Can I get a holler for the start of second session?! We are so happy the four-weekers are here with all of their energy and excitement to be at Camp. We started the week strong with a beautiful sunny day, perfect for starting Morning Activities in the morning and taking the Swim Test in the afternoon. Then, we kicked off the summer with a very long, classic game of Sands vs. Pines Bombardment. The teams were so evenly matched that the game took about thirty minutes! Tuesday, the rain rolled in causing us to get creative with our Morning and Afternoon Activities. Some of these included puddle jumping and a creative writing/artistic expression coffee shop space. Luckily, the rain cleared in the late afternoon for our game of Clue in the evening. Characters like Rey (from the “Star Wars” franchise), Merida, Kim Possible, Tris (from the “Divergent” series), Tinkerbell, and Elsa and Anna showed up to help us figure out who stole our dessert through a series of rotation activity stations. Turned out Tinkerbell stole the dessert on a horse at the deck!
Hump Dayyyyyyyyyyyy! Wednesday brought lots of sunshine and fun as it was the first Cabin Day of the session, an afternoon where the cabins bond through various activities planned by their counselors. Some of these activities included biking down Port Oneida Road and stopping to paint, tie dying, and doing the zip line. In the evening we had our classic Wednesday Night Church service followed by a sweet hymn sing with our Leelanau brothers. It was the perfect way to send off the campers to bed and end a fun day.
Thursday was a special day because the CTs had the opportunity to lead Camp for the day (known as CT Day). They did Flag, led songs before meals, led Afternoon Activities, and planned Evening Activity (which was Big Base, a larger version of Kickball). Friday snuck up on us before we knew it and we wrapped up our first week of Morning and Afternoon Activities. In the evening the girls got to know their teams better through a game of Superlatives. Some of the categories the campers competed in included longest hair, most flexible, longest handstand hold, most pushups, best opera impression, and best dance move. It was certainly a silly and fascinating evening! To wrap up the week we had our big Clean Up Saturday morning, followed by a packed afternoon. The aunties of North Star took all of Kohahna to The Shallows to play Water Polo before everyone gathered with their cabins to prepare for Lip Sync for Evening Activity. Water Polo was a blast, but Lip Sync always takes the cake as being an overall favorite activity of campers and counselors alike. King Julian and Mort (from the movie “Madagascar”) hosted the show and characters from the Harry Potter movies, like Draco Malfoy, Hermionie, Hagrid, and Voldemort judged everyone’s performances. Overall, Saturday was a jam-packed, jolly day!
We are so excited the start of the second session was so smooth and fun. We’re grateful for all of the seven-weekers who stayed through Changeover and for all of the four-weekers who arrived on Sunday. We can’t wait to spend the next month with you all and look forward to all the good the rest of the summer brings. Let’s go, week five!
Holy smokes, first session has come to a close! And this week ended with a bang for sure. Sunday we celebrated the Fourth of July with a variety of festivities with our brothers in Leelanau. After our normal Sunday School service everyone gathered at the Kohahna flag to raise the flag in all of their red, white, and blue garb. Following Flag, we had a picnic lunch at Cookout and Rest Hour to fuel up for an afternoon full of activities. The first part of the afternoon involved going around a county fair-themed rotation with activity stations like a bean bag toss into cowboy boots, face painting, an obstacle course, and line dancing. After everyone went through the rotation stations we headed down to the beach for a tug-of-war tournament and Beach Period to cool off. Sunday Cookout with Leelanau came next, followed by Council Fire, and some final Fourth of July festivities in the respective age groups. The Waukeenas played with sparklers before heading to bed and the Wildwoods met up with the Seniors of Leelanau at the top of the Sand Bowl to watch the fireworks over Leland. Overall, it was a jam-packed, high-energy, and memorable day!
Monday rolled around and started the final week of Morning Activities for three-weekers with activities ranging from Waterskiing to Nature. The Pine and Sand teams also began preparing the Pine and Sand shows in the afternoon. These involved each team creating a show centralized around a theme full of skits, counselor impressions, and kicklines. In the evening we had a Luau on the beach that included stations like hula dancing, making s’mores, sand castle building, limbo, and beach volleyball. Tuesday was a little rainy, so we pivoted quickly for our Evening Activity and did a mini Comedic War of Attrition. Campers were put into groups through pairing a young cabin and an older cabin together and were asked to prepare three acts for their performance: a counselor fashion show presentation, a Bible story skit, and a dance. We had a great time trying out this new activity and watching everyone’s performances!
