No School Today

June 10, 2014 by Don Gentle

Today’s Pictures

As I made my way through camp this morning, I enjoyed touching base with staff and watching campers learn. It’s hard to believe some of these boys have just come out of the classroom for the summer.  Our summers keep getting smaller every year.  We actually had a boy show up just today because he had to do testing before he could come to camp.  School is very important stuff, but so is getting outside, learning while doing, and engaging socially.  The best thing about summer camp is that the guys retain so much of what they learn here because they are engaged and having fun while they learn it.

Man, these kids are busy!  I enjoyed seeing all of the activity and action everywhere.  Tennis really impressed me today.  Coach Mighty has all of the guys moving almost constantly.  I really enjoy the fact they we are small enough that guys are not standing around in lines.  While that can happen, Mighty makes a point of keeping everyone moving the whole hour.

Speaking of learning, our first river trip went out today!  The advanced guys hit the moving water for some skills workouts and warm-ups for another trip later this week.   I was excited to see our new fleet of Esquif Canoes hit the water today.  I feel like camp is the only place that teaches canoeing anymore, and High Rocks does it very well.  We have a river  trip out every day next week.  The guys are super excited!

We also sent out our first cabin overnights of the session.  Lookout, Pinnacle, Halfway, and Holiday all headed out to cook some dinner and spend the night in one of our shelters on the property.  What a perfect evening to sleep outside, enjoy some time around a campfire, and relax with cabin mates.

I wrapped up my day in camp at snack tonight.  I try not to go to evening snack since I am not at that age where eating at 8:30pm is always a good idea.  But evening snack is the best!  The guys gather around on the lawn outside the dining hall with their cabin while enjoying something tasty before shower time.  It’s a good way to calm down a bit after running around like crazy from evening activity.  Tonight was one of my favorites; “soft pretzels!”  Each one is toasted up nicely in the oven and then slathered with butter and salt.  Finally, we add the sweet mustard to put on top.  Man that is a treat!

At camp today I learned a little more about some campers.  I learned to be patient.  I also learned restraint (remember the pretzels?).  So, while camp is very much “Not School” there is much to learn at camp, and the kids dig it!

Enjoy your evening!

Don