the first days of camp are going.
There is a photo of each cabin having dinner on the first night that are now posted on the F&W website under “For Camp Families” tab in the left-hand column and then Current Summer Photos. (When using your login, please note the username is singular, not plural.)
I look forward to keeping you all inspired and informed.