Wednesday was our final Cabin Day of the session and the counselors planned some fun activities for their campers despite it being a rainy, cloudy day. Some of these plans included hiking to the Empire Bluff lookout, tubing, and learning how to use a camp stove and make M&M pancakes at Myles Kimmerly park. Following a fun afternoon we had our usual Wednesday Night Church service, but instead of a combined hymn sing with Leelanau we had a soda/sundae bar! So fun! Come Thursday, the Pine and Sand shows were ready to present. The Sands presented a show with characters from old Disney shows and the Pines performed a piece based on the Disney Movie “Teen Beach Movie.” Both were unique, entertaining, and nostalgic. Friday came around before we knew it and wrap-up events began. We had an Art Show and Drama presentation in the afternoon followed by a packing party. In the evening, we had Final Banquet where we celebrated the session and got to dress up in various themes with our cabin groups and a Pine Bough Ceremony, an opportunity to share gratitude around a campfire.
Finally, we bid the three-weekers farewell Saturday morning and began preparing for second session. It was a bittersweet goodbye, but that’s how you know everyone had a fun time at Camp. We are so grateful for everyone who came to Kohahna this session — day campers, one-weekers, two-weekers, and three-weekers — and we hope to see you all in the future! Four-weekers, we are ready for you!
Well I’ll be darned, second week flew by faster than a jackrabbit wearing a jetpack! We started off the week with our classic Kohahna-Leelanau Sunday School in the morning, followed by an afternoon of Jazzercise and The Newlywed Game. In the evening we had Council Fire to celebrate the week, meet some legendary alumni, and look ahead into the week. Monday morning we started new morning activities and sent off two trips to the Upper Peninsula: the CT trip, which went to the Ontonagon River and the Porcupine Mountains, and a trip to Pictured Rocks. Tuesday’s main highlights included the Waukeenas playing Kick the Can in the Pine Forest and the Wildwoods playing Pumpkin Ball, a variation on baseball that uses a dodgeball instead of a real baseball. Everyone had a blast! Wednesday everyone enjoyed spending the afternoon with their cabins for Cabin Day. The Sky Team really brought their A-Game this day and planned some creative activities, including a scavenger hunt around Camp in search of a bandit named The Cookie Snatcher and an awkward family photoshoot in funny costumes.
Come Thursday, Mother Nature blessed us after a foggy start to the week with the sun coming out! Everyone took advantage of the sun in their Morning and Afternoon Activities, soaking up all of the warmth and light. We also welcomed back the Pictured Rocks trip and got to hear about all of their wonderful adventures in the Upper Peninsula. Finally, in the evening the cabins got together to create Brown Bag Skits, which are skits that must include a list of specific items and phrases decided by the counselors. Friday rolled around before we knew it and we welcomed back the CTs, making Camp full again! To celebrate having everyone back we played a couple rounds of a life-size version of Human Stratego. Saturday morning we had our traditional big Clean Up and bid farewell to the two-weekers. We’re so grateful they were here this summer and hope to see them in the future! North Star led the Afternoon Activity which was a field trip to Shalda Creek where the beach is actually big enough to hold all of us! And in the evening we all went to the backside of the dunes to play a fan favorite game: Dune Football!
It was another full week at Camp Kohahna for Girls. The summer sure is flying by — we can’t believe we’re already approaching week three! It has been a jam-packed, fun-filled session so far, and we only expect even more good to come as we finish off the session. Bring it on, third week!
