“B” Session Opening and More!
Dear Parents and Friends,
Opening Day for B Session was awesome. We had cool weather in morning fading in the perfect afternoon to hold swim assessments and get into activities right off the bat. Everyone attended lunch and then it was off to the Lodge to choose activities for Discoveries this week. This is important because there is so much offered in the morning and in the afternoon. Over the course of 6 days of Discovery, they have 4 activities in the morning and two different ones each afternoon. For those new to GV, morning sign-ups are for building skills and afternoons more for the experience, possibly adding to those skills and trying new things. activities that were open in Main Camp this afternoon were as follows: Pottery, Sports, Fine Arts, Mill, Horses, Crafts, Swimming, Camping Skills and Nature, Climbing, and Farm. Activities just for today were pre-assigned and get children right into the flow and tomorrow we start on the choices they made today. Afternoon activities vary each day and everyone chooses two one hour activities or one 2 hour activities. 95% of the afternoon activities are one hour.
Tonight’s dinner was noodles and alfredo sauce along with broccoli and salad from our farm and a giant cookie for each table in the dining room. Campers sit as cabin groups until tomorrow at lunch and then we all go to different tables and you get a chance with folks that are not in your cabin. After dinner, there were after supper activities and then a camp-wide scavenger hunt for cabins to experience as a group and work on bonding with one another.
Mountainside had their closing ceremony tonight and Anne went up to the MS shelter to honor them and their time at GV. Several of those campers have been at camp for as many as 8 years. What a great crew up on Mountainside and also a great staff. Hat’s off to the staff for putting together such a great session. We stuck around for the MS skits which you may see tomorrow if you’re an MS parent. They, as always, were funny and goofy. You can tell that the overall has group has bonded as well as the cabin and adventure groups. That is truly what camp is all about. Thank you for sharing your Mountainside campers with us for the last 10 days. I think they’ve had a great experience and wonderful adventures. We look forward to having them back next year either back on Mountainside or in our Riverside program. Riversiders will spend their second day on the river tomorrow and will head back to the Green for a longer and more thorough moving water experience.
As morning activities kick off tomorrow know that your children are in a place where they are accepted and cared for in partnership with you as parents. This is our 83rd year of camping and many more to follow. Camp takes children to a new level of community life that is hard to beat. Campers have a chance to make choices and become independent in their time with us. Camp creates a sense of confidence and resilience. Camp also offers a sense of belonging to something that is greater than oneself where we still practice the GV values of simplicity, acceptance, a strong connection to the natural world and in a non-competitive setting. We’re looking forward to a session of the simple joys of childhood for the days ahead. Stay tuned!
