Today is Friday, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day to end out week on. It certainly seems like it has been more than a week though; it seems that we have done so much! Wednesday saw so many new things. In our canoeing area, campers learned some canoeing safety when they had to flip their canoes over, and then flip them back. This is a very important skill, especially for our oldest and 2nd oldest cabins (Crow and Huron, and Blackfeet and Ojibwe, respectively). These cabins canoed to their campouts on Wednesday or Thursday night. Crow and Huron went on Wednesday while Blackfeet and Ojibwe went last night. Wednesday also saw our famous “Mud Walk,” put on during free land by our nature staff. In this activity, campers wore their bathing suits to nature and went for a quick dip in our mud puddle. Then, everyone got a chance to take a dip in the lake. Wednesday morning also saw our lake swim. At 6:30 in the morning, 20 campers and some staff were boated across to the other side of the lake, and then got a chance to swim back. With lifeguards swimming, yak boarders, and power boats, everyone was safe as the group swam the 3/4 mile swim back to camp. At breakfast, those who participated got some hot chocolate and donuts.
Wednesday night was a bit of a surprise, as we told all the campers that is was going to be “Sarah” night, in honor of the many Sarahs that we have on staff. However, while they were explaining the activity, a van driven by some supervillans abducted our assistant program director Nathan, as well as hit pet rock Herbert! With the help of some good superheroes, campers went through various stations and followed many clues to help rescue Nathan and Herbie. In the end, campers witnessed an epic battle between the superheros and villans on our raft. Eventually, the good guys won (don’t they always?), and saved Herbie and freed Nathan from clutches of evil.
Thursday was also an exciting day. A big hit always on Thursdays is yak boarding. Yak boards are like small open kayaks that campers get to go on in canoeing, and everyone seems to love it! Thursday night also saw some interesting games in swimming, including a newer hit “Where’s my tugboat?” Using teamwork and cooperation, campers had to steal a tugboat and swim through the water without getting caught, in the style of red light-green light. Our basketball court also got covered in some wonderful sidewalk chalk art thanks to arts and craft. A classic activity that never gets old was nature’s trips to our frog pond, where campers used nets to catch (and release) some wild frogs.
Thursday night ended with our “Medieval Night.” During a fancy dinner of roast beef carved fresh by our night cook Dennis and our canoeing director Alex, campers were split into “houses.” During the night activity, campers pledged their support to these houses. In this free for all activity, campers practiced jousting, got knighted, and even had their fortunes told by our ominous fortune-teller. A battle concluded the night, with staff members fighting for control of our throne. In the end, everyone had a blast.
Today, Friday, marks a bittersweet time. While this is the last day of camp for this week, there are still many things to be done. Parties are being held in areas, with music, dancing, and of course lots of laughter. Tonight will end with our initiation ceremony, which is always a special time. After some awards, new campers, with the help of some staff, will get to show off some of their skills while doing some silly tricks, many of which resemble things from the show “Minute to win it.” Our ceremony will end the night, and will see some long-held traditions being used to welcome our new camp members into the spirit of Daggett.
Camp Daggett Summer Camp Blog 