Great Day, Super Campers, and What a Session!
Dear Parents and Friends,
We just finished our Friendship Campfire for Session E. What a great time we’ve had and tonight was no exception. We honored the many campers who attended camp for years. As a tradition at our final campfire we honor those who are coming for their 4th and 5th year with a blanket for the 4th year and a wooden plaque for their 5th year. We also honor those staff, SIT’s and campers who’ve gone beyond the 5 year mark. It’s always fun to have them stand and be recognized. Several drama groups performed skits they had written which were all fun. Songs were shared and we finished off the evening with all the staff singing to the campers and Debbie playing “Sheep May Safely Graze” which has been a part of campfire for many, many years. It’s a beautiful song and if you linger after the end of our Closing Campfire you’ll hear it. It comes after the staff sing, “May the Road Rise to Meet You”. Hope you’ll linger and listen.
Looking back to an earlier part of our day we started at breakfast with homemade cinnamon rolls made by Chef Megan and her staff. She’s the head pastry chef at Johnson & Wales Culinary School in Charlotte. Our breads and desserts have been phenomenal this summer. After a long day yesterday and Tajar Ball everyone was pretty sleepy this morning. Campers in Echo slept until after the wakeup bell rang and staff had to wake them up. I’m sure other cabins were in the same boat. We also finished up our Discovery Days this morning and all activities were putting the finishing touches on the skills that were taught. After lunch and announcements we started to pack and each cabin checked in at the pool for afternoon swims, aka (pillowcase day).
Mountainside had their MS Challenge where they bike, climb, canoe and build fires for time. They raced against the Mountainside staff and won. Riverside went tubing today, a throwback to their time in Main Camp. It was the perfect day for it.
Tomorrow when you arrive your children will be waiting for you in the cabins. At 10:30 there will be a cabin friendship circle where all can join in. We do these each night and check in with campers to find out how their day has been. It allows staff to see how the children are doing since they only see them at morning wake-up, rest hour, before and after meals and bedtime. Our days are full and it’s a good way to learn about the children’s experiences. After the friendship circle there is our program in the Lodge at 11:00 for parents, friends and campers. You can stay and enjoy a wonderful GV lunch at noon if you like.
Thank you for sharing your children with us these past 8 days. We’ve had a wonderful session and hope to see all of these children back again next summer. Be sure and look for the evaluation I talked about last night. We would love your input and feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to help us keep Gwynn Valley an outstanding program. It’s been a great session and a great group of children. I can’t think of a better way to end our summer and I hate to see it come to an end. We had a blast with our E session and I’m sure they will look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Safe travels and stay tuned!