Hello family and friends! This week Kohahna ladies had a fantastic time wrapping up the summer session, rain or shine! This week’s metaphysical subtopic for Heights of Mind was good judgement. We focused on the idea that through employing good judgement we express strength, courage, and wisdom. Mrs. Eddy writes in our text book, “No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows” (S&H 275:17). God’s wisdom guides our every step, our every decision, and our moral stance. It was a powerful lesson to start the week off right.
Monday afternoon, Kohahna girls participated in activities such as Beach Steps Maintenance Fun (helping to repair the erosion caused by the storm), Riflery, Ceramics level passing, One Direction Inflection, some scene work for an upcoming play, Tennis tournament preparation, barn beautification, and a bike ride. That evening, we played a high scoring game of Dune Football at the Sand Bowl.
On Tuesday, campers took part in activities such as Horseback Riding, a Beach Walk, SIlversmithing, Gnome Home Building, and a Glaz-a-thon. That evening Kohahna hosted Super Hero Training, where the girls dressed up in their best super hero costumes and trained to fight villains. Activities included a superhero obstacle course, learning the Minion language, Minion on Deck, and Initiatives. Upon learning to be superheroes, the whole girls camp came together to defeat the villains, and “rescue Kathleen”. A few water balloons couldn’t hold the campers back and they accomplished their task of saving Kathleen from the villains. Naturally, celebratory icy pops were in order!
As it is every week, this Wednesday was Cabin Day! A day of activities that celebrate the love we have for our cabin mates. Cabin day activities included Tie Dye t-shirts, Hippie Day (bareback horseback riding, flower crowns, etc.), T-Shirt making and a water balloon fight, Easter, a Paint war and Cabin T-shirts, and a Bike Ride to 360 lookout. The evening was wrapped up with a testimony service at which CT’s prepared the readings. We love cabin day!
Thursday was a sunshiny day complete with activities such as Horse Show Preparation, Dance and Drama show preparation, Swim Level Passing, Glaze the Daze Away, Archery, Hipster Hangout, Silversmithing Project Wrap Up, Tie Dye, and Climbing. That evening we put on the highly anticipated, end of the session Dance and Drama show, where the girls showcase all of their Drama and Dance work up to this point. Certain requirements to pass activity levels in Drama and Dance include but are not limited to performing a solo, choreographing a group dance, and performing a monologue. On Thursday, some girls were able to complete these requirements in order to pass levels!
On Friday, we began our preparation for the final days at Kohahna. In the afternoon, each cabin held a packing party so that all of the girls could ready themselves for departure. We followed this up with cabin picnics where the girls had dinner in their cabins and enjoyed cabin bonding time. After dinner wrapped up, we headed to the lodge for Final Council Fire. At Council Fire, we learned of many achievements including Expert level passing. Each girl who earns her Expert level in an activity is honored with a speech commemorating her hard work and dedication to the activity in which she excelled. We also found out who received the final Honor Cabin award for the summer, first time perfect dippers, returning perfect dippers, and the seventh week K girls. Kathleen also wrapped up the summer theme: Heights of Mind; each of us reflected on which quality from the summer, either good judgment, love, limitlessness, patience, or integrity, that we felt we had expressed most thoroughly or that we would like to continue to strive to express. It was a Council fire of quiet reflection on the goodness we have joyously experienced this summer as well as the commemoration of our achievement.
The following day, Saturday, was Encore day! The girls were excited to share their growth and achievement with family and friends. There truly has been excellence in achievement on all fronts of activities at Kohahna this summer. In the morning, parents watched on as their daughters played in the Tennis Tournament, Kayaked, participated in the Horse Show, climbed on the Climbing Wall, participated in Camp Crafts, Swing Danced, etc. After a picnic style lunch under tents on the Great House lawn, Kohahna and Leelanau came together to present a medley of performance pieces in the Leelanau Lodge. At Encore, the Kohahna girls sang musical theater songs such as So Long, Farewell from the The Sound of Music, performed numbers from the Dance Show as well as a co-ed Swing Dance number, showed off the Wildwood Pine Show Kickline, and sang our very own rendition of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. Afterwards, the girls played a classic game of Sand versus Pines Bombardment at the tennis courts. It was a day filled with fun and we were so grateful to share it with our family and friends.
That evening, the Kohahna girls donned their whites and headed across the Great Lawn to the Final Banquet at the Great House. After having a great dinner of roasted vegetables, bowtie macaroni and cheese, chicken breast, beef tips, salad, and, of course, mama spatch for dessert, we commenced our celebration of achievement and announced this summer’s awards. Among those awards given were the Merit Hat Award (a hat signifying at least two advanced and two expert levels passed in the four activity fields), the Kohahna Rose (an award given to a camper who embraced what camp has to offer, and has blossomed with confidence this summer), Illuminata (an individual voted on by the campers as a spirited and loving leader and friend), Camp Spirit (awarded to a Waukeena and Wildwood who have fully taken advantage of what camp has to offer and expresses all that Kohahna stands for including the K-qualities), Trail Blazer (the highest award in Trips), and Most team points (awarded to the Wildwood and Waukeena who achieved most team points). The banquet culminated in the reveal of which team, Pine or Sand, won this summer. The Pines succeeded this summer in having their team name emblazoned next to the year 2015, as this summer’s winner! Both teams worked so incredibly hard this summer; the competition was sportsmanlike and very evenly matched! After the banquet concluded, the night was not over!
