4th of July Celebration!
We had a beautiful time celebrating the 4th of July together. Although it is an American holiday, everyone had a blast celebrating together as a community. With staff from all over the world, including Australia, England, Ecuador, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Sotland, South Africa, and Spain, we were honored to host our friends.
“America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination” ~ Harry S Truman.
Our day began with Yates sharing at Morning Watch about the meaning of the fourth of July and how we honor this day of American independence. We shared examples together of what Americans do to celebrate. One of the big traditions is to fly the American flag. Yates was honored to be able to share with the entire camp community a special American flag that Blair Hines sent to the camp. Blair is the Commanding Officer of the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo, Japan. Blair was a long time FCC camper from Raleigh, NC, who was also in Yates’ cabin in 1988. This flag that Blair sent as a gift to FCC was flown over Tokyo Bay on Memorial Day honoring U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. We are honored to be able to fly this flag from the camp flagpole to serve as an inspiration to the campers and counselors.
Fun Celebrations
Fun Festivities at the Flats
Our day began with a wonderful hike to the Green River Flats. We took the scenic route along the new trail and wandered past the beautiful Falling Creek Falls.
Upon reaching the Flats, we had a range of entertaining activities for the boys to enjoy. Hammocks were set up amongst the trees, whether you wanted to sit back and relax or get that blood pumping with some games, we had it covered!
Campers enjoyed getting their faces painted as they drank fresh lemonade and soaked up the day’s sun. We had games such as Spikeball, Wiffle Ball, Touch Football, Cornhole, Kickball, Soccer as well as Giant Chess.
Of course, we also had some awesome tubing down the river to cool off. The boys spent the day choosing what activities they wanted to enjoy and laughter filled the air with smiles on everyone’s faces.
The Wild Wild West
Returning to camp, we still had energy left inside of us for an awesome game of Wild Wild West! Each camper has a flag belt, either Blue, Red, Yellow or Green. Each team had an opponent, for example, Red could pull Blue. A few counselors had special belts, pulling them meant the team got more points. All-Camp-Games are played throughout camp, so teams aren’t limited to just a single ballfield or a court! They have all of camp to run around in as the “game map.”
All-American Bingo Games Night
Did someone say “BINGO!” We then played an awesome 2 rounds of Bingo after dinner. We enthusiastically coloured in each number and letter combo, hoping to win! The reward included spinning the wheel and landing on a prize! Awesome things to be won, such as a Rucker (the camp dog) signed tennis ball, a story time with either Beans or Whit, 5 silly bandz, or the beloved, crowd favorite, a can of Cheerwine.
A Breakfast of Freedom
Our All-American breakfast included delicious red-white-and-blue waffles topped with maple syrup, whipped cream as well as fruits such as blueberries and strawberries, served with yummy sausages. We also had our breakfast bar available with a range of fresh fruits, oatmeal, granola, yogurt and dried fruits and seeds.
A Lunch of Liberty
We enjoyed our lunch at The Flats in the form of a Great American Cookout! A buffet of options were available to the campers, including hot dogs, sausage rolls, minced beef, baked beans, salads, and watermelon. For dessert we enjoyed a camp favorite, red velvet cookies with white and dark chocolate chips.
A Dinner of Justice
Dinner was definitely needed to refuel our energy after an enjoyable day of running around, having fun and spreading joy. We had barbecued spicy chicken, mac n cheese, fried okra, and fresh homemade bread rolls. The salad bar offered us our fresh veggies, hummus, and fruits as well as, the great alternative for extra sustenance, beans and rice. For dessert, we had rice krispy treats with blue, white and red sprinkles.
Firework Celebration
We ended the day in the perfect way. Celebrating together under the stars. We enjoyed a popsicle treat while waiting for the beautiful fireworks show to begin!
Then all at once, the night sky was lit up with an array of colors, blue, red, gold, green. It was absolutely magnificent, the perfect way to end off a wonderful day of celebration.
Everyone was gathered together, all sharing the same experience, in awe of the beauty lighting up the night sky.
Happy 4th of July.
