Here we go again! Our First Session had fewer campers, so it’s great to see the whole of the lawn full in the Second Session. Right away, there were boys in motion playing slack-em, chasing each other and having fun on the hillside. That’s my first go to place – what does the camp “feel” like? The answer is that it feels good. Energetic and exciting.
There is a respectful level of noise in the dining hall, which is punctuated by the occasional random cheer from a cabin. I look over to the First Lodge table, after three days have passed, and see the 9-and-10 year olds have really mastered their meal clean up and sitting still during meals. The first few meals they wanted to all get up at the same time and didn’t quite know how to wipe down a table or scrape plates, but now they take pride in the team effort it takes to clean up well. All of this is a testament to their excellent staff that guided them to that place through patience and consistent energy.
One of the important tools we use is to build a “full-value contract” with each cabin. (Please read about this in my first blog this summer, which included a picture of a sample contract).
Songs have been equally energetic with the stand-out song being “Hey Jude” by the Beatles. This morning we went and sang songs to the F&W office staff who spend less time in the camps. I believe “caroling” is lacking in the world and it’s a great reminder what a simple, yet powerful, gift a song can be.
Menu:
Here’s a couple of day’s menu’s so you have an idea of what’s being served. Almost everything on the menu is made from scratch by our cooks- the baked goods, the spaghetti sauce. A few items like yogurt or Ranch dressing we buy ready made.
Wednesday 7/25
Breakfast: Blueberry scones (conventional and vegan/gluten free) scrambled eggs, both plain & with /veggies. Tofu scramble, fruit, cereal, milk, yogurt.
Lunch: Quiche (meat, vegetarian, non-dairy), Swiss chard, rice pilaf with apricot, carrots and sunflower seeds.
Dinner: Cabin cookout! Hot dogs, tofu pups, fruit, chips, s’mores.
Thursday 7/26
Breakfast: Cream of Wheat, oatmeal (gluten free) with topping;: strawberries, apple, coconut, brown sugar, cranberries, raisins, apricots. Hard-boiled eggs, sausage links, temp eh “bacon”, orange juice, cereal, milk, yogurt.
Lunch: Chili (all vegan), cornbread (conventional & vegan & gluten free), carrots & celery sticks, spinach.
Dinner: Spaghetti, home-made meatballs, marinara, Alfredo, notta ricotta, Parmesan, broccoli, bread.
What are we doing to give the healthy appetites to all? And what activities have the campers been up to in the first few days of camp?
Barns and Gardens
- A few older campers are doing “Homesteader” projects: building a new gate, repainting signs, etc.
- Making salves with basil, thyme, black-eyed susan flowers
- Eating lots of peas and raspberries
- Tons of weeding and other work that keeps the garden going
- Making apple vinegar cheese
- Clearing pastures
- Getting 10 gallons of milk a day
Waterfront
- There has been a lot of campers excited to “level up” in their swim lessons
- A canoe voyage sailed from the TL cove to explore Floating Island, which the younger campers loved.
- Several campers already earned their “Tandem” canoe rating.
- On the first afternoon there was a long distance swim to Indian Brook and back.
Outdoor Living Skills
- Lots of “Woodsman” skills are being taught- building fires, using knives and axes safely, setting up a tarp
- Making debris shelters
- Hiking to Peggy’s Pond
- Practicing Camouflage
- Older campers have been working on our highest rating, the “Pioneer”
Work Projects
- Building new sawhorses
- Improving our trail system (which includes breaking big rocks!)
- The new cabin is about to get a third wall and a roof. There has been a lot of interest in small camper-driven projects such as building a ping-pong table, benches, shelves, bat houses, etc.
Rocks and Ropes
- Lots of bouldering around Timberlake and Tamarack Farm
- First and Big Lodge campers have been excited to climb the TL chimney
- Games like “Add On” where two campers encourage and challenge each other to each go a bit further
Arts
- Making a beautiful found object / trash sculpture (look for photos in the next week)
- Building group pyramids and doing acrobatics with our circus arts staff as well as ….
- Learning trapeze tricks and working toward learning more advanced fabric tricks
- Creating a twelve-foot dragon mural for a KYBO Art project
And then there is Silent Meeting, where campers are learning to create their own significant space. This begins with a three word statements such as “I like TL” – to deeper reflections such as “it’s not what you play but how you play it”.
We have also managed to get in a bit of mischief. A few older campers did some pranks at Indian Brook by sneaking over at night and hanging their canoes from the rafters in the Upper Lodge. IB responded with a note on our chalkboard “Dear TL, thanks for the decorations!”.
On Saturday we had our first Council Fire. There was violin playing, joke telling, rapping, song singing and skits. We finish every Council Fire with our beading ceremony. Every summer there is a unique bead. This one is jade, with etchings and patterns that make each one different. The room becomes silent and campers and staff are called to give a bead for something another person has done or simply for who they are. One of our returning campers gave a bead to our Circus Arts coordinator, Henry. He talked about how positive Henry was and even where there were things that were too difficult, Henry had a way of telling him that was supportive and nice. As a reminder, we may have a long list of what the campers are doing with staff, but what is really important is how they are doing it.
Have we had challenges? Without a doubt. There has been the regular amount of homesickness and initial hesitation or disorientation. This is a new experience for many and even returning campers find living together at camp is still a change. We work to bring that to the surface, to create places where we can address it and move forward.
What’s next? Senior Lodge and First Lodge and A1 campers are all out on trips, and we are going into a small camp with only Big Lodge, which is exciting – both for the kids going on wilderness hikes, canoeing and rock climbing and also for the guys who get to stay back with lots of staff to really make camp their own.