Kicking Things Off With Green and Gold
Yesterday was the first full day at camp, and everyone was buzzing with excitement! It also meant that it was the start of the Green and Gold team points for the session! Between green and gold, it’s impossible to pick a favorite. Green is the color of life, the defining color of this mountain, and all of its trees and greenery. Gold is the color of the setting sun at night, and is a color full of value and richness. Both colors are important, and both hold value as the two colors of Falling Creek. Each boy who comes to camp becomes part of a Green or a Gold cabin, which decides what color they’ll be cheering for and earning points towards.
Cabins are divided for friendly competition, and can get points for their Green or Gold team during evening programs, line nights, cabin inspections, and all-camp-games. The teams are competitive, but it is always a friendly rivalry. In the dining hall, chants of “Green Machine!” alternated with “Gold People!” often break out. Though the two teams are competitive, we are hardly divided - campers seem to understand that it is one brotherhood first.
Our first morning at camp set a great tone for the rest of the session. After pancakes, sausage, yogurt, and peaches for breakfast, we gathered for Morning Assembly. While Morning Watch is a quiet, reflective moment before breakfast each morning, Morning Assembly is completely the opposite! We sing, laugh at skits, and yell chants for each activity during announcements.
During this first Morning Assembly together, John Allen led the sports segment, announcing the results of games, matches, and races that took place during the past couple of days for those who want to keep up with the results. Harrison led the short and sweet weather report, pointing at the sky and yelling “It’s Sunny!”, in the same way that Harry-O started when he was on staff. The skit for the day was one of our classics - “The Doctor’s Office” - and Mitch had everyone laughing with his dramatic acting.
To transition to the singing portion of the morning, everyone claps and chants “woop woop woo!” until the curtains open and reveal the musicians. Everyone cheered as they broke into song, starting with “Fire on the Mountain,” followed by “Fox on the Run.” Before we all split off into activities for the day, we have daily announcements for trips and special signups. During this first week, cabins will go on individual cabin adventures together, which will allow them to not only bond as a group, but also to see some beautiful places on trips that they may not have otherwise signed up for.
Just yesterday, our first cabins went on their adventures to climb Gilbert’s Rock and Cedar Rock, and cooled off by swimming at the base of some nearby waterfalls. Other cabins also paddled the Lower Green river, sailed at lake summit, went mountain biking in Dupont State Forest, or enjoyed the beautiful weather on day hikes. The cabin adventures will continue today, and we’ll write a more detailed blog all about the adventures later this week!
Yesterday evening for our first Green and Gold points event, cabins participated in a Scavenger Hunt around camp. During the scavenger hunt, cabins had to find specific items, while also completing tasks or getting creative as a team. Silly items on the scavenger hunt in years past have included things like creating a cabin handshake, finding five different types of leaves, rolling down the grassy knoll, leapfrogging the length of the upper dam, making up an original cabin song, finding a tennis ball in the woods, finding a four leaf clover, and many more. It’s a great way to work together as a cabin, get silly, and have fun running around camp.
The boys are already setting big goals and getting into their routines for the next few weeks, and we can’t wait to jump into another full day of camp today!