Next, the campers headed back down to camp for the Pine Bow Ceremony, where we gather at the old Council Fire ring in the Pine Forest and share our gratitude for the summer and then cast a Pine Bow into the fire. The whole hearted, sincere gratitude was indicative of the growth in grace and in our expression of love this summer. We love Kohahna!
This summer, as we’ve accended the “Heights of Mind” we have done so with love, joy, grace, confidence, and enthusiasm! We look forward to being in touch all year long to continue our growth in grace, and celebration of the success of the summer!
Patience will have her perfect reward! This week’s theme was patience, and we kick started that idea at the Monday Morning Metaphysical. To illustrate this concept, we talked of the virtue of a woman from The Bible whose long-term illness had been healed by her faith in God and Jesus’ good works. That same afternoon, in celebration of the sunshine and warmth, afternoon activities included Waterskiing, Shooting the Culverts, a Paddle Board Challenge, level passing work in Tennis, and Fairy Sand Castle Competition. That evening we got down and boogied and did Zumba!
On Tuesday, the girls of KOH participated in activities such as a Boat Workout on Glen Lake, Sailing, a Horse Spa, and a gift making session for Pine Cone Pals. That evening we went down to the beach and had a Hawaiian Luau! The Luau included s’more making, surfing or paddle boarding, hula lessons, Sharks and Minnows, and a Hawaiian themed photo session. The evening closed with a dip and a beautiful sunset over the Manitou Islands.
On Wednesday, Cabin Day, we celebrated our love for each other! We did so by taking part in activities such as a Spa Day, Music Video Making, Ziplining and Baking, a Photo Scavenger Hunt and beach time, Cabin Sign Painting and Baking, climbing the High Ropes Course, and creating Cabin T-shirts. The day was capped off by a healing church service and the weekly Kohahna and Leelanau Hymn Sing.
Thursday was CT Appreciation Day! That morning the CT’s enthusiastically ran through the quad and woke everyone up for dips in a very wavy Lake Michigan. That afternoon, the CT’s lead such afternoon activities as Wayne and Stark Industries Country Club otherwise known as a landsports bonanza, Comic Book Construction, Silversmithing, Glen Arbor Beautification (including but not limited to cleaning trash off of the public beach), and Horse Appreciation. In the afternoon, the CT’s headed a game of Big Base Kickball, which is a spin on regular Kickball where bases can hold an unlimited amount of individuals. It was riotous living!
Activities on Friday included exciting opportunities such as Biking in Glen Arbor, Ceramics Level Passing, Hippie Hang Out, How to French Braid, and a Workout Adventure for sports training. That evening, the Pines hosted the Pine Show. The theme of the Pine Show this year was “Un-Frozen” themed and depicted how Camp Kohahna had been frozen over by the lack of the expression of the seven K Qualities; the expression of said qualities (Joyfulness, Graciousness, Persistence, Orderliness, Leadership, Sportsmanship, and Initiative) unfroze camp and restored it to it’s normal state. It was a hit and ended with an all-camp dance party!
Saturday Kohahna and Leelanau hosted a Biblical Beach Bonanza including various activities such as Human Foosball, Biblical story telling, thicket (a stealthy base capture game), human pac man, and tug of war. It was a fun day with our brother camp, and the campers all enjoyed getting to know their Leelanau brothers, and working with them to see which group could win the most points (each activitiy had one group pairing off against another). We had 12 groups, each representing a well known Bible character, and ultimately the group representing Ruth won the entire competition. That evening, we had the Kohahna County Picnic, a rendition of the classic Kohahna activity. We travelled to an off camp park over looking Glen Lake, and had a festive picnic. Then the girls took part in such activities as a Water Cup Line-up, a ring toss, a water gun aim game, a relay race, Giant Jenga, and some classic County Fair booth games. What a joy filled week it was!
On Sunday, we had a major storm hit the Glen Arbor area. Camp was totally protected, and the girls were unaware of magnitude of the storm as they were already inside working on a project called “The Great Gratitude Day.” We were so thankful that everyone was safe, protected, and that there was no property damage either. We lost power for two days, but thanks to our generator, we had food, water, and lights in the Great House. The only place we didn’t have lights was in the bathhouse and cabins! Good thing we go to bed at 9:15pm! Back to the “great Gratitude Day”, each of the girls made cards for the support staff (maintenance, kitchen, laundry, cleaning, and office) and they were beautiful! They also made some craft projects that will be given as gifts at final banquet! All in all, it was a fun opportunity to recognize people who work very hard to help make camp run smoothly! The evening was capped off with an indoor Council Fire and thoughts for moving forward with a successful 7th week. Hooray for Kohahna!!!
