Bugle Call – Week 3 – 2016
The final week of the three week session at Kohahna was very full! Full of activities, fun, growth, and of course, lots of Kohahna spirit. Highlights from this week include festivities to celebrate the Fourth of July, an off-camp Cabin Day and many wonderful morning and afternoon activities.
Cabin day-
Kohahna spent Cabin Day all over the area surrounding camp. The girls are always very excited to spend time in new places together. Some cabins spent the afternoon tubing on Glen Lake or playing Putt Putt Golf while others completed random acts of kindness in Leland and still others went on a scavenger hunt in Glen Arbor.
Special Activities-
This week started out with a bang (literally! Leelanau’s canon went off!) when we spent all of Monday celebrating the 4th of July! The day began with a patriotic metaphysical—where readings were read on the subjects of liberty and government. From there, we played patriotic versions of favorite camp games, got our faces painted, and we all got dressed up to prepare for the rest of the celebration.
The big event of the morning was being in the annual parade in Glen Arbor. We joined fun and joyous groups of revelers from around the area, including Glen Arbor’s very own “kazoo corps”, some Elvis impersonators, and fans from both the University of Michigan and Michigan State. In the parade, the Waukeena section rode in the Big Blue Bus while the Wildwood section walked in front. Both groups sang songs and waved to the adoring crowds.
The afternoon festivities centered around 13 teams of Kohahna & Leelanau campers who represented the 13 original colonies. These teams played games to see which colony was the strongest. The games included a water balloon duel, archery, a relay race, tug of war, and a sandcastle competition on the beach.
In the evening, the camps split up, and the Waukeenas & Juniors went to the beach while the Wildwoods & Seniors went on a hike to the Sand Bowl. At the beach, the campers enjoyed swimming, making s’mores, and playing games. At the Sand Bowl, the Wildwoods & Seniors played games that helped them get to know each other.
All in all, it was a full, fun, and incredible day—a highlight for many of the campers and counselors!
Morning activities-
Some highlights in Morning Activities this week were the Mexico themed crafts in Arts & Crafts, expert campers teaching in Horseback Riding and Swimming, and an early morning ski trip for a few of the Waterskiiers. We also enjoyed seeing the fruits of the labor of the dance & drama classes in an excellent talent show performance on Friday afternoon. The show featured uplifting, funny skits that included many animals, songs performed by some of the drama classes, and two different dances!
Evening Activity-
Our evening activities this week centered on celebrating our two camper teams at Kohahna! On Tuesday we played Capture the Flag in the woods—Sands and Pines of all ages challenged themselves to be stealthy and courageous as they tried to capture the other team’s flag. Towards the end of a defense heavy game, the Pine team was able to finally capture a flag, thus bringing them the win.
Wednesday we had another inspiring church service led by one of our CTs. The testimonies given celebrated God’s goodness—and we all gave gratitude for all the fruitage from camp!
Thursday, the Pine team put on their annual show (with a Sand show to follow next session). The show featured skits, dancing, and even a little singing! The premise of the show was that the audience was watching a movie about Disney characters who fell down an enchanted sewer and somehow found themselves at Kohahna (or Kahuhna as one confused character called it). The characters interacted with campers and counselors as they went about their day at Kohahna. At the end of the show, the Pine Wildwoods performed an epic kickline dance!
The week wrapped up on Friday with our three week Final Banquet and Pine Bough ceremony. At Final Banquet, the camp enjoyed a delicious meal and heard about awards and achievements from this session and this week—including activity level achievements, K-girls, and perfect dippers. At the Pine Bough ceremony, we gathered around a fire in the Pine Forest and shared our gratitude.
Trips-
Kohahna Trips went to Pictured Rocks in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this week! The main attraction in this park is the stunning, 100-foot sandstone bluffs which plunge into Lake Superior. This means that there are beautiful hiking and kayaking opportunities, and we took full advantage of both. Four girls and our two trips counselors spent a day kayaking along the bluffs where they checked out some of the caves and rock formations from the water. On the following two days of the trip, they hiked along the tops of the cliffs, and visited the forests, beaches, and waterfalls which surround them. The girls loved seeing the pristine wilderness, and had a lot of fun laughing with each other on the trail as well!
Summer Theme-
This week we focused on the Perfect Man aspect of our ‘Perfect Principle’ summer theme. At our weekly group metaphysical we studied a portion of the story of Job and noted how he was an upright man—and how his true nature (and all of ours) as a child of God blesses us. Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “The perfect man—governed by God, his perfect Principle—is sinless and eternal.” (p.304:14). Man is made perfect in God—‘our perfect Principle’!
