Special Day & More!
Dear Parents & Friends,
A great day at GV for our first “Special Day” of the summer. We started the day with a sleep in till 8:30 and a 9:00 breakfast which everyone was thankful for. It’s appropriate on this thankful day and we just finished up our Vespers Service about 10 minutes ago. More on that later….. Special Day’s theme was Board Games and we had about every board game you can imagine. Battleships where counselors were bombarded by wet sponges and campers were subs that could torpedo their boats. There was also giant Tic-Tac-Toe played with real people and of course Pictionary where you draw or act out your word or words. The most unusual game of Beachball Volleyball I’ve ever seen and thought up by one of our creative staff. There was Chutes and Ladders which was very interesting that I had never seen before. Campers could go to any game they wanted and had about 20 minutes at each game. You could go to a possible 6 games in the time frame that we had. Some rotated to as many as possible and some gravitated back to their favorites.
Lunch was chicken pot pie with vegis from the garden and then we had singing in the Lodge and an extended rest hour. Everyone enjoyed that and just after our Lodge time just before rest hour ended we had a pretty good shower. As always at camp we had plan B in case of rain so we extended rest hour a bit more for campers to change their sheets and take showers in anticipation of tonight’s Vespers. With thunder on the horizon we showed a quick movie called “The Secret World of Arrietty” which many campers have seen. Everyone enjoyed the leisurely atmosphere in the Lodge and a chance to catch up on some rest. It’s a full week here and Sunday’s are perfect for this activity level. Everyone needed some good rest and a chance to do a little cabin bonding. Usually in the evenings we’re back at the cabin and off to bed so it was good to spend some “unstructured free play” with our cabins. Dinner tonight was burgers and dogs and all the trimmings.
After supper we took cabin photos and that is always a challenge and fun at the same time. I’ve often thought what it would be like to be a professional photographer and take children’s pictures, trying to get them to be still, smile, stand in the right place, no bunny ears or funny faces. We want the cabin photos to be something that can last a lifetime. We do have a funny picture that we take of the group for each cabin and that helps. When you’re reeling off one cabin after another and keeping all those boys and girls still it takes a team. Everyone wants to hold the sign and no one wants to be on the first row and everyone else wants to stand next to their counselor. It’s quite comical and actually I love it. Most of the time our camp photographer takes the photos but she was off tonight and I’ve done it for many years.
Vespers tonight was great with guitars, songs and poems relating to our theme of thankfulness and simplicity. I talked at the end about one of my favorite characters from the Toy Story movies – Buzz Lightyear. I think there are some great lessons that we can take from Buzz that will help us succeed in real life.
High Self-Worth – a lengthy part of the first movie is Woody trying to convince Buzz that he is not the “real” Buzz Lightyear, but a child toy. I love a positive attitude in the camp setting! Buzz has a great can-do attitude and belief in himself. Focus on what you can do and do it great! Limitless Thinking – “To infinity and beyond!” Now here is a guy who is not bound by what others think. In fact, not only is he going to the end (infinity) he is going beyond. In reality this statement makes no sense, but this positive attitude toward what ever challenges he may face is contagious. What is it that might be in the way of your limitless thinking? If you aren’t a Buzz thinker, be sure to find one and hope that it is contagious. Falling With Style – when Buzz is first introduced in the first movie he gets into an argument with Woody over whether or not he can fly. Of course with Buzz’s high self worth and limitless thinking the thought that he can’t fly never enters his mind. He attempts and after many acrobatic flips, jumps and gliding he lands perfectly letting everyone around him know that he can fly. Woody tells him that this wasn’t flying, but merely falling with style. I don’t know if you can fly or not in your present place in life, but I do know the next best thing is falling with style! The only way to know if you can fly or fall with style is to take risks, to get out there and make attempts at something. You could say this blog is my attempt at flying (I’m okay if I’m just falling with style).
My prayer to end the Vespers was, God grant us the confidence to try new things and in the process reach for the stars and along the way if we do fail or fall help us to fall with style. Guide us and direct us in all things as we go about our daily lives. Amen and stay tuned!