By Ceci Bergman
This Interdependence Day, Saltash Mountain campers came together to answer the very important question of how to cure dragon allergies while embracing creativity and teamwork!
Every summer, both from when I was a camper and now as a counselor, I have been astonished by how Saltash Mountain Camp moves seamlessly through the creative process to produce an original skit with 3 acts and 3 parody songs in about 60 hours.
Saltash Mountain campers arrive at camp and almost immediately leave for their cabin trips, but before cabin trips go out, there is a brainstorming meal where campers offer fantastical ideas for the Interdependence Day skit. The support staff then uses those ideas to write a skit while cabin trips are out. When campers return, we break into prop-making and song-writing groups.
Most summers we write parodies of camp songs or other popular songs, but this year we had a completely original camper-written song about the grand Joust between Woodward and Ninevah Kingdom.
Five days after Interdependence Day, I still have the Joust Song stuck in my head.
While songs were being written in the food shelter, over in the crafts barn a dragon’s head complete with a hinged mouth and wire mosquitoes were being constructed and painted. In replace of our usual singing on the hill after meals we devote the day before interdependence day to learning our skit songs and practicing our lines.
Our first dress rehearsal, with costumes and props, is also opening night! The day of Interdependence Day we do our only dress rehearsal at the Calvin Coolidge Center. With the Vermont hills climbing into the sky and a wide-open field, it becomes the perfect backdrop for our rehearsal. After a voice projection workshop where we shout to the trees, we are ready to practice the skit all the way through.
Later that day, we hiked down to the lower camps to have dinner at Indian Brook before marching in the parade down to where 
we will perform. In the parade, campers enthusiastically chant SAM camp and sing our SAM Song set to the tune of “Country Roads” by John Denver.
After the parade, all of us huddle up on the stage and the rest of the camps take a seat on the hill. Jeff Bounds tells us we can do it and we shout in our huddle “SAM on 3.” Before I know it, our jesters are doing forward rolls onto the stage and the skit has begun.
By the final song, we were all swaying back and forth, celebrating our performance, and singing our hearts out to our very own rendition of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5. As we take a seat, campers are grinning from ear to ear about the work we did that lead up to our performance. Within a couple of days, we went from reading lines off an unfamiliar script to putting on a show full of humor, music, and spirit for all of Farm & Wilderness to see. Two days of dedication and focus make the SAM skit something all of us can take great pride in. A couple of days after, we use our skit-making model to have a conversation about our long trips.
Watch The Interdependence Day SAM Skit Here!
Back at camp we’ve been playing and creating great activities such as the combination harvest in the garden and backward slip ‘n’ slide called “edils dna pils” (slide and slide backward). We engage in Empathy Night for an evening activity where we create identity sculptures out of pipe cleaners that represents different aspects of their identities. Then in small groups, we share our sculptures and have a meaningful conversation about race and ethnicity along with other aspects of our identities. As a full group, we are instructed to take away all of our blue pipe cleaners and everyone looks distressed and displeased as they are forced to dismantle their sculptures. We use those feelings of distress to have a meaningful conversation about why people may hide their identities at camp and what strategies we can take to make sure people are safe enough to be their fullest selves at camp. Through the courageous steps of sharing and the humbling vulnerability of listening, campers are practicing empathy and learning from one another.
We wrapped up the week with a discussion and preparation for long trips. Following the skit model, we have a conversation at the end of Silent Meeting about the value of teamwork, inclusion, and accomplishment that are akin to the skit and long trips. Campers are both thrilled and eager for the unexpected adventures that await them on their long trips, and we send them off onto the beautiful trails and lakes!