The Summer Begins – Opening Day at Camp
June 6th is a day that has loomed large on the calendars of our Year-Round Team and seasonal staff for the past 9 months. The first day of camp! It’s the day I look forward to the most all year long. When Gwynn Valley is reinvigorated with the simple joys of childhood and the transformative imagination of campers.
Our Opening Day of A session was a day chock full of excitement and laughter. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather to open camp to. A crisp morning gave way to a sunny, warm day here in the mountains. It was the perfect kind of day to meet a cabin full of new best friends, to chase after Nala on the Green (when she invariably gets the ‘zoomies’), and to jump into the Pool or the Lake for the first time of the summer.
We hopped right into things as soon as our campers had moved in and had lunch! Cabins spent the afternoon rotating through some of our different program areas. Some cabins headed out to the Gatehouse Green to try their hand at archery. Others biked around camp’s many paths. A few cabins got their hands right into the dirt by harvesting vegetables down at the Farm. And many cabins came through our various craft spaces: braiding string into friendship bracelets in Shady Grove, transforming wax into chunk candles in the Bong Tree, and shaping clay into beautiful nametags in our Pottery Shop!
Up on Mountainside, campers decided which adventures they’d give a go this session. With options to try out backpacking, expedition canoeing, whitewater paddling, rock climbing, and mountain biking, these campers have an exciting week ahead of them! Meanwhile our Riversiders spent the day learning climbing skills and packing for an offsite adventure that they’ll head out on tomorrow! Rounding out our Older Programs, the Young Leaders jumped right into some community service by choosing which activity areas they’ll shadow in and helping to set tables for dinner.
After a long day of activities, our campers filed into the Dining Hall where they sat with cabin groups and enjoyed a hearty meal. Every opening day we have pasta bolognese, caprese salad, and garlic bread. And it wouldn’t be Opening Night without a Big Cookie and milk to wash it all down!
We ended the day the way so many sweet days at Gwynn Valley have come to a close over the years: with a quiet Campfire in our Lodge. Campers
learned about the Tajar, celebrated all the places we’ve come from to be here at camp, and were introduced to all of our wonderful Program Leaders that will be running their activities this session. Our cabins headed back to their cabins to the sound of Marty playing “Sheep May Safely Graze” on the piano. Doubtless their minds will be filled with all the amazing memories they made today as they drift off to sleep.
If today’s opening was anything to go by, we’re in for a fun, adventurous, and community-filled summer here in the Cove. We’re so excited to share this place and all that it has to teach with all of our campers.