Holy Jamoses, Camp has begun! Opening Day was a joyous occasion as campers arrived one after the other and counselors welcomed them with open arms. As per tradition, we had our first Cookout with Leelanau in the evening as a united Camp followed by our first Council Fire. Campers had a blast creating cabin cheers, being assigned their teams (Pines and Sands), and learning about the summer theme Free and Fearless. Following our Opening Day festivities on Sunday we jumped right into the first week of Camp. We hit the ground running in the first two days with lots of cabin bonding time, involving playing games, writing cabin goals, and creating cabin contracts. We also played games as an entire girl’s camp such as Big Base (a large-scale version of Kickball) and Bombardment (a variation on Dodgeball). The campers had a blast running around outside and playing with their teams. On Tuesday we took the Swim Test to ensure everyone could participate in all of the water activities we offer here at Camp. It was a chilly day to be in the water, but everyone cheered each other on as we persisted through the tough conditions.
As we entered the middle of the week, the cabins got to participate in more bonding time during Cabin Day and Wednesday Night Church. I think we speak for everyone when we say that many people love Wednesdays here at Camp! Each week, counselors plan special activities on or off campus for their cabins to do, such as playing at Old Settlers Park, tubing on Glen Lake, and frolicking around Sleeping Bear Dunes. Following Cabin Day, everyone got cleaned up after an active afternoon and attended church and a co-ed hymn sing with Leelanau (another favorite activity of many).
The Wednesday midweek reset launched us into the rest of the week which involved team games like Superlatives and 8 Sticks (a variation on capture the flag), and weekend traditions like Saturday morning Clean Up and Lip Sync. It was a full weekend as the week came to a close, but campers and counselors alike had a wonderful time getting to know each other, jumping into the Camp schedule, and starting off the summer with a bang!
We are so grateful everyone is here and that Camp is up and running this summer. There is so much good in store for the rest of the summer and we’re excited to see all of the goodness, fun, and growth unfold!
It’s hard to believe that the first week of camp is already over! We have had such a fun week and have loved getting to know your daughters more. Their joy, thoughtfulness, creativity, and determination has shone brightly this week — in their activities, team games, and in their interactions with one another. We are so grateful to have them at Camp and are looking forward to the weeks ahead.
What a seriously fun group of campers and counselors we have! On Monday, we had time to get to know our cabin mates and counselors a bit more through writing cabin contracts. These contracts help us set goals and guidelines to support a loving and harmonious cabin culture. We also had time to write our own individual goals. They ranged from passing higher activity levels, to wanting to lean steadfastly on Christian Science in challenges, to focusing on expressing more self-awareness. Our cabin time has been spent playing in hammocks, card games, reading books as a cabin, putting on skits, making up stories, and just generally being goofy.
We had a great first week of morning activities! Campers got right into learning so many new things. The following are just a few highlights from the week’s morning activities. In Camp Crafts, campers worked on some wicked fires. One camper conquered her fear of lighting a match and then went on to build an awesome fire! The girls in Horseback Riding class worked on horse control and trotting in figure eights around the ring. In Arts & Crafts, campers designed picture frames made out of stones they chose from the beach. Campers stepped outside of their comfort zone and worked side-by-side to learn and teach this week.
We had a week featuring some of the favorite Kohahna Evening Activities (but, let’s be honest- they are all pretty great). On Sunday evening we started the summer with our first Council Fire where our new campers found out their team (Sands or Pines? Who are you rooting for? The Sky team OF COURSE). We got to make up cabin cheers, find out which activities our counselors are teaching this summer, play a team game called the ‘Bugle Challenge’ and sing some of the classic Council Fire songs. On Monday, we kicked off Evening Activity with three legged kickball and other lawn games. Then, the girls hit the tennis court for some Bombardment on Tuesday, showing their intensity and sportsmanship while launching balls over the net. Wednesday night marked our first Testimony meeting with readings chosen by one of our CT’s. We are so looking forward to hearing more testimonies throughout the summer. On Thursday, the Wildwoods attended a lecture by Dave Hohle titled “Time isn’t a Factor in your Life.” Many listed it as one of their highlights for the week. The Waukeenas stuck around at Camp and had Extreme Story Time, where they read stories and then got into groups and acted out what they thought would happen after the story was over. Friday night, the girls suited up in Pines and Sands gear for an exhilarating game of Capture the Flag. All ages of campers were making raids, guarding the flag, and yelling, “CAUGHT, CAUGHT, CAUGHT.” On Saturday night we had our Lip Syncs – a Kohahna Evening Activity classic full of teamwork, originality, and highlighting cabin personality. We wrapped up the week with an all camp trip to Empire Beach in the afternoon and Council Fire at night.
