Evening Program: Battle For Falling Creek

It was a Terrific Tuesday!

Morning Watch: Sam Feingold shared a message about how it’s ok to miss what you enjoy at home and that he too has had those feelings before, however he said his friends truly helped him as they were a great way to enjoy new groups and communities he has become a part of, just like the camp community we are a part of now.

Meal highlights: lunch was a hit, with delicious philly cheesesteak hoagie sandwiches and fried okra on the side, a fully stocked salad bar, and Rice Krispy treats for dessert.

But one of the main highlights of the day was Evening Program…

At the beginning of the game, only the Twilight Vampires were able to pull flag belts, and could only do so during “Full Moons,” when music was playing throughout camp. Otherwise they had to freeze when the moon was “down” and camp was quiet.

If the vampires pulled your flag belt, you became a vampire too! Luckily, there were two ways to convert back into being a human - either turn in a “Vampire Cure” which were found hidden around the game map, or convert more humans to vampires. Every third flag belt that you turned into the “blood bank” would yield a fresh life, and players would be able to rejoin as humans.

The team with the most remaining humans at the end of the time period would be declared victorious, winning 100 Green or Gold points for their respective team!

Parent Letters:

As Paige wrote in her latest email communication, the first Parent Letter from the counselors is available! Keep in mind this first note is a brief introduction from the counselor and it was written Sunday evening or Monday. A more detailed Parent Letter will be available early next week.

Notes and letters from counselors are accessible online in the Forms & Documents section of the Forms Dashboard in your CampInTouch account. The first one is called “2023 June Camp Parent Letter Week 1” and is now available. Click on the “print icon” next to the letter and the letter will download for your review.

Notes about Homesickness:

By now, you might be getting some letters home, describing these trips or detailing new friends and cabinmates. While we know that many letters will contain fun stories about new activities and cabin adventures, we also know that many will share feelings of missing home or feeling upset. We wanted to make a note of encouraging you as parents in case a few have begun to receive homesick “snail mail” letters, reflecting boys’ feelings during the first few days of settling in at camp.

Now that the boys have been here for a couple of days and camp is still new to them, this can be a time when homesickness could begin to show in some of them. Homesickness is completely normal and we’re prepared to work with each boy, as no situation is the same.

Our counselors are great at working through homesickness with campers, and some of them can speak from experience after overcoming these same feelings themselves as campers. We wrote a blog about this during the June session last summer, which you can read here.

If you do get a homesick letter in the mail over these next few days, don’t panic. These feelings are common for all campers at some point throughout the session. The challenging times for them can be when things are moving at a slower pace, such as during Rest Hour or at night. This is also usually when they have the most time to write home!

Please be assured that if your son shows any continuing signs of homesickness, we will be in touch with you. A good rule of thumb typically is that no news from us is good news, and the homesickness usually passes quickly. Getting them doing things is the quickest way to get their mind off of home and distracted by the fun trips and activities.

The boys are learning to be independent and resilient, and you are giving them a great opportunity to do that by allowing them to be at camp.

We’re looking forward to another great day at camp today!