Tie-Dye Taco Tuesday

This first full day of camp was a sunny, breezy start to the session! As you can imagine, our guys were not nearly as interested in sleeping until the wake-up bell when instead they could be up and peering through their cabin windows, chatting with bunkmates, and even beginning the morning routine.

The bell did toll out at 7:45, along with the attendant “Good Morning High Rocks!!” that is traditionally hollered at top volume as well. With that official invitation for noise, camp came fully awake and the morning began in earnest.

Our guys start their day with a solid bit of community living. With thirty minutes before breakfast, a cabin group gets dressed, brushes their teeth, makes their beds, and then performs one of a rotating set of cabin chores. This is essential in a small space with so many peers living close together, and it also is inspected every morning before a score up to 10 is awarded to each. Over the session, those cabins that perform well regularly on morning inspection have a pizza party reward at the end as an acknowledgement of their diligence.

Breakfast is the daily reward for the morning clean and today was a good one. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, oatmeal, fresh fruits and berries, yogurts, and a variety of cereals to get set for the day. Campers are learning how the dining hall system works with working their way through the food options and finding their seats at tables with a different mixture of people each meal. Asking to be excused for seconds or to return your tray is expected, as is pitching in at the end of the meal to wipe the table clean and turn up the chairs for the clean up crew.

Then off to assembly camp heads. A counselor band leads goofy camp songs, fast-moving motion songs, and offers up special events happening that day. Prepped with the need-to-knows, campers then shift into their morning activities and practice one of the independent skills, finding their way around camp. Several of us made ourselves available for folks with last-minute questions on where to go or or a reminder about their first activity. Independence with support is a good starting place for this day!

A delicious Taco Tuesday lunch kept hunger at bay once more. Then camp retired to their cabins for a rest hour which sees everyone spending some relatively quiet time playing cards, reading a book, taking a nap, or even writing a letter home. With a camp day so packed with constant energy burn, it is important to insist on a little breather, particularly as we get deeper into the session and guys benefit from a short rest.

The afternoon activities and Choice Period seemed to fly by with more sunny skies. Activity areas today mixed fun with some of the essential foundations of safety and function. Guys were working on harnesses, helmets, and knots in climbing before getting a crack at the tower. Fishing and sailing also were covering knots for lures or for rigging a sailboat while hiking left immediately on a hike through the wooded trails that surround camp. The groundwork laid today means tomorrow can be off to the races, with the day’s structure identical and comforting because of that!

Dinner heralded a cool breeze and a thunderstorm which had evening activities pivoting to covered areas. The evening snack was enjoyed and then cabin groups headed back to their residences for a deserved relaxing end to the day.

Keeping Track

A big help with knowing where everyone is supposed to be and where they may be going next is a document called the “Dan Sheet.” Appropriately named after my father who came up with the idea, the Dan Sheet has every camper, cabin, counselor, and activity all on the front and back of one legal sheet. It’s an essential resource and it fits perfectly in the pocket. By mid-session, it becomes key for lost and found as well!

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Age Groups Evening Program

Age Group 1 (Lakeside, Foxhollow, and Flattop) and Age Group 2 (Chalet and Overlook): Bingo Night in the Dining Hall

Age Group 3 (Windswept, Outpost, and Sprucepine) and Age Group 4 (Halfway, Lookout, and Pinnacle): Games in the Gym

Please enjoy the pictures from today and email us if you have any problems with the gallery.  We have also sent out your son’s activity schedule this afternoon.  While this is but a moment in time, he is likely to keep most of this schedule through the session.

Have a good night!

                                            Woody Noland