We have been gearing up for trip’s week which begins Week 2! All of Kohahna will go out on trip. Our Wildwood campers will be going to the Upper Pennisula to do some outdoor climbing, our C.Ts will be canoeing in the Upper Pennisula, the cabins of Evergreen and Juniper will canoe the Platte River, Falling Star will spend their time on South Manitou and Gull’s Nest and Driftwood will do a cabin overnight in the Pine Forest. We look forward to hearing about the growth, funny stories, leadership, learning, and achievement that will occur out on the trail. Stay tuned next week for a full recap.
As it was our first week, we introduced our summer theme “This Is Me,” during Council Fire. Our theme is centered on the idea that we all express the qualities of God in a equally unique and important way, that should be celebrated. At the crux of the theme is the quote from Science and Health with Key to Scriptures, “Both sexes should be loving, pure, tender, and strong.” Each week we will focus on one of these qualities (as well as confidence and spiritual individuality) and highlight the many ways it can be expressed. North Star will also present a role model for that week’s quality. This week, we focused on love and how Eliza Hamilton’s life work is a wonderful example of love in action. During our cabin and all-camp quiet times, we dove deeper into the different ways love can look. The campers have already started to make the theme their own and we can’t wait to see their continued inspiration, as it truly inspires us all.
Camp Kohahna had an excellent 7th and final week! It was incredible celebrating the achievements from the entire summer, and witnessing the fun had by all in morning, afternoon, and evening activities. This week’s Bugle Call will give a general overview of the major activities from the past week!
We began the week with a Sand vs. Pine game of Capture the Flag in the woods above camp. It was a beautiful night for our last competitive team game of the session, and the Sand Team brought home the victory! On Tuesday, we celebrated Halloween! The evening was complete with a haunted barn, a Halloween-themed obstacle course, face painting, a costume contest, and a truck stop where groups of campers drank hot chocolate and told scary stories.
Wednesday was our final on camp Cabin Day, and we had fun doing all sorts of creative activities. The cabin of Falling Star went ice sledding on the great lawn, and the cabin of Birchview did some tie dyeing. The cabin of Breezeway had a Lipsync extravaganza, the cabins of Windward and Shorewood baked cookies blindfolded and baked dessert with the kitchen respectively, and the cabin of Juniper went on a unicorn themed trail ride. It was an exceptional afternoon for cabin bonding! The evening was complete with a lovely final Wednesday Evening Church service as well! On Thursday evening, we had our Dance and Drama Show! All the girls who participated in the Dance or Drama program throughout the summer were able to finally perform their pieces. Many levels were passed, and we all enjoyed supporting the Kohahna women in the show! A select group of pieces were then reprised at the Encore Show on Saturday.
On Friday evening, we had our Final Council Fire and Pine Bough Ceremony. Council Fire consisted of many of our usual components of activities and songs, as well as an enormous amount of Expert presentations- we had SO MUCH achievement at Kohahna! Our Pine Bough ceremony was, as usual, full of gratitude and love. For over an hour, each of the Kohahna campers and counselors had the opportunity to individually express gratitude. It was a beautiful evening full of sentiment, love, laughter, and sisterhood.
On the final Saturday of camp we always invite the families of campers to come to camp to participate in camp activities! We call this day Encore, as it is a recap of all of our summer fun! In the morning we enjoyed morning activities, and then we had a delicious lunch on the Great House lawn, followed by a performance from all of the campers in the Leelanau Lodge. Then Camp Leelanau had their Frisbut tournament and Camp Kohahna had their Bombardment game! The Finale of the summer for Kohahna was our Banquet on Saturday evening! We had a delicious dinner, gave out activity awards, and presented our top summer awards as well. We also had the banner reveal to see which team won the summer, and it was the Pine Team! It was a wonderfully joyous summer, and we are so grateful for all of the growth, the laughter, the love, and the fun!
