What A Wednesday!

Trips that Returned

In addition to our regular activities and special signups, we had three day trips return yesterday:

• Paddling canoes at Lake Summit
• Rock climbing at Gilbert’s Rock
• Mountain biking at Dupont State Forest

But as usual, boys didn’t have to leave the mountain to have a good time!

Finally, we ended the day with the Evening Program,

Battle For Falling Creek!

After an exciting announcement for Evening Program at dinner, campers charged off to a huge battle around camp.

There were Green and Gold teams, but it was “every man for himself” where you tried to not get your flag belt pulled by the opposing team. Luckily, you could trade in 3 flag belts that you pulled in order to regain a “life” and get your own flag belt back.

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

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!