Integrity is Power! This week, as a part of the summer theme climbing the “Heights of Mind,” we learned about the importance of integrity. We kicked this week’s lesson off with our all-camp metaphysical, where the campers learned such things as the importance of moral uprightness, honesty, spiritual discernment, and obedience to God. To illustrate these points we talked about Abraham, from The Book of Genesis, and his unfailing trust in the one God!
On Monday, the campers participated in afternoon activities such as Line Dancing, a Dip a Thon, an Extreme Ninja Party, A Port Oneida Bike Ride, and a beach walk with Petoskey hunting! That evening, the Wildwoods headed to The Narrows, or Little Glen, where we engaged in a Sportsmanlike competitive game of Water Polo. While the Wildwoods ran, and scored goals at Water Polo, the younger Waukeena section spent their evening at Sleeping Bear Dunes running in the sand! Many feet were buried, many smiles were had, and laughter could be heard all around the dune from our girls!
On Tuesday, for afternoon activities, girls did Mod Podge Tuesday, where they clipped pictures out from magazines and created colorful collages on a myriad of objects. Others partook in the Pyramid point book club, 1940’s style Swing Dance, or played Water Balloon Lacrosse. All the while, the Challenge girls spent their time in the woods perfecting their Camp Craftsmanship skills in preparation for their departure the next morning. That evening, the campers took part in a fire building and s’more roasting competition, while the Challenge girls made their “Chall” shirts and wrapped up all preparations (major hair braiding party).
The very next morning, on Wednesday, the Challenge marched across the lawn to depart for their four-day competitive trip in the woods. After saying their goodbyes, those who stayed back at camp returned to Daily Cleanup. That afternoon, girls headed out for off camp Cabin Day celebrations! The festivities included trips to Leeland and the Leeland candy shop, an afternoon at Empire Beach, Tubing, and a trip to the dunes. The day was capped off by a beautiful testimony service at the First Church of Christ Scientist, Glen Arbor. What a Soul-filled day it was!
Thursday was a beautiful sun shining day! We took full advantage of the warmth by Shooting the Culverts or “Pew Pewing the River Tunnel,” Paddleboarding, and an Art Party on the Great House Deck. That night, in the spirit of the Challenge, the girls on camp played Capture the Flag. “Caught! Caught! Caughts!” and “Flag! Flag! Flags!” Could be heard across the Great Lawn. The activity was a highlight for many of the girls!
On Friday we had a beautiful and hot day! Many a water activity ensued for the afternoon, and laughs and shouts of joy could be heard from the direction of the beach. In the evening, our activity was Christmas Eve in JULY!!! The Great Room became a little Christmas haven. We made secret santa gifts, drank hot chocolate with marshmallows and peppermint sticks, played musical chairs to Christmas music, read favorite holiday stories, and took “family photos” in our Christmas outfits. We shared gratitude and decorated the Great Room for Christmas!
Saturday morning brought the usual routine of cabin clean-up and week end inspection! More importantly, it brought the return of the Challenge participants! We all reunited at lunch and it was a joyous occasion. We had a restful afternoon, making and decorating Christmas cookies, and watching the holiday favorite- Elf! We had a beach period and enjoyed our amazing waterfront property before gathering together for dinner and an evening of fun.
Sunday church was special as usual!! The girls gained much from their classes and the good sharing. In the afternoon, we did our first ever Kohahna Bop! What is Kohahna Bop? Well, it’s our newly formed girls camp dance troop! Campers and counselors alike joined together to learn a choreographed routine to a Bruno Mars song, Uptown Funk, re-written with our “Heights of Mind” themed lyrics. We then performed the dance at Cook-Out that very evening in Flash Mob style, surprising the boy’s camp with our cheer and camp spirit! It was a lot of fun!! That evening, at Council Fire, we learned more about the summer theme through the introduction of the quality of patience! Patience is freedom, and includes grace, and poise! We will continue to let Mind unfold this quality for us all week! One other piece of big news from Council Fire with the announcement of the PINE VICTORY for the Challenge! We are so very proud of all the girls who played for their teams out on the Challenge and we appreciate the graciousness, sportsmanship, and love expressed so plainly!
Greetings family and friends! We are happy to share with you that this first session has been a blast! The weather here has largely been warm, sunny, and blissful, with a 99.9% chance of Kohahna pep.
The week kicked off with a beautiful clear day that began with some chilly morning dips. Taking advantage of the weather, campers and counselors partook in afternoon activities such as a “Mystery Water Activity” (which turned out to be tubing), a ceramics Glaze-a-Palooza, a Dip-a-thon (which included driving to several lakes for dips and swims), a Port Oneida bike ride, and kite making. That evening the Wildwoods headed to Glen Lake to tromp around in the shallows and play a classic and much anticipated game of Water Polo, while the Waukeenas ascended the sand dunes of Sleeping Bear! The sands won Water Polo!
