Hip-Hip Hooray, It is Banquet Thursday!! Banquet Day is always a great day at Camp Ast0-Wamah. Campers awoke today excited to start the day before them! They dined on waffles, with peanut butter and maple syrup ( a camp tradition). They also had their usual choice of cereal along with orange juice/hot chocolate. They proceeded with their usual morning classes, although counselors started to decide who had mastered the required skills over the two week session and were ready to pass into the next level. All the campers have worked very hard and even if they haven't passed their current level yet, they should feel proud of all they have accomplished in such a short time frame.
Dinner today was assorted sandwiches. Campers got to choose from peanut butter and jelly, tuna fish, and egg salad sandwiches. They then went to rest hour while the candlelight reader received a passage of The Bible to read at tonight's banquet. The candlelight reader is a camper chosen from their cabin to read a special verse about the goodness of light. This selected camper has demonstrated to their counselors that they are a responsible, helpful, mature, and considerate camper.
The rest hour ended at 3pm but due to the overcast the campers had some extra cabin time to plan out a cabin song they would sing at Banquet tonight. All the campers in the cabins came up with new lyrics to the tune of a camp song. All of camp then went to play a game on the field. The came was called "All around town". The camp was split into two teams, one team was in the field while the other was lined up, as close to one another as possible. A camper from hilltop, lakeside, and seniors was picked each round from the lined up team, to kick the dodgeball to the team in the field. The kicker then, ran around the entire team as many times as possible to score points for their team, while the team in the field caught the ball and lined up as well. The team in the field lined up so they could pass the ball down the line, through the legs of every team member. When the ball reached the end of the line, the whistle was blown and the runner had to stop. It is a quick and exhilarating game.
The campers then went to a shortened fourth period and then a shortened activity period before the banquet supper. Campers dressed in their least wrinkled shirts, many in the camp colors (green and white). Guests of Center Church and Camp Asto Wamah joined the festivities this evening. Banquet is always the second Thursday meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, gravy, and mints. Many campers have been counting down the days till banquet since they arrived! They had Shady Glen ice cream for dessert! Tonight's ice cream choices were chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate caramel crunch! YUM! The campers then cleared their tables in the upper lodge and sang some camp songs and then each cabin stood up and sang the cabin song they wrote lyrics for this afternoon. They were really creative! The campers also received their Birch Barker, a camp newspaper of sorts, it contains the winning team from Sunday's track meet, the winners of all the races, some stories and interviews submitted by campers, and illustrations of camp as well. The campers watched a slide show of pictures taken over the course of the two weeks! There were some funny photos for sure! Nancy then gave out the year awards to campers who are not staying for another two weeks. The campers then sang some more songs and prepared for the Candlelight service. The whole camp receives a candle and as the selected candlelight reader reads, Nancy lights every camper in that cabin's candle. The sight of all the light as the readers read the verses about the goodness of light is stunning.
The campers then blow out their candles and go back to their cabins to get ready for bed. The campers are not allowed to talk after they blow out their cabins to reflect upon the meaningful service. The counselors will read to them and then I'm sure they will be asleep in no time after such a busy day!
Tomorrow is our final full day! The campers will enjoy the traditional last evening campfire!
Until then,
-The Birch Blogger