Upper Senior Challenge!
June 25, 2017 by Don Gentle
What a great Sunday morning! As I headed up to get a cup of coffee in the early morning, Nate and the kitchen were busy making cinnamon rolls from scratch. There are some great pictures of them being rolled out on the table. What a delight! After enjoying one of these fine treats straight out of the oven with my coffee, I took off to ring the wake-up bell. I enjoyed seeing all the boys wrestle with their laundry as they attempted to make their way to the drop-off point. There is a great picture of two fine boys going a full ten rounds with one bag.
We enjoyed some great songs and a good service from one of our counselors, David Christianson. David grew up here at camp and is now in his fourth year on staff. He talked about dreams and aspirations. How he struggled with his time learning the saxophone. He then explained that in the toughest and most frustrating times is when you need to step up and try a little harder. Dreams take hard work like anything else. The only difference is that your passion and interest keep you going because you care so much about the outcome. You are choosing a path you believe in and the work may even be harder, but the interest and aspiration are what makes it worth it. A great moment of reflection for us all.
The morning free time was quite wonderful. I even had a group of boys join me in a Barley washing party. He was getting quite stinky, and the boys were more than willing to help. It was a great moment!
This afternoon brought about a number of age-group activities that included the water slide, canoeing, capture the flag, and the mud pit. The main event, however, was the“Upper Senior Challenge!” Again, this event is similar to an adventure race that is put together very much like ‘The Amazing Race.” Teams have to move from place to place performing tasks. 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, shooting 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 the years of camp. We wrapped up the afternoon with another cookout on the lawn and then headed up to campfire for some reflective songs and another great story. A few staff are continuing a series about the Norse people. The boys are very excited.
I can’t believe we only have four days left until we see the parents and campers unite. It will be an action-packed week with all sorts of trips and activities. 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 jump drive of all the photos to have ready on closing day if you did not pre-order one. Don’t forget, that this gives you a subscription to also download full-resolutions online as well! All of your favorites can be dropped right to the printer when you have the high-resolution download subscription. 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, Darby. She will add one on the list for you. You can email her at office@highrocks.com.
Have a wonderful night.
Don