Tuesday, yet another day with conditions perfect for having a fantastic time at Kohahna, included activities such as KOH HGTV, or the Kohahna version of HGTV’s DIY network. This included painting and decorating chairs and flower pots! Other activities were Silversmithing, Boogie Wonderland, and a beach extravaganza. That day, several campers rehearsed for a short play put on by our drama counselor which included 17 campers! The show was performed on Friday and was very well done! That afternoon, horseback riders embarked for a Horseback Riding overnight, which would return the following morning. In the evening, Sands and Pines ventured up to The Meadow for a game of Capture the Flag. It was a spirited game with many raids, and great defense. The defense was so great that neither team got a flag, leaving the game to end in a tie.
On Wednesday we had Cabin Day! Activities that day included beach day fun, cooking in the kitchen, doing some groovy tie-dye, paddle boarding, shirt decorating via paint war in the Pine Forest, a Phantom of the Opera themed scavenger hunt, and baking! The day was wrapped up with both a Testimony Meeting and Hymn Sing.
Thursday began with what was rumored to be the most pleasant dip of the entire session so far! That afternoon, campers took Glen Lake Boat-o’s (photography on the ski boat), did some barn beautifying, participated in Glaze-mazing ceramics glazing, finished up projects in Silversmithing, or took a beach walk. That evening the Sands put on an incredibly entertaining Sand Show! They wove in all of the K-qualities and the summer theme into a very entertaining story of rescuing Princess Kohahna from being kidnapped! We ended the evening with the ever fun dance party!
Friday was our final day of camp for the 3 weekers! It was a gorgeous day full of our normal morning activities, and then a special bout of shows and festivities in the afternoon and evening. We had our art show, dance show, and the play to highlight the activities of drama, dance, arts and crafts, Ceramics, and Silversmithing. We also had our 3 week banquet full of delicious food, special gifts, awards, and a slideshow of pictures. Lastly, we had our Pine Bough ceremony where campers and counselors got to share gratitude and love of camp! We were blessed with such a special start to summer!
As our 3 weekers have left, we are grateful to know that we have worked diligently to climb The Heights of Mind!
Oh the joy that is Camp Kohahna! Our second week of camp was full of growth in grace, fun in the sun, and joyous laughter and playing! We had three trips go out this week as well as plenty of fun back here on Port Oneida Road. The Trips included the CT trip to the Manistique River in the Upper Peninsula for our counselors in training, a trip to South Manitou for the 4-6th graders, and the Peter Pan Overnight for our youngest three cabins. The CTs successfully paddled 62 miles, cooked their food and camped out on the trail for five days and four nights. They were happy to return home, but wrote quite a song about their experience to perform at council fire! The girls who traveled to South Manitou had a pirate themed adventure and really enjoyed exploring the island and learning about the wildlife there. Lastly, the Peter Pan Overnight girls had the opportunity to meet and hang out with Peter Pan, Tinkerbelle, and Captain Hook as they zipped down our zip line, cooked food in the Pine Forest, and went on a treasure hunt for s’mores materials! We are grateful for such an adventurous and creative trips program!
Meanwhile, back at camp, we had a full week of morning, afternoon, and evening activities. Let’s take a few minutes to hightlight our Evening Activities of the Week. On Monday, we played Three Legged Kick ball as well as a game of Thicket and Captain on Deck. The girls had plenty of time to run around, work as a team, and enjoy the splendor of camp. On Tuesday evening we had the pleasure of attending a Christian Science Lecture held in Glen Arbor and given by Mark McCurties, CS. The lecture highlighted the ideas of making meaningful change in our own lives and in the world. It was a pleasure to all travel together into town to hear this special lecture. On Wednesday, we had Church and our testimony meeting followed by our hymn sing. The CTs have the opportunity to put together the readings each week, and we always enjoy the result of this special work. On Thursday evening we got everyone dressed up in costume for Halloween in July. Seeing the campers come up with their own creative outfits is always such a hoot, and they really enjoyed traveling to the various stations to enjoy the elements of Halloween. We had a costume contest, a trick or treat station, a musical chairs station, and so forth. On Friday we played a camp favorite- Dune Football. We had a beautiful night out at the Dunes and both the Sands and the Pines played hard as they mixed the game of football and capture the flag. The game resulted in a Sand victory. This brings us to the close of the Week day and on to our special weekend festivities. Saturday was a beautiful day to celebrate our independence! We participated in the Glen Arbor parade, had a picnic lunch, and spent the afternoon on the soccer field playing a variety of patriot games! We had cookie decorating, facepainting, American Idol patriotic song version, liberty ball (soccer with a beach ball), water balloon toss, and lastly a sand castle building competition on the beach. In the evening, we had a picnic dinner on the bluff overlooking the lake before heading out to Pyramid Point for the Wildwoods, and down to the beach for the Waukeenas.
