It’s hard to believe that we’re down to the final week of the 2016 camp season. A lot has happened since our last post. The 8th Graders had an incredible trip to North Conway, the 6th Grade girls had their own amazing overnight camping trip, Roger had a fabulous time at dinner in Naples with the 7 Year Club, and the 5 Year Club enjoyed their movie morning!
There may be little time left, but there is no shortage of excitement on the horizon! We’re eagerly anticipating Moose Bowl tonight. The idea to take a simple flag football game for our Rangeley boys and turn it into an all camp spectacle has grown every year. From the tailgate cook-out dinner, to the campers singing the National Anthem (ending with campers firing rockets into the air), the halftime show performed by our amazing camper dances, the tee-shirt slingshot, the cheering…it has truly become a Laurel South favorite! Our thespians have been working hard for Friday’s performance of Shrek, the Musical. And we still await Funtown, Final Banquet and all of our culminating activities.
It seems like just yesterday we were greeting all of our campers. Today, we have hit the midway point of the session. We’ve had so many great times and still so much to look forward to.
We had a wonderful Arrival Day and Opening Ceremony…The 6th Grade Boys, Seventh & Eighth Graders had amazing overnight camping trips…The CIT’s had a blast White Water Rafting…Intercamp games and tournaments have been humming…Counselor Hunt remains an Evening Program favorite…Culinary Classes have satisfied our palates…Carnival was awesome…And we’re just getting started!
We have so much to look forward to in the two weeks to come. When Spirit Days will break is anyone’s guess…Moosebowl is coming up…Sixth Grade girls are going camping…our Eighth Graders will venture to North Conway…our incredible production of Shrek, the Musical is coming up…Funtown…the list goes on and on!
We’ve already had a great summer, and the best is yet to come!
What an amazing beginning to the 2016 season we’ve had! After an awesome Arrival and Moose Stomp Day, we began our normal “A” and “B” Program Days on Saturday. All around camp – from the Ballfields to the Waterfront, the Culinary Center to the Riding Arenas…the sounds of campers cheering, singing and laughing fills the air!
This morning, our 8th Grade campers took off for Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. At the same time, our outstanding group of CIT’s head out to white-water raft on the Kennebec River. These 3 day, 2 night trips offer our campers a chance to see some of Maine’s (and our nation’s) most beautiful destinations. While we will miss them greatly, we can’t wait to hear the stories about all of the good times they had!
Everyone’s excited for their first “S” Day of the session tomorrow! Each group has their own thrilling trip planned — a perfect day for a break as we complete our first week together.
We may have just begun, but the good times are already rolling in Casco!!!
How quickly a session can fly by? It seems like yesterday we were greeting our campers, creating our schedules and starting First Session. In what seems like the blink of an eye, we enter our final week. We’ve shared so many good times and created so many memories, but the final week has much more in store!
The 5-Year Club enjoyed their special morning trip this week. We also brought in a professional Fly Fishing instructor to teach advanced lessons for those who had already done the beginner’s course at LL Bean. We aim to be a top Fly Fishing destination for campers who want to learn and perfect their craft! The 8th Graders spent an amazing two days in beautiful North Conway, New Hampshire. They had a blast! Intercamp games and tournaments allowed our campers to compete against friends from our neighboring camps. Last night was another awesome Council Fire. And the list goes on and on.
Everyone is pumped for the 6th Annual Moose Bowl this evening. We still have our all-camp trip to Funtown on the horizon. Before you know it, we’ll have our Final Banquet, Final Social, Final Council Fire and complete our First Session.
While we’re sad to see the session starting to come to an end, we’ll be forever grateful for the memories made, friendships built and all of the wonderful times we have spent together!!!
Wednesday morning started out like any other “B” Day. Everyone came to breakfast excited for the day. Little did they know how much excitement they were in for. In unison, our incredible CIT’s removed their sweatshirts and sweatpants to reveal their Blue and Green clothing hidden until just the right moment.
That’s right, Spirit Days 2016 had broken!!! For the next two days, the Blue Jedis and the Green Wizards battled it out in the friendliest of competitions. From the ballfields to the waterfront everyone had a blast! The cheers seemed endless, the plaques made by our campers were awesome, and the CIT’s set the tone for everyone. We even had one of the closest KAOS races ever.
When it was all over and the echoes of the final cheers faded in the night sky, Adam read the poem which revealed the Spirit Day winner. In the end, the winning team was…Laurel South, because everyone enjoyed their Spirit Days and were excited to reunite as one camp family.
We’ve passed the midway point of the summer, but there is still plenty of fun on the horizon! Stay tuned for future updates.
Five days may seem like a short time in the “real world”, but at camp it’s amazing how action-packed that time can be! We have already finished our first two “A” and “B” Days. Intercamp games are in full swing. The cheers from the ballfields, the laughter from the Art Center and the smells from the Culinary Studio are all signs that say we’ve had an outstanding beginning to the 2016 summer at Laurel South!
The 6th grade boys had a blast on the first overnight camping trip of the summer. Our CIT’s headed off to the Kennebec River for an incredible White Water Rafting Trip and our 8th Graders headed out for their overnight trip to picturesque Acadia National Park. We always miss them when they depart, but we can’t wait to hear all their stories upon return.