Lastly, for the final all-camp metaphysical of the summer we focused on Mary Baker Eddy, and her role in the Christian Science Movement. We learned about her life and the challenges she overcame to deliver this wonderful message of Divine Science to us all. We discussed how her determination to understand the Divine Principle of all healing included earnest study and practice of Truth in her day to day life. We ended the metaphysical by sharing gratitude, healings, and things we learned about women of the Bible and our summer theme, “Women of the Wilderness.”
Again, it was an incredible summer filled with growth in grace! Thank you for sharing your daughters with us this summer- we are looking forward to relishing in all the good fruits! “Women of the Wilderness” 2017!
We can’t believe we are already wrapping up the sixth week of camp! There has been much achievement, and we are grateful to see everyone pushing themselves to do their best in all their activities. With one week left, we are enjoying everything camp has to offer, and having the best time bonding with our cabinmates and fellow campers! See below for details on the past week!
Morning activities were bustling this week! Every single activity had a class, and there were a plethora of levels passed! On the waterfront, we had some very windy days, but that did not discourage the Kayaking, Canoeing, Swimming, Waterskiing and Sailing classes from going out and doing their best to conquer the waves. Back on land we had lots of advanced fire building in Camp Crafts, conquering of fear in Climbing, playing soccer in Landsports, trotting and cantering in Riding, and honing marksmanship skills in Archery and Riflery. The Arts and Crafts class worked on two-point perspective, made imitation stained glass using hot glue and watercolor, and prepared for the Art Show. The Dance and Drama classes continued to prepare for the annual Dance and Drama show at the end of the session. We are very excited to see the final products of all the Art activities next week! There was much achievement in all activities this week, and we are looking forward to the final week of Morning Activities!
There were a wide variety of Evening Activities this week, and we even got to celebrate a few of our favorite holidays! On Monday, Wildwood campers traveled north to Charlevoix for a Christian Science lecture. It was a beautiful evening to delve deeper into our role in the Christian Science Movement, and ask questions about our practice as metaphysicians. While the Wildwoods were away, the Waukeenas played the Chicken Game at camp, which is a game similar to capture the flag, however instead of chasing flags, you try to capture rubber chickens! Tuesday evening, July 25th, we celebrated Christmas in July! The night was complete with Christmas Tree decorating, cookie frosting, and reading a Christmas bedtime story with Santa and the Grinch. It was a creative and hilarious night of fun festivities! On Wednesday, we had a beautiful church service in which many campers shared gratitude and testimonies of healing; this was followed by an inspiring hymn sing that was the perfect ending to the day.
Thursday was CT day! This is a way for camp to show their appreciation for the CTs, and for the CTs to practice all that they’ve learned about leadership and organization throughout the summer. They ran the entire day from morning Dips, to Afternoon Activities, to Evening Activity! They planned an Evening Activity of Superlatives, which is a Pine vs. Sand game in which each team sends a representative who they think will win the contest. There are a wide variety of contests, some of which include: who can do the longest handstand, who has the weirdest collection, who has the longest hair, and many more. The campers loved having the CTs lead the day! On Friday, Kohahna celebrated Halloween!
For this week’s Cabin Day, cabins headed off camp to do activities in Leland and Glen Arbor! The oldest cabin of Shorewood spent time at the library in Leland picking out their favorite childhood books and reading them to one another. The cabin of Breezeway spent the afternoon doing random acts of kindness in Glen Arbor. Other cabins explored the scenic Pierce Stocking drive, did a public street performance in Leland, and did a scavenger hunt.
This week we had several great trips go out! The cabins of Driftwood and Falling Star went on a “Moana” themed overnight. They played in the Lake Michigan waves, on paddle boards, and in the clay pits. Then they hiked above camp to sleep on the bluffs, and enjoyed delicious meals cooked over a stove. Windward canoed the mighty Crystal River and camped out on our back property camping sites. Birchview did a Cabin Day/Overnight extravaganza! They went to the Dune Museum in Empire and did a scavenger hunt, got ice cream, attended Wednesday Night Church, and camped out at the DH Day campground. Lastly, six Wildwood campers went on a three-day kayaking trip. They kayaked along Good Harbor and Sleeping Bear Bay, covering about twelve miles! They camped out on some beautiful beaches along the way.
