Today was our second-to-last day of camp, and the hottest day yet. We had a breakfast of English muffins, orange slices, and cereal before our regular morning schedule. Many campers were notified that they had fulfilled the necessary requirements of their swimming or boating levels and had passed! Others will hear the news tomorrow. While some campers will remain in the same level, it is important to realize that everyone has improved tremendously and should be very proud! Since supper tonight was banquet, we had a lighter lunch. Egg salad, tuna, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the options, along with carrot sticks, chips, and applesauce. Dessert was refreshing lime Italian ice.
We had an extended General Swim to stay cool in the afternoon before Activity Period. Activites today included ultimate frisbee, an archery tournament, and the usual favorites of jumping off the tower and aquarium games.
Supper tonight started at 6:30 in order to give the kitchen extra time to prepare the meal. We had our flag lowering and cabin inspection winners- cabins 1, 4, and 6 won today! Then, everyone went into the upper lodge for our traditional end-of-session banquet. Normally, the tables are moved off the porch and inside the upper lodge so that the whole camp is sitting together inside the upper lodge, but today, given the weather, everyone ate at their usual tables in the ordinary style. However, the Thanksgiving-like meal was just as special! Everyone enjoyed the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, and bread. Dessert was a choice between chocolate caramel crunch and cookie dough ice cream--delicious! After the meal, everyone moved outside to the council ring, where it was a little breezier. Here, we sang songs and gave out year awards. The LT's received their traditional staff clipboards as their awards. They did a great job this session; we are all so thankful for their hard work! After awards, we had our candlelight ceremony. Each camper received a candle, and cabins came down to the lake one by one to put their candle into the water. One exemplary camper from each cabin was chosen to read a passage about light from the Old Testament as their cabin's candles were lit. The candles looked beautiful floating in the lake! From the start of the ceremony until tomorrow morning, campers will have a night without talking, giving them quiet time to reflect on their two weeks and camp, and how camp may have been a light in their lives. Everyone has made new friends, learned new things, and become a better person. It has been a great session!
Until tomorrow,
-the Birch Blogger