Tomorrow will be our first “S” Day of the summer! After our traditional “S” Day breakfast, Saco and Kineo are off to Splashtown USA, Baxter and Allagash will head to Aquaboggan and our 7th Graders will spend the day at Old Orchard Beach. These trips are designed to add variety to the schedule and allow our campers to explore some of the beauty that Maine has to offer.
As you can see, we are in full swing, and the action never ends!
Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd!
Baseball…generations of American tradition, all wrapped up in one game. Much like camp, baseball is something that many take for granted as a part of our childhood. It should come as no surprise that baseball is one of camp’s most anticipated activities, but what is it that makes baseball so special?
The Thinking Person’s Sport
Everyone has their theories, but here’s one that seems particularly insightful: baseball, like camp, requires a good amount of thought. The strategy is different from games like football or basketball — where the game is a series of split second decisions. Baseball requires more planning for the future and half the game is spent between plays. Like many things in life, the game is all about anticipation. Baseball teaches campers to think ahead. As it turns out, the anticipation is often just as fun as the event itself.
Taking the Time to Learn
The leisurely pace of baseball makes it well-suited for players of all abilities. While the sport requires concentration and focus, it’s also a slower game, allowing for a better learning curve. Beginners can take their time and learn all the game’s nuances, while experts can continue to perfect their craft. Everyone has the ability to enjoy.
Room to Breath
Everyone needs a little room to breathe playing sports or in everyday life. While at camp you don’t have to be doing something every single second of the day in order to have a great time. Baseball is very similar. Sometimes the game is action-packed, but sometimes it’s someone else’s turn — and that’s a good thing. Not only are you going to be able to cheer on your teammate, but you’ll be able to use that time to get ready for your turn.
…and when your turn comes, we know that you’ll shine!
Thinking about what you’ll be doing this summer? If you loved camp as a kid and are too old to be a camper, think about applying to be a counselor! Afterall, a successful camp depends greatly on its staff.
Being a counselor is the toughest job you’ll ever love! You’re there to work, most likely harder than you ever have in your life. You’re also there to connect with campers and fellow counselors…form friendships and make memories!
Get ready to be excited about everything!Campers will feed off of your energy! You’re their role model for the summer, so remember that your campers are always watching you to see your reactions. If you’re excited, chances are they’ll be excited too (even about laundry). Make it fun!
At camp, time moves quickly! When you arrive for Staff Orientation in June, you’ll find yourself thinking “August is so far away…I have plenty of time!” The next thing you know it’s the end of July! It’s important to be present and live in the moment. It’s the best way to make the most out of your experience over the summer!
Prepare to be enthusiastic about everything! From making the best friendship bracelets to playing others in Ping Pong, everything you do will be weirdly competitive. Enjoy it as this is one of the ways your group shows pride!
Expect to leave camp a changed person in some way! The summer will have a profound impact on you; the way you live your life, what you care about, and the way you see others. You may not even realize it, but a summer at camp will change you for the better!
It was midway through the third week of summer camp when I suddenly realized I didn’t know what day it was.
…Or what week it was.
You know what the craziest part is? That didn’t make me feel stressed at all! On the contrary, I hadn’t been so happy in months.
After all, who has time to balance a calendar when you’re spending all day and night away from the computer, playing games in the sun and making new friends?
Summer camp has a way of making you “live in the moment” — so much so that losing track of time is totally normal. In fact, it’s pretty much expected by campers and counselors alike.
After a long school year of classes, homework and tests, let me tell you: it’s an incredible feeling to just let it all go.
“Live in the moment” may be a common piece of advice, but truth be told it’s a difficult nugget of wisdom to follow without practice. Back home, the phone was always ringing, the deadlines were always looming, and the stakes always felt high. It wasn’t until I started spending my summers at camp that I started to understand what “living in the moment” really meant.
…It didn’t mean throwing my phone in the lake, or not worrying about grades. It meant simply being okay with my best try — keeping my mind on the task at hand, rather than always worrying about the next one.
Camp is the perfect place to practice living in the moment, because there is simply less to worry about. It’s hard to think about the past or future when the present is packed with activities, sports, campfires, and all the rest.
So you see, losing track of time at summer camp is pretty understandable!
However, this isn’t to say that anybody is disorganized. Far from it; if anything, camp will improve your time management skills and help you get used to staying on schedule. The big difference is that everybody is in it together, and it’s not the end of the world if somebody is late once in awhile. Nothing encourages being on time quite like the activity you’re rushing to that’s so much fun!
There were many days that I spent on my feet running around for 12-15 hours straight, and yet it always felt like there just wasn’t enough time in the day. The saying “time is relative” is definitely accurate at summer camp. If time is crawling during an SAT prep test, then it’s flying when you’re at camp, taking a first shot at wakeboarding!
Honestly, the only date any of us worried about was the end of camp, when we’d all have to pack up our things and embark on our journeys back home. Leaving camp is always bittersweet, but we all left with a profound new outlook on life. We learned what it truly meant to “live in the moment,” and it’s a lesson I’ll never forget. Thank you camp!
