In the final week of camp, we enjoyed a celebration dinner from our freshly harvested veggies and chicken and we spend our time appreciating the individuals in camp. Amid tears and warm hugs, we recognized accomplishments and celebrated the true essence of all our community members.
We celebrated what all our campers had accomplished including Pioneer solos, finishing the construction of a new cabin, creating a herb garden, completing grand circuit and double grand circuit distance swims (3 and 6 miles), and enjoying all the vegetables we’d worked so hard to care for all summer.
I enjoyed sitting at our last Silent Meeting as a whole camp. This last meeting is anything but silent as many campers bubble over with statements about what camp has given them this summer. It was amazing to hear the campers, one after another, express their experiences as a representation of the exact goals we had set as staff at the beginning of the summer: Our campers spoke of the value of being in a place where they were totally comfortable to be themselves and where they were valued for what they did more than what they looked like. Others spoke of how they felt safe to step outside of their comfort zones and take risks (whether social or physical) that they would never had taken back home.
My hope is that campers will continue to uncover the richness of their camp experience as the days and weeks progress.
