Tag Archive | rain

What a finish!

Well, week six is all over. 😦 Although there was some rain, we still had a fantastic end of the week. Thursday night saw out “Medieval Night,” complete with jousting, poetry writing, and even an epic battle between staff members at the end. Dinner was extra special, as out cook Dennis made some roast beef, and even carved it fresh for our campers during dinner, with the help of Nathan. Our campouts on Thursday night may have gotten a little bit yet, but that didn’t stop our oldest and youngest cabins from having a blast.

The fun kept going on Friday, which is always a special day here at Camp Daggett. One of our most popular Friday activities is our Frog Pond. During Nature, campers get a chance to go catch frogs in our nature pond. We let them go of course, although there are plenty to go around.  While the rain curtailed our plans for a cook out, we still had a “cook in.” John, our director, grilled up some hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone, but then we ate inside. The rain also had us start our initiation inside, doing awards and skits in the rec hall. The rain let up just in time for us to have our special ceremony in its traditional spot!

Parents, please be sure to take a few moments to complete our “Parent/Camper Evaluation.” The comments and feedback received are very helpful and much appreciated!

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Week 5 is all done :(

Week five was certainly an eventful one! A huge kudos goes out to the staff for being super flexible in dealing with the weather. Friday morning definitely was hectic, with a chance of thunderstorms all morning. Campers still got to have fun, whether it was inside or out. Thursday night was also a favorite for campers- “Survivor Night.” In addition to earning points throughout the day, cabins competed in many challenges at night to earn points. Campers ate dirt cups, surfed, shot free throws, and tried their hardest at many more challenges. In the end, the Potawatomi cabin was victorious.

Friday was a blast! Even though there was some touchy weather, our area directors kept the parties going wherever they were. Campers certainly enjoyed all of the music and dancing, and certainly loved out traditional Friday night cookout. This was all capped off with our classic initiation ceremony.

On a special note, today is our Adventure Center’s annual “Kayak for a Cause.” This fundraiser sees kayaks raising money and kayaking all along the shoreline of Walloon. If you happen to be on the lake, be sure to give them a smile and a wave!

Finally, please take a moment to complete out Parent/Camper evaluation. This brief survey will only take ~10 minutes for you to complete, but the feedback and comments we receive help us immensely.

 

Wonderful Wednesday

It is amazing to think that soon, this week will be halfway over! Since Monday, we have been very busy. As noted last post, Monday night was our “Pure Michigan” night. This was a brand new night, brought to us by our health director Lindsey. During this night, everyone had a blast as they took in some pontoon rides, designed some cardboard cars, played baseball, and even tried their hand at making their own “Pure Michigan” ads (you can read our very own “Pure Daggett” commercial below). Even though the weather turned a little foul, the staff and campers all stayed very positive and flexible as some of the activities got moved inside. Our oldest cabins, Crow and Huron, got a chance to do their high ropes activities inside of our indoor adventure center.

Tuesday also saw a very exciting day! While it may have started off a bit cloudy, the weather slowly improved as campers got to experience many new activities on the land and in the water. It is always a great thing to see so many campers choosing to participate in our free land and free water periods, when campers get to pick any water and  land activity that they wish to go to. Both Monday and Tuesday have seen many campers participating in both of these periods. In fact, our sailing director was quite impressed on Tuesday, when 32 campers turned up to sail! All five of our beautiful boats plus our Sunfish were taken out. Free land was a hit as well, especially with our weekly “Tie Dye Tuesday.”

Even though it was on the cooler side, campers still had a great time at our water carnival. This night activity saw many new water activities that campers don’t usually play. One station required participants to splash water into a canoe to try to sink it, while another had them passing a greased up watermelon between their legs. We also had our version of synchronized swimming with campers forming shapes with their cabins based on what the staff would call out, as well as relay races with water balloons and ice cubes. Always a hit was our surfing station, where campers had contests to see who could stay on our surfboards the longest as the staff created some waves.

This morning was an early morning for some, as today saw our lake swim. Campers who received an electric blue wristband woke up at 6:30am to take our boats across the lake. There, they did some stretches and warm-ups before we departed on our swim back to camp. Accompanied by kayaks, life guards, and power boats, 20 campers swam all the way back to camp. At breakfast, those who participated got some hot chocolate and doughnuts in addition to some delicious egg, cheese and bacon sandwiches. Speaking of breakfast, a big shout-out goes to our fabulous kitchen staff who have been keeping our bellies full of delicious food all summer. Our cooks,  Dennis and Lori, sure work hard with our kitchen aides, Parker, Emma and Christina, to make sure there is always a great variety or nutritious and filling meals!

Pure Daggett

Picture a place where everyday brings something new,
Where the sounds of laughter and the smell of the campfire dominate.
A place where one can go to get away from the modern world,
Where people treat others right, and always put the other fellow first.
Where kids can travel somewhere new every night, with the only limit being one’s imagination.
A place where stories are shared and friends are made,
Where everyone has a place and the memories last for ever.
There is a place like this, nestled on the shores of Walloon Lake,
A place called Camp Daggett, where everyone is welcome.
Your trip begins at campdaggett.org

A Note from Rybes

Today, our swimming director Sarah wanted to share a few thoughts about how the week was going with all of our readers. Sarah, or Rybes as most know here, was inspired a picture she took, and wanted to express her sentiments on this blog. She really hopes you all enjoy!

This picture to me says so much about this summer.  Here we have a rainy day, brave campers laughing in the water in the distance and a few warming up by the fire, keeping each other warm and happy.  I love how symbolic a fire burning in the rain at our fire circle can be and how when I look at this picture it makes me giggle.  Our Camp Daggett 2012 Summer Olympics occurred today and it was one for the books.  We all had an absolute blast and just like that Olympic torch burned on, so did our positive attitudes as we cheered everyone on and pushed through our unusual Michigan weather.

Now this picture makes me giggle because before Olympics and before the weather began to clear up, we were still having a fabulous time under the clouds and soaking up the rain.  In this exact moment we were extremely entertained as we laughed about our charcoal rock drawings and the names these campers came up with on their camp out for each log in that fire (yes, they are that awesome, they named logs based on their sizes and laughed every time we called the logs by their names as we worked to keep that fire alive).  To me that’s what camp is all about.  It’s about the simple things in life, the ability to make someone smile and laugh with the smallest of gestures.  The rain never holds us down. It brings us closer together as we bond through making the best of every situation we are fortunate enough to spend together.

I will always remember our week six campers as the ones who always smiled even when thunderstorms hindered our usual schedules and the ones who could always brighten up our day even if the sun couldn’t.  Camp is about smiling and laughing and accepting everyone even when things like the weather turn a little upside down. Get it!? The smile written on the rock is upside down in this picture, but don’t worry, the ones on our faces were ALWAYS right side up! I cannot wait to share such a special night tomorrow with this special bunch of wonderful individuals!