After arriving on opening day, campers prepared for their cabin trips by packing out food and gear, practicing canoe skills, and bonding with their groups. Campers and trip leaders returned from their two-night adventure eager to reconnect with those they hadn’t seen in a few days. We spent our first evening back together watching each other’s trip skits. Trip skits are short plays in which campers perform for each other the story of what happened on their cabin trip.
The next several days of camp were packed with activities, including a field trip to Merten’s House in Woodstock, Vermont, where campers had the opportunity to sing and play music for a group of elderly residents. The seniors at Merten’s House were delighted to see us, this being our fourth summer in a row going to perform for them. After departing Merten’s House we enjoyed a picnic lunch in a nearby park, followed by a camper-led activity in which we had the opportunity to talk about how our camp community was forming and what we could do to improve it.
Back at SAM, campers partook in a variety of different activities; rock painting, ultimate frisbee, screen printing, drum circles, and American Sign Language lessons, to name a few.
The mural club got started designing their piece, which will be unveiled on banquet day later this session, and several campers spent one-afternoon writing new song cards, which they presented to the rest of camp during “Singing on the Hill.” After only four days in camp, we’ve packed up and are on our long trips: hiking, canoeing, and climbing in the most beautiful areas of four different states. We can’t wait to hear the stories upon return!