Bugle Call – Week 4 – 2009
Opening day of second half was so much fun! It is such a treat to see girls returning year after year. As the cars pulled up and counselors and campers gathered, there are always shouts of “It’s so good to see you again”, “You’re so grown up”, and even “You’re driving now?!” Camp got all nestled into their cabins by afternoon in time to hit the beach with friends. At night, it was clear we were now in second half (with generally bigger enrollment) as we sat around our now full Council Fire.
At Council Fire we enjoyed hearing about everyone’s highlights from the past school year. We leg-wrestled as a team challenge and sang some pleasant Kohahna songs. We continued our tradition of discussing a K-Quality with an example from a woman in history in terms of our summer theme (“Through the Looking Glass”). The week’s theme was initiative, and we used the example of Susan B. Anthony. We spoke about initiative not always meaning completing a physical task-it just means positive action you initiate yourself. At camp we often think of initiative during clean-up or helping in activities. But, we stressed to the girls that they can help any situation by having the initiative to bring positivity to a situation or initiative to make friends with someone who is feeling lonely. We sang the girls to sleep for the first time and got ready for our first week of a new session.
Monday we began with our annual swim test! It was a gorgeous day with lots of happy swimmers at Bar Lake. In the afternoon we had cabin time for the girls to create cabin contracts and think about their summer goals. We were visited by Princess Kohahna, so our new campers could be assigned teams before a competitive game of Bombardment.
Tuesday we had our first set of activities. It was a successful week overall. There were many beginners and a few intermediates passed this week. Most exciting, two girls passed their advanced in Arts & Crafts and one passed advanced in Sailing. Sometimes the weather wasn’t so warm or sunny, but the girls kept working towards their levels when they could be in out on the water or up in the ceramics room. Then, Tuesday night we played a fun game of soccer.
Wednesday morning 8 middle school ladies left on a trip to Taquanamon Falls in the Upper Peninsula. The girls spent three days hiking, viewing natural waterfalls, cooking over fire, and participating in ranger presentations. Meanwhile, back at camp, we had very successful cabin days. Birchview, Clifftop, Falling Star, and Juniper all headed to Leland for bonding time. Gulls Nest and Stardust shot the Culverts in Glen Arbor where Sandpiper was having a photo scavenger hunt. Windward got to cruise on the ski boat, and Breezeway, Shorewood, and Driftwood spent the day in Empire. There’s nothing like a nice trip away from camp with friends to get everyone in the mood for an inspiring evening of Wednesday night church.
Thursday afternoon some girls had the opportunity to visit a local print shop and stationary store, while others played some basketball. Thursday night everyone got to enjoy a true camp favorite: Water Polo in the shallows!
Friday our middle-schoolers got the opportunity to hear a Christian Science lecture by Ryder Stevens, and at night we all had fun laughing at silly brown bag skits. Saturday morning the new campers got to experience their first big clean-up. In the afternoon, while the high-schoolers heard a lecture about relationships and partnership, the rest of camp participated in Musical Cabins. Small groups of girls hopped from cabin to cabin trying to figure out random mystery facts about counselors. For evening activity we had a fantastic Lip Sync won by Stardust for their performance of a Taylor Swift song. Overall, it was fast-paced and joyful week. We know we have even more exciting and growing experiences in store for this week!
