4th of July at Camp!
Check out the video of our 4th of July festivities!
Watch on YouTube
At camp, every day feels like a party, but that was especially true yesterday! The 4th of July brings even more excitement than a typical day, and the festivities began as soon as we woke up. Some of our horseback staff rode through the cabin areas, shouting “the British are coming!” as soon as the wakeup bell rang. As we arrived at the dining hall for breakfast, campers saw that it had been decorated overnight in red, white, and blue streamers, flags, and banners! We were treated to a festive special meal of belgian waffles with red strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream to get in a patriotic mood!
In the morning, we had a fun new campwide activity - the FCC Independence Day Regatta! Each cabin had to build a boat out of cardboard, present it in the boat parade, and then race it in the lake for both design and functionality points. To start, each cabin was given a large cardboard box, a roll of duct tape, paint pens, and a PFD. They were also given $1,000 in “camp cash” play money that they could choose to spend on upgrades. The “regatta bank” had extra boxes for $500, extra duct tape rolls for $300, box cutters (only counselors could buy) for $200, paint pens for $100, and stickers for $20. Finally, supplies were also hidden in the woods surrounding the Dining Hall and Morning Watch area, which campers could search for to upgrade their boat creations.
After building their boats, everyone lined up by cabin to parade their creations in front of the judges for design points. Dr. Feingold, Marisa Pharr, and Nathan Newquist were the judges - but Nathan had high standards! The real test was the boat race to see how functional the boats would be. Each Line went together, with the Sorrel boys’ boats holding up the best! It was a fun and creative way to start the day, and everyone was able to enjoy some Free Choice time before lunch.
Lunch was a very American meal of hot dogs with all the toppings! There was hearty chili, cheese, mustard, ketchup, jalapenos, and potato salad on the side. The ice cream sandwiches for dessert were a big hit! We had an extended rest hour to get ready for our big 4th of July tradition - hiking down to play in the Green River Flats for the afternoon!
Everyone changed into their bathing suits and met at Morning Watch to walk down. The Green River Flats is the area by the covered bridge at the bottom of the mountain that you all drove in on for Opening Day. On the way down, boys and staff wore their most patriotic outfits, and some even had speakers with them to play music and keep spirits high as we paraded down.
Waiting at the bottom were a multitude of fun games, music, and equipment. Boys could choose whether they wanted to go tubing in the river, play in the giant mud pit, or relax in their hammocks. There were also plenty of sports to choose from, including football and frisbees to throw, a soccer field and wiffle ball home run derby, a giant chess set, spike ball, cornhole and balancing on the slackline. Zach was DJ for the afternoon and kept the party going with a great playlist of music on the big speakers. There was so much to do, and it was all up to the boys to choose!
Tubing down the river was one of the more popular choices, especially on such a warm day. They would start at the covered bridge and leisurely float down to the ford. Many boys also enjoyed hanging up their hammocks in groups with all their friends, and chatting or reading in the shade of the trees. Another exciting activity was the mud pit, where boys had permission to get as dirty and muddy as they wanted. Afterwards, it was back to the river to rinse off and get back to playing!
Once we had worked up an appetite, everyone gathered next to Fisher’s Field to enjoy a cookout supper. We ate pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, with tomato pie, pasta salad, fresh watermelon, cake with festive frosting, and 7-Up sodas! The threat of rain held off all day, until finally after dinner when the weather took a turn. It began to rain halfway up the mountain while walking back to camp, so everyone headed straight to the cabins to shower and put on clean clothes. Since it was already evening after a big day, we stayed in the cabins so no one had to brave the weather again. Instead, the directors went around to hand deliver cookies to all the boys in their cabins as a bedtime snack! Though the fireworks show was rained out last night, it just means that we’ll be able to spread the festivities to another upcoming evening, and watch the big show then. After such a busy and exciting day, the boys no doubt fell asleep quickly, especially with the soothing sound of rain on the metal cabin roofs.
Following this past Sunday’s Campfire, we want to mention the addition of 3 new members to our Honor Council. The Honor Council is a peer elected group of campers who represent the camp community in staff meetings, and have demonstrated that they consistently live by the FCC Code. The election to the Honor Council is for life, so there are several current staff members who were former campers in the Honor Council this summer. After being voted in by fellow campers, the boys are held to a high standard and have the responsibility of meeting with leadership staff and attending the weekly staff meeting to be the campers’ voice. They also work together to complete a service project each summer. Each year, new members are voted in as some age out of camp or don’t return as counselors. In recent years, we began the tradition of staff members being eligible to be voted in by the community as well, allowing those who were not campers to obtain this honor. We’re excited to share that this past Sunday, Jack S. from Atlanta, GA, Ransom A. from New York, NY, and staff member Andrew Gardner from Jacksonville, FL were all tapped to be part of the Honor Council, as voted by the camp community. Congratulations to these three!
It’s a terrific Tuesday here at camp, and we can’t wait to tell you what we get into today!