CAs Hike

We took the CA campers on a hike to John Rock yesterday. All 20 of them, their 5 counselors, Jessi and Jeff made the mostly uphill hike from the fish hatchery to the rock. It’s a fantastic walk through the woods. Right now the mountain laurels are blooming, so parts of the trail wind you through a tunnel of white and pink flowers. Then at the top it’s a breath-taking view across to Looking Glass Rock (in the background of this photo).

We took the hike to discuss what this session’s banquet theme will be. Starting with almost 40 different ideas, these 9th graders slowly narrowed down the list and finally settled on a fantastic idea. For the rest of the session, they’ll work on decorations, costumes, skits, songs, dances, and a special menu to match their theme. It’s a big event, and a big surprise for everyone else in camp.

Collect $200 Salary As You Pass GO!

Today was cabin day and the Senior line took an excursion to Sliding Rock. The temperature peaked at around 98 degrees, so it was a refreshing change for the girls. Sliding Rock is basically a large rock which mimics a gigantic water slide. It is located in the Pisgah Forest, and is just a little ways outside of Brevard. The girls went down a handful of times, and then were taken to the infamous Dolly’s for some ice cream. We were quick to get back to camp, for banquet was about to begin!

There was much anticipation in the air, for the kids were eagerly waiting outside of the dining hall to be called in for banquet. The CAs (counselor assistants) for this banquet were quite prepared, and hosted one smashing banquet! The theme was Monopoly, and the dining hall was set up in as if it were the board game. The posters were painted in various places on the board such as: Go To Jail, Chance, Community Chest, North Carolina Avenue, etc. The 4 of the 5 CAs were dressed up as pieces for the game, and were covered in silver paint. The other CA, Elizabeth, was the Monopoly guy. The skits involved the CAs moving around on the board by rolling dice, and advancing on the board. Jerry always has a role in the banquet skits, and this time he was the police officer, and took one of the CAs, Morgan, to jail! Thanks to the CAs and their counselors who put on banquet, they worked very hard and we all enjoyed another successful banquet!

It’s Finally Here!

Finally, the moment everyone has been waiting for was here…and then gone. Banquet was successful! The theme of the night was “Pixar”, which consists of a combination of four movies: “Finding Nemo”, “The Incredibles”, “A Bug’s Life”, and “Monsters, Inc.” The setup for the big night went very smoothly, and by 6:00, the CA’s were dancing around the dining hall in their various costumes waiting for the party to start. The only hang up was a mad dash for soda late in the day; apparently, “it’s not banquet without soda.” It’s a great feeling to see all of the campers’ hard work come together so successfully, and I can’t say enough how proud I was – the CA girls outdid themselves, to say the least. As a reward and camp tradition, Jerry took all of the CA girls out to Casey Jones after the banquet was over. All of the girls couldn’t stop talking about how fast it went by, how they couldn’t believe it was actually over, and how truly excited they were that banquet went so well.

Countdown To Banquet: A Hike!

This is usually the most stressful time of the summer for my 15-year-old campers, because as banquet planners a day before the big night, there are usually a million more things to do and a million more reasons to stay up 24 hours straight. Thankfully, we were given a break from all of the intense preparation today. Around 11:00 AM, Jerry approached the CA’s with an idea for a hike, and shortly after, we all loaded on to the buses and headed into Pisgah National Forest. After a vigorous drive over narrow, winding dirt roads, we stopped at a pull-off and commenced our hike. Once we made it to a clearing that had a perfect view of Looking Glass, we had a long talk about what the girls were going through, how they were handling CA responsibilities, and we were able to spend some quality time together and relax away from camp. Furthermore, not only did we go for a hike, but we stopped at a swimming hole on the way out of the forest. The drive home was quiet, but I haven’t heard the end of how much fun the girls had today; I can definitely agree when they claim, “this was one of the best days all summer.” Now that they have started moving posters to the dining hall in the stealth of night and actually setting up, all of their careful organization and creativity is falling into place. At this point, all of the CA’s are too excited to sleep, and frankly, so am I!