Celebrations and Dignitaries Make a GV Appearance

Dear Parents and Friends,

Lots of sun and some rain were a part of our day here at GV.  A thunderstorm rolled in just near the end of rest hour this afternoon and we had to hunker down in our cabins for a while before afternoon activities started.  Our Thorguard Lightening System gave us fair warning and kept us safe until the coast was clear.  It was our second day of Discovery for the morning activities and the second day of signups for the afternoon.  Campers were doing lots of “firsts” today as they learned to tie their knots for climbing, playing real flag football (with true flags on your belt), being up close and personal with a very large horse, tye dying their first T-shirt, shelling corn the old fashioned way, working on firebuilding skills and a plethora of other activities.

Oh, and by the way, today is UK day here at camp, celebrating all the countries that make up our mother country.  We started the day off with a grand battle between Scotland and England which certainly has some history with Scotland’s independence.  The battle didn’t last long as a soccer style ref drew a yellow and red card, which didn’t quite seem appropriate and then drew a G V tie card that seemed to make everyone feel better.  The G V tie is an inside joke here at camp.  You can ask your children about it later.  All through the day, we had appearances by the Queen herself and other royal subjects.  Anne and I were both impressed that she took time out of her busy schedule to come to Gwynn Valley.  We do, however, have several of her subjects working here with us this summer.  The food was outstanding throughout the day and dinner was showcasing chicken marsala with rice and sticky toffee pudding for dessert with other assorted side dishes.   Campfire in the Lodge tonight was active and fun with lots of music, skits and everyone involved.  Several famous UK standouts showed up for tonight’s show including Elton, The Spice Girls, One Direction and Harry Potter.  Harry used his wand to bring everyone back to reality after a festive evening.

I try my best to get out into the program as much as possible.  I watched as Camping Skills and Nature tried to get fires going this afternoon after a rain came through.  There wasn’t a dry piece of wood within 10 miles of camp.  The campers gave it a valiant effort but it just wasn’t meant to be.  They will have to learn to be more selective about wood choices and learning how to nurture that small but dynamic flame and keep it alive.

Fabulous creations are coming out of Arts and Crafts each day and many thanks to Tamara, who has been with us for many years and is our artist in residence here.  She is amazing with her creations but more so in working with campers to have them create some of their own ideas and projects.   I think the creative juices really flow in our nature existence here.  We see so much beauty around us that inspires and certainly makes us think deeper about our dreams and imaginations.  It’s good for the soul and what’s good for the soul is usually good all around.  Stay tuned!