Dear Friends,
During the second session of camp, we have had a few more sunny days and lots of camp magic and adventure. I wanted to share highlights of some of the F&W traditions, still going strong! Please visit the F&W blog to read more stories about our Special Edition camp summer.
Honoring at Flying Cloud
Honoring is our way of bringing a rite of passage experience into the lives of our campers. Each new Flying Clouder, staff and camper alike, spends a whole day in silent reflection, sitting up on the mountain above Flying Cloud. During this day pondering who they are, who they have been, and who they want to become. After this day of reflection each person is “spoken for,” or publicly affirmed the next day in a celebratory evening of gravity and merriment.
Variety Show and Identity Night at SAM Camp
SAM campers generally get time together as a whole camp in the evenings, whether its learning more about each other at Identity Night or sharing and celebrating their many talents at the Variety Show. This year’s Variety Show included a three-headed all-knowing person, many musical acts, jokes, stories, juggling, and a water drinking performance. That’s variety!
Chicken Wrangling at Red Spruce Grove
Our chickens have been a never-ending source of joy, entertainment, and exasperation this summer. We spent a whole morning trying to catch them all to get them back in the coop. We only caught one, but it was such a fun and ridiculous activity.
Creativity and Fashion at IB
This week the Big Lodge group had an Anti-Fast Fashion Show. What a blast it was to see the creativity and joy of campers expressed as they sashayed away down the IB “runway.” Our camp photographer captured some red carpet pics- check those out on SmugMug!
Quiet Time and Appreciation at Timberlake
In a regular edition summer, we make time for quiet energy and moments. This year it is even more essential to take moments to appreciate each other. Counselors took campers on one last adventure and then sat around a fire writing appreciations and giving verbal appreciations to each other. A quiet night in between our two tentpole events!
I hope you have enjoyed hearing about the traditions that live on and the new ones we’ve developed!
In peace,
Frances McLaughlin
Executive Director