Opening Day of Our 56th Summer!

June 9, 2013 by Don Gentle

This is my favorite day of the entire year!  I wait 43 weeks every year to get to this day!  It is so crazy how the tension, nervousness, and excitement build as this day approaches.  The best thing of all is that every ounce of this excitement was just poured into the 149 boys that showed up this morning!

We had a great time with drop-off this morning.  The weather was beautiful and the staff made sure that every camper was greeted with excitement and enthusiasm. Our streamlined process had nearly 2/3 of the campers moved into their cabins in two hours. The rest of the families trickled in before lunch.

It was so cool to see the guys jump right into the camp experience. Many of the guys were picking up with friends where they left of almost a year ago. I really enjoyed seeing the returning campers helping out the new guys, and including them into their games and experiences.  Everyone was having a great time taking in some of the typical free-time options like gaga-gaga ball, four square, disc golf, ping pong, basketball, foosball, tennis, and even a hike around the lake to check out our new island.

The campers have already visited each of the activity areas this afternoon.  Tonight after dinner, they each picked their schedule for the session.  Tomorrow everyone will head right into a full day of activities after assembly.

Hank will try to send his initial letter from camp on Monday or Tuesday. In the letter he will have your son’s schedule and will tell you a bit more about his counselor. For this session we have 149 campers and 81 staff members. Most of our staff are returning counselors or former High Rocks campers; 66 of the 81 staff members are returners with 29 of those previous campers. If you haven’t had a chance to look over our wonderful staff yet, be sure to check out our 2013 summer staff page.  It is an incredible group of mentors!

Please remember not to send packages of any sort. Packages will not be delivered to campers (if there is a birthday, call us for instructions). If you need to send a forgotten item of clothing, medication, etc., call our office first & then send the item to the attention of our office staff. Our office staff will open the package & deliver the item.

The link below will take you to today’s picture gallery. It is a password protected area, so please enter the password you were given on opening day or what was mailed in the parent guide.  There is no username required, just enter the password. The page should open to a new window that is just a slideshow.  You will notice that our new website and picture gallery is very user friendly on most any device, including mobile and tablet devices.  In order to enjoy your viewing experience of the gallery, please take these recommendations:

• Once you get to the page, scroll down until you see the bottom of the slideshow window.  Click on the last icon on the right, it will allow the slideshow to expand into the whole window. Use this option for desktops and standard laptops.
• For tablets, phone devices, and other screen enabled devices, tap the middle of the slideshow once to enlarge it.  This will also give you navigation options.  Typical swipe navigation will work as well.
• The slide show has a self-play option, but you can advance through as fast you wish by using the navigation or swipe options.
• Don’t forget! If you want streamlined access to the blog on your mobile device, download the High Rocks App from iTunes or Google Play.  Just click the “High Rocks News” icon on the app to get to the blog page, and then click on the picture link.
• If you have any problems getting the picture gallery to work, please e-mail me at don@highrocks.com .

While I did not get to see everyone, it was a pleasure seeing so many returning faces as well all the new families today.  We’re looking forward to a great session. Be sure to visit often to check out pictures as the session progresses. Feel free to add any comments to the daily posts as well.

Take care,

Don Gentle
Associate Director

Link to Today’s Pictures