Summer Days and Weeks at Camp
One of the sayings you will hear our team say during the summer is “The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days.” This couldn’t be more true in session E. It’s crazy to think that while we’re only three days in, we’re also almost halfway through this session. With over half of our campers being new, I’m reminded about all of the simple joys that can be seen and experienced at camp.
Campers got to choose their top 8 morning activities, which we call Discoveries, on Sunday and found out which four they’d alternate between yesterday at breakfast. Listening to the bell ring and watching kids find out where to meet their activity teacher for activities like fly fishing, candle making, archery, climbing, horse riding, and more is such fun! The energy is palpable with campers.
Following some active mornings, our kitchen fed us delicious lunches of sloppy joes and cowboy fries yesterday and chicken gyros, rice, and pita bread today. After lunch, campers washed their hands and headed over to the Lodge to sing. Many of our alumni would recognize the songs we sing, as many
are traditional at this point: Automobile, Don Gato, Inch by Inch, Today I am Alive, Trees, and We Come From the Mountains to name a few. These songs truly are timeless, and it is a joy to watch a new generation of GV campers adopt the lyrics and corresponding gestures.
To add to the specialness of singing in the Lodge this session, we have been joined by GV celebrity and royalty, Debbie – the mastermind and pianist behind many of our traditional songs. Having been involved with camp for 47 years now, just like our songs, Debbie is a timeless pillar of our community here, and we are overjoyed that our E Session campers get to experience her magic.
After singing, campers have been able to watch short skits put on by our illustrious Program Leaders, demonstrating the activities on offer for the afternoon. Just like in the morning, our sign-ups are choice based. Cabins are called up in a rotating order so each individual camper can sign up for the unique activity that speaks to them most.
After delicious dinners of chicken pot pie and pork tenderloins, our cabins either participated in a lively scavenger hunt, did some traditional mountain dancing in the Lodge, or embarked on their overnight campout. With so much to do every day, it’s hard to believe that only three days have passed since parents said “see you soon.” We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