What a wonderful second week of camp it was! Climbing the “Heights of Mind” has been a tremendous exploration!
Camp Kohahna’s first session has started with a bang as we begin our ascent to the Heights of Mind! On Sunday, KOH campers arrived with smiles on their faces and expectant eagerness to greet friends, old and new. We began the summer session with Cookout, Elbow Tag, and Knockout (basketball game). Throughout this time campers recounted highlights from the year and caught up with their friends. Afterward, we congregated on Kohahna Road and began our silent climb to Council Fire. During the walk, the Kohahna girls were asked to think about gratitude which kicked off our first Council Fire meeting, where we kicked off the summer theme: The Heights of Mind. The core qualities of this summer include Good Judgment, Limitlessness, Patience, Integrity, and Love.
True to every summer at Kohahna, Monday, our first full day, began with the swim test at Bar Lake. In the warm waters of the Bar Lake, the young women of KOH swam several yards to complete varying degrees of swim proficiency. The swim test also included floating, treading, and helpful Counselors in Training (CTs) who cheered on and guided the children as they swam. The rest of the day was complete with cabin bonding (making cabin goals and contracts) and preparation for the evening activity; Brown Bag Skits. This activity requires that children gather a specified list of items from the cabin and, within each group of girls, create a skit based upon the items. Hilarity ensued and before we knew it, the Trips counselors stormed the activity in full costume and took the campers outside for a special treat!
On Tuesday campers began the regular daily schedule of morning activities ranging from Silversmithing, to Sailing, to Waterskiing, to Ceramics. With the sun shining warmly and a pleasant temperature, counselors offered several outdoor afternoon activities. These included a quick bike trip and hike to the beautiful 360 degree lookout, onsite water coloring of nature and historical buildings, Initiatives in the Pine Forest, rock painting and bracelet making on the lawn, learning Chinese characters, and horse beautification. That evening we played Bombardment on the tennis courts. This sparked Pine versus Sand competition that was filled with exemplary sportsmanship! Bombardment resulted in Wildwood (senior section) win for the Sand Team and a Waukeena (junior section) win for the Pine team.
Wednesday was Cabin Day! This is a special day at Kohahna as it involves cabin bonding and fun. The day began as usual with dips and morning activities and then commenced with Cabin Day plans. The festivities included Rock Climing, the Zipline and playground fun, “Cinco de Mayo” (including pin the tail on the donkey, flamenco, and a piñata), a Treasure Map Scavenger Hunt, Paint Twister, Beach Olympics, and a Murder Mystery Game where the cabin of Breezeway had to create a mystery story and let the North Star (Kohahna Director and Head Counselors) team solve it. The day wrapped up with a beautiful Wednesday night service complete with much testimony of healing and a Leelanau and Kohahna hymn sing.
Thursday, yet another day the Lord hath made, marked the departure of the Outback Adventure trip open to middle school age children. The Outback Adventure girls went to the back property of Camps Leelanau and Kohahna and learned skills that they can use on the Challenge (Pine vs. Sand competitive camping trip) some day! They learned how to lash structures made of wood and twine, strategize for capture the flag, cook food in the woods, and have fun while expanding their comfort zone!! Back at camp, morning activities were had and then counselors offered afternoon activities such as Fall Sport Training, Traveling Card Playing Circus, Tubing, Friendship Bracelet making and Charades. That evening, campers enjoyed a counselor fashion show, where they dressed up there counselor according to a specific theme and walked down the “catwalk.” Once the fashion show finished, the campers played a game of freeze dance and a game of Mafia. The night ended with a brilliant sunset that shone over the bluffs and across the cabins.
Friday was filled with fun! The days afternoon activities were Improv Games, Aztec Painting, Paddleboarding, Petoskey Stone Hunt, and planning for the South Manitou Trip. Our evening activity was a special night of costumed fun. We played a game called Pirates and Cargo where the campers were split into two teams (one pirate and one cargo team). The cargo team had the mission of getting secret messages from one counselor to another across the Great Lawn without the pirates catching them. If a pirate caught them, they would say, “raise your sails” and then the pirate had ten seconds to find a folded paper note somewhere on the cargo’s person. The game was enjoyed by all, and a highlight for many.
On Saturday we had our big extended clean-up, which went really well. In addition to an all camp metaphysical meeting and a short beach period, the clean-up took most of the morning. In the afternoon, campers did their morning activities from the past week. We also had the opportunity to practice for Lip Sync which meant that each cabin had the chance to pick a song, costumes, and make a choreographed routine to perform later that night. Lip Sync is always a crowd favorite, and that was the case this past Saturday as well. Each cabin came up with a clever and well down performance, but the CTs took home first prize after rave reviews from our celebrity judges (counselors dressed up in costume).
We are all looking forward to our second week of camp where we will specifically explore the concept of Limitlessness as it relates to the Heights of Mind! There will also be several trips that go out as well as many fun on camp activities. We are off to a great start in summer 2015!
