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Spirit Days!

August 3rd, 2018

Tuesday seemed like any other “A” Day. We left the Dining Hall after breakfast, ready to head back to the cabins before clean up, Morning Cove and first period. But our CITs let us know this would be no ordinary “A” Day. At that moment, they decided to kick off Spirit Days 2018! For the next two days and evenings, the Blue Sharks and Green Gators took to the fields to compete in the friendliest of competitions. From their very first summer, campers look forward to the day their CIT group has the opportunity to break and run Spirit Days, compete in KAOS (BTW, one of the closest ever), pass on the passion and set the standard for future CIT groups. It was truly a Spirit Days for the ages, and in the end the winning team was…Laurel South! We all had a marvelous time testing our skills in competition, and we were so excited to finally reunite as one camp family.

While we loved the competition, we truly left it all out on the fields. The next day, we fell right into our program schedule, well-rested and ready to tackle the day. Our 5-Year Club had an amazing time on their morning excursion! Our 7th Graders are spending the day at Ogunquit Beach where they’ll see some of Maine’s most beautiful coastline. Our campers in Adventure spent the morning at the Maine Wildlife Park. Inter-camp games and tournaments are cranking, and we have a lot left to look forward to: Moose Bowl…Theater Shows…Rocket Launches…Funtown…Carnival…the list is endless! Until next time, we hope your day is as beautiful as it always is in the state of Maine!

The Half-Way Point

July 31st, 2018

Can it really be that we are officially half way through the session?  It seems like just yesterday we arrived, but the sounds of cheering and laughter from the ballfields to the Theater, Crescent Lake to the Equestrian Center, Adventure to Culinary lets us know that we are having another truly spectacular Laurel South summer! 

Yesterday was our first In-Camp “S” Day, and Brad once again hit it out of the park with our now annual Resort Day!  After a delicious continental breakfast and elective morning (including those awesome Bumper Tube rides on the lake) our campers had the opportunity to compete in the Tough Moose Obstacle Race (similar to a Tough Mudder competition), and everyone who participated had a blast!  The afternoon was filled with Saco/Kineo berry picking, a Baxter/Allagash Waterfront Party and special events for Rangeley and Katahdin, followed by boat tours of Crescent Lake.  Our CIT’s spent the day on their Magical Mystery Bus tour, and visited  sites all around Portland.  They had such an amazing day, and they were thrilled to be back home.

At Laurel South, we always accentuate the positives, so we choose to not look at the session as being half over; we look at it as being half full of amazing experiences:  Spirit Days…Theater Shows…Funtown…Carnival…Moose Bowl…Final Banquet, etc.  We’ve got so many things left to look forward to, especially making new friends and building memories that will warm our hearts all year long. 

One Week Down…So Much Left to be Done!

July 27th, 2018

What an amazing first week we had! After our first “A” and “B” Day rotations, we celebrated our first “S” Day. Saco and Kineo made some waves at Splashtown USA, Allagash and Baxter made some more waves at Aquaboggan and our incredible 7th Graders had a ball at Old Orchard Beach. Everyone came back with smiles on their faces, stories to tell and memories that will last a lifetime! We were so glad to welcome back our 8th Graders from Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, as well as our CITs from their White Water Rafting trip. We love that they are able to see some of the most beautiful sites in the country, but we miss them while they’re gone. We’re always so happy to have the entire Laurel South family reunited!

While we’ve already done so much, there’s still so much left to look forward to: Spirit Days…Rocket Launches…Theater Shows…Intercamps…Funtown…Carnival…Resort Day…the list never ends! As always, we’ll keep you updated in future blogs about all the wonderful goings-on in Casco. And remember…It’s always a beautiful day in the State of Maine!

Let the Good Times Roll…

July 25th, 2018

Can it really be that we’re still in the first week? From all the action going on, you’d never guess it! We’ve already had our first “A” and “B” Day rotation. Form the Fields to the Stables…the Theater to the Waterfront…Adventure to Culinary, the sounds of children laughing, singing and cheering fill the air!

 

 

Just this morning, our incredible CIT group departed for their White Water Rafting trip on the Kennebec River! Not to be outdone, our 8th Graders have taken off for Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! Tomorrow is our first “S” Day of the summer, and after our amazing S-Day breakfast, each group will depart on their own excursions! Each day is packed with fun and excitement at Laurel South, and we can’t wait to keep you updated in future blogs. Until then, rest assured that it’s always a beautiful day in the state of Maine!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

July 20th, 2018

For the past 11 months we’ve been waiting and counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds. And yesterday, it was here!  What a fantastic Arrival Day we had! With each car, bus and van that pulled into camp, our summer family was reunited. We were giddy with excitement as we met at Evening Cove and Roger officially kicked off the summer with his trademark, “What a beautiful day in the state of Maine today!!”  After a wonderful cookout dinner, each campus spent the evening playing games and bonding before heading back to cabins for some quality time before getting a well-deserved good night’s sleep.

Today is our Moose Stomp Day, a mixture of photos combined with super fun activities like making s’mores at the outpost and bumper tubing on Crescent Lake. Tonight, schedules will be set, and we can’t wait to jump right into first period program tomorrow! This evening is our Opening Ceremony Council Fire, celebrating fun and friendship. We may have just arrived, but we are jumping in right from the start. We’ll make every day count as we look forward to: Moose Bowl…”S” Days…Rocket Launches…Theater Shows…Saco/Kineo IC periods…Intercamp games and Tournaments…Spirit Days…the list goes on and on! We’ll keep you updated in future blogs. Until then, rest assured it’s always a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!

The “Home” Stretch…

July 13th, 2018

Where did the time go?  It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming everyone to their summer home, and yet here we are preparing for our Final “A” and “B” Days of the session.

