Sunday at Camp – What a Special Day
Every Sunday at camp, when it’s not an opening day, is “Special Day” and today was very special despite the rain! The theme today was Disney. Campers moved around camp participating in different activity stations with their cabin groups. We had games consisting of relay races, balancing on a barrel in the lake, paddling on the lake, balloon games, bracelet making and other fun activities. We also played some bingo in the dining hall this afternoon with lots of GV swag for prizes. Our Young Leaders took on a big role helping with Special Day and also planned and led our game of Pandemonium which was last night’s evening program. They are such a great group of young people and we look forward to having them join us as staff in the future. After dinner we enjoyed after supper activities consisting of basketball, friendship bracelets, wading in the creek, Tajar spotting, Thunderball, soccer, and some other fun games. 
Our Older Programs all had a busy day as well. Mountainside and Riverside both left camp for their 4 day adventures. Riverside has already spent 8 days paddling and climbing and will spend their final 4 days in the field backpacking on the Art Loeb Trail. Mountainside is split into 5 different groups and these campers have been working hard to prepare for their overnight trip that will last 4 days as well. Climbers are headed to Linville Gorge, with a day in Rumbling Bald to get them started. Bikers will spend the whole time in Dupont, with over 100 miles of incredible trails to explore! Canoers went to the Tuckaseegee today and will spend the next 3 days paddling rivers across WNC. The Mountainside backpackers are in Pisgah National Forest, and the Expedition Canoers did a section of the French Broad River. We look forward to hearing about their adventures when they return to camp on Wednesday! 
Despite some threatening storms in the distance, the weather today wasn’t as wet as expected. We had a dry but cool morning and some rain this afternoon. Our paddlers on the Tuckaseegee got a lot of rain but wore their paddling jackets and stayed warm. Grant went with them and he said they did really well. It is exciting to see some of our Mountainsiders learning to whitewater kayak which is new for the Mountainside program.
We closed our evening with a wonderful Sunday Service where we celebrated the theme of “Let Your Light Shine”. We had a couple of cabins share songs, a few poems read, and one camper played the Ukrainian National Anthem on the piano. It was a lovely way to close our day. We also enjoyed Debbie’s beautiful music and the song she taught us. It was a very welcome early night for our campers. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will leave everyone energized for another exciting week of discoveries, activities, and adventures! 