Our camp Kohahna, dearest home, of happy summer days! We can hardly believe this is the last week of camp. We could be sad about the closing of the summer, but instead we will give gratitude for all the good that has happened this summer, and what a wonderful note to end on!
To cap off the summer’s theme “Bring the Fun”, we ended with one of the core metaphysical concepts of the summer: selflessness. We learned about Jesus’ selfless acts and that we should follow his example. Additionally, the girls learned about true unselfish happiness from the lead quote of the summer: “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist lone, but requires all mankind to share it” (Science and Health 57:15).
On Monday, we celebrated our annual CT appreciation day! When the ladies headed down to dips, they were greeted by CT’s in crazy costumes singing a catchy jingle : “get in the water and get your hair wet!” Later that day, they led afternoon activities such as hipster hangout, jazzercise in costumes, and slack lining. Additional afternoon activities included glazing and making arrows for archery. That evening, the wildwoods and waukeena’s headed to the dunes for a camp favorite, dune football! Although neither the sands nor the pines scored, it was still a blast and a success.
Tuesday was a lovely day that included a watercolor marathon, a lost girls activity, an advanced/expert waterski, improvisation games on the Great House deck, and flower crown making. The day was concluded with Kohahna’s rendition of the Hunger Games, the “Kohahna Games.” The girls wore to bandanas at their belts. Once the bandanas were taken, they were out of the game. Although the Kohahna games are designed to have one winner, in true Hunger Games style, two girls decided to take each others’ flags at the same time, thus both winning the game. The winners were rewarded with hot chocolate at breakfast!
Wednesday was cabin day! Cabin day was complete with a visit to the cherry orchard for cherry picking, tubing on Big Glen Lake, a Glen Arbor adventure with ice cream, t-shirt making, making a music video in Leland, and a trip to Sutton’s Bay. A beautiful Wednesday night service followed. What a wonderful, happy day!
For many, Thursday afternoon was dedicated to preparing for the horse show during encore and the dance and drama show that evening. For the rest of camp opportunities were given to finish up art projects, to participate in a dipathon, to paddle board and read on the beach, and to waterski. Afterwards, we had an art show, displaying all of the arts and crafts, ceramics, and silversmithing projects of the session. That evening at the dance and drama show, young Kohahna women showed off their ballet, modern dance, monologue, and group skit skills. And of course, afterwards we had a dance party!
On Friday, we headed to the beach for our last dip! All of the Kohahna ladies, on the count of three, ran into the water together for their final dip of the summer session. To our relief, it was a warm and pleasant dip! Later that day, after our packing party, we all got ready for our final, and most memorable council fire. At final council fire, the tradition is to give gratitude and toss a pine bough into the fire. Our gratitude session lasted for over an hour! There were many tears of love and gratitude, words of thanks, and heartfelt smiles shared that night. This year’s pine bough ceremony really highlighted and illustrated all of the good expressed and received at Camp Kohahna this summer.
On Saturday, after Encore, we all dressed in our finest whites in preparation for final banquet; a bittersweet event. That evening, we celebrated achievements such as the Merit Hat, Kohahna Rose, Trail Blazer, activity awards, Illuminata (an award voted on by the campers to honor one of their peers), and the Camp Spirit award. To finish the night, we revealed this summer’s winning team; the Sand team. Needless to say it was a summer filled with spirited, high minded, hard fighting, competition that really brought the best out of both teams. We thank you Kohahna ladies for your excellency and graciousness in competitive activities and sports, it was a gift to watch!
Thank you all for making this summer absolutely splendid, filled with patience, obedience, gratefulness, selflessness, and forgiveness, all of the qualities under the overarching theme of “Bring the Fun”. Wonderful spiritual growth, as well as growth in confidence in and love for ourselves and others. We are so grateful to have witnessed this growth and know that the goodness does not end here, all of the lessons we learned can and will be applied naturally and joyfully throughout the year!
Thank you all again. We can’t wait to see you again.
What a joyful sixth week it has been! Kohahna kicked off this week with a metaphysical talk on the topic of obedience, one of the core qualities in this summer’s theme, “Bring the Fun”. This metaphysical talk put emphasis on recognizing what we are giving our attention and time to, are we being obedient to God?
Monday was a beautiful day of warmth, sunshine, and smiles. Counselors made sure to take full advantage of the wonderful weather with several outdoor activities including beach kickball, nature photography 101, Human Foosball, a beach walk marathon, and tubing. An activity of working on shiny things (also known as Silversmithing) was offered to campers. That evening, Kohahna girls played Newlyweds, a great way to see how well you know your cabin mates! One camper was selected from each cabin to go answer a set of questions in secret. The rest of the cabin mates were given the same questions, for which they had to guess the answer their selected cabin mate might give. Such questions included, how many Kohahna trips we have been on, what is our favorite hymn, what color is our hairbrush, how many dogs we have, etc! The Newlyweds game is a great way for the girls to have lighthearted fun, and to further solidify their cabin bonds.
