Opening Day Through The Eyes of a Camper
Photos by Trenton Almgren-Davis
Opening Day is Finally Here!
The first day. The beginning of camp can bring up a lot of feelings - excitement, anxiety, joy, fear, exhilaration - or a mix of them all! We’ve been waiting all year to welcome campers back to the mountain, and we were feeling all those emotions yesterday too. However, once the campers began arriving, all we could feel was happiness! Yesterday after you all drove up the gravel road for the 2022 June Camp session, you waved your sons goodbye and they headed off on their 3 week adventure. But what happened after that morning drop-off?
We hit the ground running! The boys met their counselors, quickly settled into their cabins, and headed out to play games around camp. Before lunch, we gathered at Morning Watch for the first time as a full camp community, and enjoyed a group welcome.
Like many campers, Meyer started his journey off shy but quickly found his voice as he joined the other campers in an intense game of warrior ball. He shouted from the sidelines, calling for his peers to target the counselors in the game.
In the afternoon, the boys chose the 6 activities that will make up their unique daily schedule. They then rotated through a series of stations as a cabin to better orient them to camp, including a camp tour, swim check, trip sign-up how-to, health check, and a cabin photo. Between each of these rotations, there was plenty of time for games and getting to know each other.
To keep us fueled for all this excitement, lunch was a hearty Sunday favorite - ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, warm rolls, and apple turnovers for dessert. With a full salad bar and rice & bean station at every lunch and dinner, no one’s going hungry at camp!
One of the highlights of every Opening Day is ending with Campfire. After dinner and Evening Program, we headed to Campfire to finish the busy day together. Everyone remains silent after crossing Bain Bridge and sitting with their cabin, quietly enjoying the crackling of the fire and the croaking of bullfrogs along the banks of the lake. Gathering around the fire to share songs, laugh at skits, and reflect on our first day together is the perfect way to end the night. As you read this today, we’ll be starting our first full day of June Camp activities - the fun is just getting started!
During evening embers, Meyer admitted that it took a lot of courage to come to camp. But when asked about how the first day went, Meyer said, “It’s great. I can’t wait for what tomorrow brings!”
Going forward, you can expect a blog from us every morning, telling a story about the previous day’s events. The blogs won’t necessarily be a recap of the full day, but will instead be a snapshot or brief story of camp life. They might be about a certain adventure trip, an activity highlight, a story that relates to our FCC Code, or a special event at camp - no matter what the blog is about for the day, we hope the words and images give you a small window into what happens here at Falling Creek.
For more details about keeping up with what’s going on at camp, please see the email that Paige, our Communications Director, sent out last night. It explains camper mail, the upcoming “parent notes,” and online photo details. We can’t wait to share all the excitement and fun that is to come during these next three weeks - thank you for sharing your sons with us for the 2022 June Camp session!