Cannon Report – Week 7 – 2009

Holy Moly! Where has the summer gone? It’s hard to believe that it was only seven weeks ago that we started this summer journey, and man was it a great adventure. By now, everybody is home and I bet you have heard countless stories from your boys about their activities at camp this summer. It was so great to have a full camp of eighty campers during the four week session and we would love to see everybody come back next summer! In the words of Leelanau’s director, Glenn Johnson, “Send them again in 2010!”

So let me tell you about all our festivities during the seventh week. On Thursday night, we had our traditional funny awards fire and it was filled with laughter, smiles, and wooden plaques commemorating the awesome summer we all had this year. Then, on Friday night, we dressed in our best whites, marched down to the Great House, and had our final inspection on the Great Lawn.  Jimmy Ray, the South Team captain, performed an advanced calculus problem and Henry Ryan, the North Team captain, ran down to the girl’s basketball hoops and dunked a basketball for the crowd as their special talents. Later that night, we had a fantastic beef roast prepared by our phenomenal executive chef, Josh Miller; which of course included Mamma’s Spatch for dessert.  Just in case you hadn’t heard, the North team found the year painted on their plaque, so congratulations to the North Team.  Our last main event of the summer was final council fire on Saturday night; during which, the last activity achievements were recognized, the Early Birds played Dizzy Sticks, and the pioneers played Buck-Buck 2.0.

When the last campers left on Sunday, we started cleaning the cabins for the football camp and reflecting on the summer’s accomplishments.  There were countless moments of growth among the campers, both spiritual growth and character growth.  We saw healings of home sickness, poison ivy, fatigue, injury, stress, and overcoming fears.  During the last few days of camp, the counselors worked feverishly to drive home the lessons the campers learned during the summer’s quiet times.  Lessons such as pulling the weeds from your garden of thought, the importance of doing your daily work, and listening to God’s direction. 

So enjoy the year you get to spend with your son(s) and please help them to remember all that they have learned this summer, how to do a square corner, and to stay in contact with their cabin mates and counselors during the year.  I look forward to seeing everyone in 2010 on opening day.