Best Sunday Ever!
July 19, 2015 by Don Gentle
So, if you can’t tell from the pictures today, we sure have had an incredible twenty-four hours! The dance with Keystone Camp last night was well received. It certainly was a delightful group of young ladies. I always enjoy seeing siblings get together at the dance too. I also enjoyed meeting some of the daughters of old campers and staff last night that now attend Keystone.
High Rocks one of the few camps that still hosts a square dance rather than some awkward pop event that resembles a school dance. Again, our focus is trying to teach these boys and girls how to enjoy the company of others in a controlled setting. The square dance takes away all of that quirkiness by allowing the boys and girls to relax. No pop music, no clicky awkwardness, just an old fashioned country dance where everyone participates at the same time…and we all look funny doing it, which makes it cool. Best of all, Keystone always brings the BEST cookies over for snack. Made from scratch chocolate chip cookies about as big as your hand! So, that was just the start of our twenty-four hours of fun and excitement.
We started the morning with a delivery from the Krispy Kreme fairy ;). The boys indulged themselves on a couple doughnuts of delight along with a few other breakfast staples. After breakfast one of our long-time camper and now counselor staff, Charlie Marcus, lead our Sunday morning service. It was a fantastic message that was well received by the boys.
We wrapped up the morning with a number of choice activities. The only requirement is that the boys had to take in the beauty of the day by being outside. Many of the guys felt like the lake was their primary destination to beat the heat. Again, many boys took the quiet morning to relax by the lake or in the shade either just hanging out, reading a book, or playing a few rounds of disc golf. I will say, most of camp was on the lake.
This afternoon brought about a number of age-group activities that included the waterslide, canoeing, capture the flag, and the mud pit. The main event, however, was the annual “Upper Senior Challenge!” It is always a highly anticipated event for our oldest group of campers. The event is similar to an adventure race and it is put together very much like ‘The Amazing Race.” Teams have to move from place to place performing tasks and challenges. Each clue takes them to another part of camp where they have to read and communicate the challenge appropriately to the other team members. Most all of the challenges are activities some of the guys have been doing for years at camp. Teams are divided up by cabin groups and only the oldest “upper-senior” group competes. Activities included a lot of running, target sports, mountain biking, climbing, canoeing, the rope swing, tennis, soccer, and fire building. It was truly a challenge for these boys. They all had a great time and cheered on each other throughout the event. It is one of my favorite Sunday events in camp. I really enjoy seeing these boys, some of who have been here since they were seven, show their mastery and skills they have learned through their years of camp at High Rocks.
My other favorite event was watching the Mini II guys tackle the mud pit! What a blast! Nothing says “BOY” like a bunch of guys playing in the mud. The boys always tip toe a little to get started, but by the end you cannot get them out of it! Sometimes you just have to get a little dirty. The pictures tell the story. We wrapped up the afternoon with some much needed showers, another cookout on the lawn, and then headed up to campfire for some reflective songs and another great story from Dan Noland.
I can’t believe we only have five days left! I will add some reminders and details about parents’ day as we approach. One thing I will add tonight is that you can still order a USB jump drive of all the photos to have ready on closing day if you did not pre-order one. If you like all of the photos and would like a cool little jump drive of high resolution versions of these photos, drop a note to our office manager, Stephanie. She will add one on the list for you and have it in your envelope for closing day. You can email her at office@highrocks.com.
We are looking forward to a busy week as week make the most of these last few day! Hold on for the ride!
Don