Campers returned from their long trips on Monday night and regaled us with tales of the trail. We heard about trail dinners cooked over an open fire, awesome swimming-hole stops, and some interesting through-hikers eager to share tips and tricks for living on trail. After sleeping in for an extra half-hour the next morning (the trail really tires you out!), campers jumped right into their final-week activities, the most impressive of which is perhaps the handcrafted gaga pit. The gaga pit was made by SAM campers and staff over the past week and was finished just this morning and unveiled in the “Gaga Gala” and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The hot, sunny weather this week–which has almost made us forget all about the colder beginning of the session–was the inspiration for SAM’s end-of-session skit projects. In a typical summer, SAM camp performs an original skit in front of the rest of the Farm and Wilderness community to kick off our end-of-summer fair. Even though we won’t be able to celebrate the end of this special edition summer with a fair, SAM campers are still writing, directing, and starring in their very own skits. Each of our two pods is writing and preparing a skit to perform for the other pod on the last day of camp, as a way to kick-off our end-of-session banquet. Skit creation is a great opportunity for campers to collaborate on a creative project–whether you’re into writing, directing, singing, crafting set pieces, or designing costumes, everyone has a part in this pod-wide group project. On Tuesday, campers brainstormed the plots points for their skit, using the theme of “light” as a jumping-off point. Over the next few days, campers will work on various aspects of their skit by splitting up into smaller working groups within their pod. Although I can’t wait to see the final products on the last day of camp, the close of the summer is coming a little too soon!
Miles Crabtree