It was a fantastic week for the Kohahna Trips program!
Campers shared many highlights during Council Fire this week! Some of these included performing in the Pine Show, watching the Sky Show, bonding with cabinmates on Cabin Day, having Sailing for a Morning Activity, going on all the trips, and passing levels. We continue to be grateful for all the joy and achievement shared at camp!
For our all-camp metaphysical this week, we continued the small discussion groups from two weeks ago. This was a time for campers to share any follow up thoughts or insights in their same groups, or to explore a different topic with new counselors. During the upcoming week, the K-Quality we are focusing on is Graciousness. We discussed how Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Grace and Truth are potent beyond all other means and methods”, and how being gracious is a natural expression of ours as God’s likeness.
It has been another beautiful week at Kohahna! Campers out on trips and back at camp were all pushed to grow through the activities they participated in. The competitive camping trip called “The Challenge” went out this week, and many of our Wildwood campers went out to compete on this trip. This left plenty of opportunities for the Waukeena campers to step up into leadership roles on camp all week long.
This was a great week for achievement in morning activities! Because many of the girls were out on the Challenge, the campers here on camp had lots of individualized instruction. It was a triumphant week—levels were passed in several activities! The waterfront activities this week were grateful for many days of good weather— Swimming had several beautiful mornings on the lake, and Kayaking enjoyed a few days of calm water as well! The Waterskiing class was also incredibly successful; campers worked on dropping skis and slaloming! The Dance and Drama classes continued preparing more skits and dances to be performed at the end of the session. Climbing had a great week learning how to belay, tie different knots, and climb more difficult routes. The Nature class was also on the move this week observing animals around camp, and they even took a trip down Port Oneida Road to see a beaver dam! The fruitage from morning activities this week was extensive and inspiring—we can’t wait to see more in action next week!
Kohahna’s evening activities this week gave our Waukeenas lots of opportunities to shine! On Monday, before the Challenge girls left, we played Water Polo in the shallows of Glen Lake. The Wildwood Water Polo game was very close—the Sands claimed the victory, 3-2. Tuesday night, we played a game similar to Capture the Flag where campers got to strategize about how to obtain the most flags. On Wednesday, we enjoyed an inspiring church service filled with testimonies of healing and gratitude shared for examples of how Divine Love has met every human need.
Thursday evening the campers played Pirates & Cargo, a game that involves running, note passing, and lots of pirating of course. We finished the night off with a sunset dip in Lake Michigan to cool off from the warm day! On Friday evening, we had a two-part activity: the first half of the night we spent playing the Pillowcase Game, then we transitioned to playing three-legged kickball! For the Pillowcase game, each cabin puts as many miscellaneous items into a pillowcase as they can, in hopes that those items will be listed by counselors during the game. For every item the cabin brings that also matches the list made by the counselor, the cabin gets a point. The Waukeenas had a great time being creative with the items they brought to the game, and were excited to play an active game of kickball on the Great House lawn afterward. All in all, the evening activities this week pushed our younger campers to take the initiative to step up into leadership roles, and we loved seeing them all excel!
This week, cabins had the opportunity to do fun activities around camp! We had cabins paddleboard to the clay pits down the shore on Lake Michigan, go on an extensive scavenger hunt that included a fun prize at the end, hike to Pyramid Point to make a music video, do team-building activities, and help make the dessert that was served after dinner. It was a fun-filled afternoon of cabin time that helped each cabin grow closer and feel more bonded!
The largest trip that went out this week was The Challenge from Wednesday to Saturday. On this trip, eleven wildwood campers from each team (Sand and Pine) travel into the woods where they essentially build a home for themselves. Throughout the course of the trip, both teams prepare their own meals over a fire, build structures, and play Capture the Flag, all the while being judged and receiving scores for each component.
In addition to the Challenge, the cabins of Evergreen and Juniper headed to Leelanau State Park for an overnight on Thursday. They had a great time hiking on the beach, practicing setting up tents, cooking over a stove, and being exposed to spending a night in the woods!