We’ve had quite a few days. Moose Bowl was another instant classic with the Black Bears taking an early lead and holding of the Rattle Snakes’ late push. Wednesday night was our Laurel South production of “Peter Pan”.  Everyone involved in the show had an awesome time, and the audience showed their appreciation for the efforts. Yesterday, the entire camp ventured to Funtown USA for a day filled with rides, games, food and laughter. Tonight is the production of “High School Musical.” Our activity areas are all preparing for culminating activities.  Tomorrow night is Final Banquet, with Closing Ceremonies on Sunday night.

To all of the parents who will be joining us on Departure Day, we can’t wait to see you as you reunite with your campers! To all of our parents, thank you so much for the faith you’ve placed in us. We understand how much trust you put in us each summer to take care of your children for a month, and we don’t take that lightly! We may only have three days left, but we plan on making it the best three days yet!!!

One Week to Go

July 10th, 2018

As we enter our final week of the session, we can’t help but look back on all the amazing moments we’ve shared at camp. Spirit Days was once again one for the ages!  We had a blast at our annual Laurel South Carnival: singing, dancing, playing games, dunking our favorite Campus Leaders, eating at the cookout and enjoying cotton candy and snow cones. Our 8th Graders had a ball on their trip to North Conway, while our 6th Grade girls were excited to go on their overnight camping trip as well! 

One might think that we’re now coasting down the home-stretch, but nothing could be further from the truth! Tonight is our Moose Bowl, pitting the Black Bears vs. The Rattle Snakes. After our Tailgate cookout, we’ll sing the National Anthem, concluding with campers launching their rockets high into the night sky. And our talented Dance class campers have worked so hard for the halftime show. We can’t wait.! We’ll also have the Slingshot Shirt Give-Aways, S’mores for some lucky cabins and a night to celebrate Laurel South Spirit!

Looking ahead, we still have: two phenomenal Theater Shows…Funtown…Final Banquet…Closing Ceremonies…the list goes on and on! So, while one week doesn’t seem like much time, we’ll keep packing in those activities and embracing those chances to make new friends and create memories that will last a lifetime!

The Days of Spirit!

July 6th, 2018

There was a rumbling heard this week that could be heard from all over camp. We thought that each campus’s morning cove must have been extraordinarily enthusiastic. We stepped outside to see what all of the commotion was about, only to find our CITs breaking Spirit Days!

For the next two days and nights, the Blue Sharks and Green Gators took to the fields to compete in the friendliest of competitions. For their entire camp careers, campers look forward to the day their CIT group has the opportunity to break and run Spirit Days, compete in KAOS (BTW, one of the closest ever) and pass on this passion and set the standard for future CIT groups. It was truly a Spirit Days for the ages, and in the end the winning team was…Laurel South! We had a great time testing our skills in competition, and we were so excited to finally reunite as one camp family.

As Spirit Days closed on July 4th, we ended with the best fireworks show anywhere! The next day, we fell right into regular program, well-rested from a one-hour sleep-in, and tackled the day. Our 5-Year Club had an amazing time on their morning excursion!

Our 7th Graders headed to their day trip to Ogunquit Beach today where they get to see some of Maine’s most beautiful waterfront. Inter-camp games and tournaments are resuming, and we have a lot left to look forward to:  Moose Bowl…Theater Shows…Rocket Launches…Funtown…Carnival…the list seems endless!

 

Until next time, we hope your day is as beautiful as it always is in the state of Maine!!

The Half Way Point

July 3rd, 2018

 

As we reach the half way point of the session, the fun, friendships and memories continue to grow each day!  The Ball Fields, Equestrian Center, Theater, Culinary Studio and Crescent Lake are all filled with the sounds of cheering, singing and laughter.

Yesterday was our first In-Camp “S” Day, and Brad did an incredible job putting together our now annual Resort Day.  After a delicious continental breakfast and elective morning (including those awesome Bumper Tube rides on the lake) our campers had the opportunity to compete in the Tough Moose Obstacle Race (similar to a Tough Mudder competion), and everyone who participated had a blast!  The afternoon was filled with Saco/Kineo Olmpics, a Baxter/Allagash Waterfont Party and special events for Rangeley and Katahdin.  Our CIT’s spent the day on their Magical Mystery Bs tour, where they went to many sites around Portland and even saw a Portland Seadogs baseball game (Tim Tebow was playing for the visiting team and gave the campers a wave!)

We always look at the positives at Laurel South, so we choose to not look at the session as being half over; we look at it as being half full of amazing experiences: Spirit Days…Theater Shows…Funtown…Carnival…etc. We’ve got so many things still to look forward to, especially making new friends and building memories that will last a lifetime!!!

What a Week!

June 29th, 2018

Wow, the summer moves quickly! We may have just finished our first week, but you’d never know it by the amount of fun we’ve already had! We were so glad to welcome back our 8th Graders and CITs last night. The 8th Graders had a great time camping at Acadia National Park and visiting Bar Harbor, while the CITs had a blast white water rafting on the Kennebec River! We love that our campers have a chance to see some of the most beautiful spots in Maine. Our first “S Day” was amazing, as each campus had a unique trip throughout Maine. Saco and Kineo conquered Spashtown, USA…Baxter and Allagash spent the day at Aquaboggan…and our 7th Graders toured Old Orchard Beach. Everyone had an amazing time!

Roger and Dagni truly enjoyed dinner last night with our 7-Year Club. Dinner was great, but sharing memories, laughing and telling stories was the best part of the night! There is so much more coming…4th of July, 7th Grade’s Camden State Park excursion, Spirit Days, Moose Bowl, Theater Shows, Rocket Launches…the list goes on and on! As you can see, each day at camp is jam packed with fun, and we’ll keep you updated in future blogs. Until then, it’s always a beautiful day in the state of Maine!