Additionally, on Monday, a handful of campers left for the climbing trip in Marquette, MI, an a-typical trip that offers more of an emphasis on climbing instead of hiking, and having fun, of course! Each time a Kohahna trip goes out, a camper has the opportunity to “quartermaster” the trip. Quartermastering is an opportunity for campers to sharpen and develop their leadership skills. Quartermasters make meals and ideally lead the trip. Doing so is a requirement for campers to pass the higher levels in camp crafts and to achieve their Trail Blazer and/or Merit Hat award.
Tuesday Evening we had an evening activity of Zumba, which was a total hit, as always! The girls love the organized dance routines and music component! On Wednesday, the Kohahna girls woke up to a surprise, the counselors singing bedtime taps! This was only because Wednesday was none other than backwards day! We started off the day with dinner, then church, followed by cabin day, lunch, and then clean up, quiet time, and then breakfast. The day was capped off by dips at the beach and a wonderful sunset beach period. Also on Wednesday evening, the two oldest cabins had the opportunity to go to Glen Arbor for church since they had missed it the week before during the Challenge. It was a highlight for all!
On Thursday, we had an amazing Kohahna Luau that definitely brought the fun! It was a beautiful evening, with a sky filled with pastel colors and all of the Kohahna girls in their best luau outfits. The Luau was complete with a banana boat making station, a hula dancing station, paddle boarding, balloon launching, limbo, a luau themed photo-shoot, and hula music, of course! The sunset that evening was magnificent, as the sun dipped behind North Manitou, the thin wisps of clouds were emblazoned with pinks and oranges. The sailors of Kohahna were able to take advantage of this by taking a sunset sail. It was a picturesque evening filled with blessings and happy smiles!
Friday was a very merry Christmas in July! That afternoon, the ladies of Kohahna played “reindeer games” including caroling, Santa’s workshop in Silversmithing, body sledding (body surfing) at Empire Beach, and Christmas cookie decoration. That concluded the celebration of Christmas in July, and that evening we played Capture the Flag. No flags were had that night, by either team, but fun was had by all!
After Saturday inspection, the Pine team had the fortune of going on a hike at the Empire Bluffs in nearby Empire, MI. The hike is tucked into the hillside all the way up to the overlook of Lake Michigan. Meanwhile, the Sands prepared for the highly anticipated Sand Show! This year’s sand show was based on several shows found on Netflix and was a real hit! The show was followed by the well-loved dance party! All in all, our week was tremendous- full of fun, lots of activities, and plenty of camp bonding! We are all geared up for 7th week and ready to learn, grow, and love more!! Kohahna is bringing the fun!
This week, the week of the Challenge, has been a much-anticipated week at Kohahna. Wildwoods had been preparing for the annual Sand versus Pines competitive camping trip.
For those of you who do not know what the Challenge is, a brief explanation is in order! Wildwood campers, the older bunch of young women, embark every summer on this trip and put into practice their reliance on God, their athletic ability, the K qualities, and their creativity. The trip went on Wednesday morning and returned on Saturday afternoon. During this period of time each team had the opportunity to prepare delicious meals, lash structures such as a dinner table, a backpack rack, a meal preparation table, and a judges tower. The girls also played capture the flag against the other team. Each team has been judged and given points according to their creativity in structure building and meals, their sportsmanship, the flag scoring during the challenge and the overall excellence of their camp sight and team spirit. This trip is, as always, a wonderful opportunity for the young ladies to express the highest form of competition where each opponent acts with graciousness, love, and a genuine desire to do their best. Points garnered from the Challenge are a large factor in determining whether the Sands or Pines win each summer.
Meanwhile, back at camp we had a wonderful week as well! On Tuesday night, as the Challenge girls had their traditional hair braiding and t-shirt making session before they left, the remainder of Kohahna campers had Crazy Night! Everyone put on their craziest attire, zebra prints, tutus, neon tights, etc, and played games such as kick the can and ghost in the graveyard.
Wednesday morning, we said our goodbyes to the ladies going on the Challenge and watched them march across the great lawn, cheering their respective teams. It was a bittersweet day, we were sad to see our Wildwoods go, but excited for cabin day! And even though we were short a few KOH women, there was no shortage of pep and fun… Cabin day activities included flower picking in Suttons Bay, getting ice cream cones, tubing, shooting the culverts, and trips the Glen Arbor playground. We topped off the day with a wonderful Wednesday night gratitude service at the Christian Science church in Glen Arbor! Several churchgoers commented on how well behaved and delightful our campers were. What a treat!
On Thursday, the weather was outstanding: sunny, no wind, but not too hot. Afternoon activities took full advantage of the beautiful weather. They included hula hooping adventures, an extreme dance party that ended in a water balloon fight, kayaking to the shipwreck, shooting the culverts, waterskiing, and bathing the horses. The evening followed up with an even more amazing activity, Pirate Night. The girls dressed up in their best pirate gear, moustaches included, and played the first ever game of Pirates and Cargo.
