Gotta Catch ‘em All (Pokemon Day at Camp!)
There aren’t many TV shows or games that everyone from our youngest campers to our counselors are passionate about, but Pokemon is one of them! After breakfast on Pokemon Day, we gathered on the front porch for morning assembly, when Ash Ketchem ran out, ready to become a trainer! John Nowicki played a great Ash, joined by Zach Rivera as Pikachu. The boys rolled with laughter as Ash tried to capture Pokemon with his pokeballs, but was suddenly foiled by the arrival of Team Rocket! Jessie, James, and Meowth kept Ash from proceeding, but the skits would continue throughout the day!
Pikachu was the most popular costume choice, but charmander, blastoise, and meowth were also spotted. After lunch (which were delicious loaded baked potatoes!), Ash returned to the Dining Hall, ready to take on the challenge of Groudon and Kyogre. His pokeballs was no match for them though, and Ash would need the help of the campers later that day to catch all the Pokemon in camp!
The highlight of the day was this special Evening Program, which Zach had planned as a PokeCounselor Hunt! Each counselor was a Pokemon hidden around camp, with their own custom Pokemon cards. Campers (trainers!) had to find and catch the PokeCounselors to earn points for their teams, all while trying to evade Team Rocket, who were roaming camp trying to steal PokeCounselor collections and pull campers flag belts! If Team Rocket pulled a camper’s flag belt, it would be turned in for negative points towards that team. Finding PokeCounselor cards is how campers gained points back.
To catch a PokeCounselor, campers had to call them by their name. Then the PokeCounselor would give up one of their cards to the campers, which could be returned to the bank for team points. If the PokeCounselor was out of cards, then the campers could escort them to the bank for more points - however, they would have to protect them from Team Rocket until they got to the bank safely!
Each PokeCounselor card described their unique stats. “Legendary” PokeCounselors were worth more than “Rare” ones, and “Mythical” PokeCounselors could run when spotted! Mythical PokeCounselors were marked by gold flagging tape and a gold belt. To capture them, campers had to pull their flag belt. Even boys who had never watched or played Pokemon before had a blast!
Today is Saturday, which means Tournaments and All-Camp-Games! The tournaments that boys can choose from this morning include ping pong doubles, indoor soccer, flag football, chess, riflery “top shots”, and basketball. In the afternoon, we’ll be playing an all-camp-game favorite: Wild Wild West!
Since everyone is back in camp from their trips off property, weekends are a great time to reconnect with friends, reset for the week ahead, and recharge with some extra sleep-in time. Here’s to the weekend!