There were many highlights shared by campers and counselors alike this week at Council Fire! Some of them include Cabin Day, playing the Kohahna version of the Hunger Games, practicing tackling for the Challenge during Water Polo, sharing laughs and late nights on the Challenge, dipping in Lake Michigan after playing Pirates and Cargo, and having hilarious moments during Three-Legged Kickball. It was an incredible week of creative activities and beautiful weather!
Our all-camp metaphysical this week took place on Monday when all of the Challenge girls were back in camp. This week we discussed Sarah from the Bible, and the spiritual significance of her healing of barrenness. We learned about how this demonstration of life eternal proves our dominion over material sense, shows that with difficulty you can have joy, and that with God all things are possible. The K-Quality we are focusing on this week is Initiative. In Science and Health we read, “Mind-science teaches that mortals need “not be weary in well doing.” It dissipates fatigue in doing good. Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us.” This week we are learning that taking initiative, doing good, and expressing God in all that we do only yields good results.
The Four-Week Session is in full swing!! We loved welcoming new and returning Kohahna sisters on opening day! This week has been full of cabin bonding time, learning in Morning Activities, and doing some of our favorite Evening Activities. Below is a synopsis of some of our activities and highlights from the week!
Our first week of activities was packed! We saw every waterfront activity in action with some beautiful days for Sailing, Canoeing, Kayaking, and Swimming! The Waterskiing class also had several days of calm water on Glen Lake. Back on land there were many girls learning how to build fires and cook in the woods during Camp Crafts, learning all about the outdoors in Nature, and honing their marksmanship skills in Archery and Riflery. Campers also showcased their artistic abilities in many activities! In Ceramics campers made several pots, tiles, and mugs. The Dance and Drama classes choreographed and rehearsed their dances and skits that will be performed for the entire camp at the end of the session. The Silversmithing class made rings, a crown, and pendants for family members and themselves. It was an exciting week for Morning Activities, and we’re looking forward to the next three weeks of learning new skills and having a blast trying new things!
This week was full of camp favorites for evening activities! Monday started out with Bombardment, Kohahna’s version of dodgeball. Tuesday evening we played Clue! Counselors played characters from the well-known board game, and were stationed in different places around camp. Each counselor had a “task” such as a team-building initiative or a game for every group of campers to complete. Upon completion of the task, the group could ask a question in hopes of solving the mystery of who stole the dessert. It was a creative and fun activity! Wednesday we had a lovely church service led by one of our CTs, and a hymn sing afterwards.
We spent Thursday evening playing another camp favorite- Dune Football! There was a lot of action on both sides, and everyone had a blast running the dunes and representing their team. Friday evening we played the Newlywed game and Superlatives. During the Newlywed game, campers get to test their knowledge of their cabinmates. Campers in the cabin were questioned separately from their cabinmates and when they returned we got to see which cabinmates got the most correct matching answers. During Superlatives, the girls competed to find out who has the longest hair, best dance move, best joke, and many other things. The highlight of the week for many was our Saturday night Lip Sync show. The girls had two hours to choreograph a dance to a song of their choice, lip-syncing the lyrics the whole way through. We had cabins perform everything from Moana to One Direction. All the cabins were in costume to perform their lip sync, and the competition was judged by three counselors in character, which always gives everyone a good laugh! The cabin of Trail’s End got the highest score, and they were declared the winner! Lastly, on Sunday we joined together for Council Fire after our all camp game of Human Stratego on Sunday afternoon!
Our campers spent their first Cabin Day of the four-week session bonding off-camp! Cabins spent the afternoon exploring the nearby town of Leland, flower-picking in Omena, canoeing the Crystal River, tubing on beautiful Glen Lake, and doing good deeds and a photo scavenger hunt in Glen Arbor. The weather was gorgeous, and the girls came away from the day feeling more unified as individual cabins!
On Friday night, all the sixth and seventh grade campers spent the night on camp’s back property for the Kangaroo Trip! On the overnight, everyone practiced the skills that they will need once they are old enough to go on the Challenge, which is a Sand versus Pine competitive camping trip. They sawed logs, lashed, built structures, cooked dinner over an open fire, and played capture the flag in the woods. It was a fun learning experience for everyone!
