Bugle Call – Week 5 – 2019
What an exciting week at Kohahna! It was a fairly normal week for some of the Camp, but it was “Chal week” for the other. “The Chal,” or the Challenge consisted of 22 of our oldest campers, leaving the rest of Camp to enjoy all the fun and exciting activities offered on Camp. Some of the girls at Camp even got to go out on some overnight trips! It was a wonderful week for all, resulting in many happy memories made and lots of growth.
The girls that stayed back at Camp were busy with their Morning, Afternoon, and Evening Activities. The Swimming class was able to go to Bass Lake, and enjoyed practicing their strokes and learning new ones. Silversmithing was full of creative sawing projects and ring making, while the Blacksmithers were busy bending metal in various ways. We had girls in Tennis learning how to perfect their serves and running agility drills while some were out on the Archery range honing in their aim to get bullseyes! The afternoons have been filled with opportunities that maximize the beautiful place we are in, such as going to the Dune Climb. Our evenings were filled with a variety of activities, starting with a favorite on Monday – Water Polo. The girls going into 6th grade and up competed in Little Glen Lake Shallows while the youngest girls went to the Dune Climb. We also had some activities that highlighted the creativity of the campers, specifically in a Kohahna Fashion Show and Brown Bag Skits. We enjoyed seeing lots of fabulous outfits and goofy skits. The evening the Challenge girls returned, the camp gathered together to watch Hairspray in the Great House. To conclude this exciting week, we participated in the Women’s World Cup. Leelanau and Kohahna joined together to create eight teams representing eight countries to face each other in various soccer related stations. There was no definite winner, but there was certainly lots of good playing and fun.
The Challenge is a four-day, three-night competitive camping trip where the Sand and Pine teams individually make a home in the woods. 11 of the oldest campers from each team and two counselors build this said home with found, fallen logs that are sawed, lashed with twine, or sunken into the ground to create structures. The structures they build include a fire table for cooking on, a prep table to act as a counter, a baker to store food in, a table, backpack rack, latrine, and a judge’s tower. In addition to building these key features of their woods home, they prepare three gourmet meals daily for the team and two judges over a fire. Both teams made delicious curry dishes, the Sands made incredible corn chowder, and the pines prepared scrumptious vegetable lasagna. Both teams even made fresh bread on the trail! The final element to this exciting trip is Capture the Flag, with both teams strategically raiding each other’s sites to get flags and defend their own. The two games of Capture the Flag were full of energy, good raids, and good defense. Keeping in mind that this is a four-day trip, this seems like so much to accomplish, but both teams did so with grace and success. The trip pushes the girls outside of their comfort zone, resulting in so much growth and empowerment in personal capability. While this trip is named the Challenge for a reason, it is a source of many fun memories. It was so impressive to see all that was accomplished from both teams. As it is a competitive trip, a winner is determined by the judges as they evaluate the structures, meals, and games. This year’s winner was the Sand Team!
In addition to the Challenge, all of the girls in Camp going into 6th grade or older were able to go out on overnights. One of the overnights that went out was a Challenge skill development trip referred to as the Woodswoman Trip. Girls going into 6-8th grade went to Camp’s Back Property to learn how to lash, saw, grub, cook over a fire, and play Capture the Flag. This group of girls were invested in all of the activities, but especially enjoyed Capture the Flag. The girls learned how to do line raids and how to practice their defending. This competitive game ended in a score of 13 against 11. It was so exciting to see the girls completely engage in the game and give it their all. The other overnight trip encompassed the rest of the Wildwood campers. They went on an overnight to the Platte River. They stopped to hike Empire Bluffs on their way to their site, enjoyed some Pita Pizzas and a Wednesday Evening Church Service, followed by a special activity. These girls had a great time getting to know each other more and participating in the special activities together.
Regardless of where any of us were this week, we all grew with grace and had a great time. It was incredible to see all of the progress the campers made both in Camp and in the woods. Overall, it was a fabulous week and we look forward to the rest to come.