On Friday, we had “Bring the Fun” night where we celebrated our summer theme by breaking all the campers up into five teams for the five qualities we are learning about: patience, forgiveness, gratefulness, obedience, and selflessness. With a splash of color for each team (each quality was assigned a color) we made team bracelets, team hulu hoop dances, a collage that represents the different qualities, some songs and cheers, and off course we ended the night down at our beautiful beach to play sharks and minnows, and to give gratitude! It was a FUN day!
On Saturday, smiles broke across all of our faces when we heard the Challenge girls return to camp singing the Kohahna cheer. We were so happy to have our Challenge girls return! While they rested, the remainder of Kohahna went to Empire beach for a sunny day on the sandy beaches and clear water of Lake Michigan. That evening, we all went to dinner in our comfiest pajamas and brought all of our pillows and blankets to the Great House for a movie night. We relaxed, cuddled up, and enjoyed tangled for our first time together since Tuesday.
Sunday brought our day at the “County Fair” where the Leelanau soccer field is turned into all sorts of booths for festive fair activities. We had the horses out, we had a pie eating competition, we had tug of war, we had line dancing, water melon eating, corn hole playing, and a slew of other fun activities! This all lead up to our evening at Council Fire where we had our usual enthusiasm and repose, as well as the reveal of the Challenge victor: congratulations SAND TEAM 2014! It’s been a great week, and with two more left, we plan to keep all the good coming!!
Welcome to camp new and returning campers! What a wonderful introduction this week has been to the second session at Kohahna! Opening day was complete with sunshine and the happy joy of seeing returning friends and cabin mates. The day was capped by cookout and council fire where girls were the new campers were introduced to their Kohahna teams (sand and pine), and the four weekers were introduced to our summer theme: Bring the Fun!
As always, we started the week with the swim test at Bar Lake. The day was a bit chilly, but the girls pushed through in order to be able to be swim safe and participate in various water activities such as kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, sailing, and waterskiing. Soon, we got into the swing of things, the weather warmed up, and the usual shenanigans began! Afternoon activities this week included fairy house building where children built small stick homes in order to provide shelter for the gnomes and fairies of the pine forest. Additionally, campers ventured down to the clay pits where they created their own mud masks and let the clay squish between their toes! Campers also had the opportunities to visit the Pierce Stocking Drive scenic outlook, participate in Challenge preparation, take an afternoon waterski, paint and bath the horses, practice working on the wheel in ceramics, do extreme karaoke, create mod podge crafts, play extreme spoons, and make cozy forts on a rainy day.
We kicked off evening activities this week with a fun, competitive game called Bombardment. Bombardment is essentially a game of sand versus pines dodge ball and is a camper favorite. This week, the Wildwoods tied, but Waukeena pines won three games to one. On Tuesday, the camp participated in a counselor fashion show. Campers were assigned a theme, and then dressed up their counselors according to that theme. At the fashion show, counselors strutted their stuff to music and were cheered by the cabins! And of course, after the fashion show we had the requisite dance party where the campers showed off their dance moves and capped off the night with brownies and milk.
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful Wednesday night church meeting filled with gratitude and wonderful testimonies. On Thursday, we played a traditional game of Water Polo at the Glen Lake shallows. It was the perfect evening for this special game as there was no wind, the air was a pleasant temperature, the water was calm and warm and the girls played with fierce, yet loving and considerate competition. The sands won this evening activity 4-3.
On Friday, the girls hiked to pyramid point, the beautiful dune lookout over Lake Michigan. It was a fun, peaceful moment, where the girls were able to reflect on the week and give gratitude for our beautiful home. After Pyramid Point, all headed over to the Sand Bowl to run down the dunes and check out the 180 degree view of the vast blueness of Lake Michigan.
On Saturday, Kohahna and Leelanau were fortunate enough to listen to Christian Science lecturer Joshua Niles, CS, who gave a talk on harmony and how a state of peace is an inherent and natural part of our lives. Additionally, he touched on the idea that we are complete with a higher sense of being, and that we can acknowledge that divine sense of individuality within ourselves and with others. After taking a break to reflect on the talk, the KOH girls prepared for the annual Lip Sync! Lip Sync this year was a hit, complete with songs from artists such as Pentatonix, Vanilla Ice, Disney’s Frozen, and High School Musical.
In addition to wonderful activities this week, cabin day was a complete success! Cabins spent quality time together on camp painting flower pots, hiking, having a spa day, making cabin rings in Silversmithing, completing low ropes initiatives, baking cookies, participating in a treasure hunt, playing minute to win it challenges such as chubby bunny and the Oreo challenge, doing the high ropes course, enjoying paint twister, and creating hair wraps. We are having our usual summer fun here at Kohahna, and it’s been perfect! This coming week we have our Challenge trip going out (Wednesday to Sunday), which is a competitive camping trip for the Wildwood campers. Back home, we will have a variety of really fun activities to keep the pace up and continue bringing the FUN!!