We are also looking forward to the Challenge going out next week from Wednesday to Saturday! The captains of the Sand and Pine teams have been working hard preparing for the trip, and we can’t wait to hear about their experiences next week at Council Fire.
This week during our all-camp metaphysical on Saturday, counselors split up into small groups to offer discussions on many different topics in Christian Science. Some of these topics included: handling fear, having confidence in Christian Science, talking about what God is, and realizing our true source of beauty as women of Substance. Waukeenas and Wildwoods then got to pick which topic they wanted to learn more about, and joined that discussion. We greatly enjoyed hearing the insights and questions campers had to share, and were very happy to be a part of such an uplifting metaphysical!
Thanks for reading – we are very grateful for all the good from the first week of the four-week session!
The final week of the three-week session at Kohahna was full of exciting activities, growth, and camp spirit! Some highlights from the week include celebrating the Fourth of July, playing Water Polo, watching or performing the Sand Show, and Final Banquet.
For our final Cabin Day of the session, Wildwood cabins that were on trips last week had the opportunity to head off-camp. Cabins explored Glen Haven, completed a scavenger hunt in Glen Arbor, and went flower picking! Meanwhile, the Waukeena cabins stayed on camp where they went on the zip line, had a spa day, went on a hike on camp property, and played extreme hide and seek around camp.
There was incredibly high energy on Tuesday this week when we celebrated the Fourth of July! The day began with a normal morning of cabin Clean-Up and Quiet Time, then we held a mock revolution in which our very own camp directors played the king and queen of England. As the revolutionaries, the campers had to work together to win their freedom from the royal family! Post-revolution, we got our faces painted, played patriotic games, and dressed up to prepare for the rest of the day’s festivities!
The big event of the morning was being a part of the annual parade in Glen Arbor. We joined excited groups of revelators 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 had a fun time singing camp songs and waving to all the crowds!
The afternoon celebrations centered around several small teams of Kohahna and Leelanau campers doing a whole host of activities ranging from water balloon dueling, seed spitting contests, relay races, mini soccer, and minute to win it games. After these activities, we headed down to the beach to enjoy some refreshing time in the water before dinner!
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 watched the sunset and played games that helped them get to know each other.
It was a sunny and beautiful day filled with many patriotic activities! Fourth of July at camp is always a highlight for many!
We had several full Morning Activity classes this week with many highlights!
Waterskiers got to go out on an early morning ski on Glen Lake. In Horseback Riding and Drama, CTs and advanced campers practiced teaching alongside the counselor. Campers in Dance and Drama spent the week choreographing and practicing their dances and skits for the show they put on for the whole camp. We enjoyed seeing the final product of the Dance and Drama classes in an excellent performance on Friday afternoon!
For our first evening activity this week, the Wildwoods played Water-Polo in the shallows of Little Glen Lake while the Waukeenas had a great time running down, jumping off, and playing in the sand at the dune climb. On Tuesday, our evening consisted of 4th of July celebrations, and Wednesday evening we had another inspiring church service with readings graciously prepared by one of our CTs. Campers shared many testimonies that illustrated God’s goodness and His healing work.
Thursday, the Sand Team put on their annual show (with the Pine show to follow next session). The show featured skits, dancing, and two kick lines! The premise of the show was that there were seven superheroes who lost their powers, and each of them had to learn something about one of the seven K-Qualities to get their powers back. To do this, Wonderwoman brought them to Kohahna! The superheroes interacted with campers and counselors as they went about their day at Kohahna. At the end of the show, the Sand Wildwoods performed an epic kick line dance!
The week wrapped up on Friday with our three-week Final Banquet and a 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.
In this week’s all-camp metaphysical, we studied Mary Baker Eddy in conjunction with our “Women of the Wilderness” theme. We discussed the role she played as a woman discovering Christian Science, and how she demonstrated dominion over the wilderness situations she endured. The K-Quality we focused on this week was Persistence! We started by talking about how being persistent includes proving our spiritual dominion in all that we do. Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “The Christian Scientist wisely shapes his course, and is honest and consistent in following the leadings of divine Mind” (458:25-28). It is divinely natural for us to persistently listen to and follow divine Mind!
