The beginning of the end

It is hard to believe that we are already on our final week of campers; it seems like just yesterday our staff was arriving for staff training week. Our campers would never know that out staff has already been here since early June, especially due to the amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm that every member of our Daggett Family displays each and every day. They certainly need this energy for the exciting week that we have planned.

Getting right to work on Sunday night, our campers were big fans of our Word Search night. Working with their cabins, teammates walked around and tried to find as many words from a list that they could! These words were all around camp. This night was not only a great way for campers to get to know camp a bit better, but also to get to know their cabin mates a bit better too. After all, camp is probably the best place to make friends!

Come Monday, campers were ready to hit the ground running. Since summer is finally here (75 and sunny every day), the waterfront was a huge hit. Whether it was in sailing, swimming, or canoeing, all of our campers didn’t miss an opportunity for a refreshing dip in the lake. That’s not to say that our land areas weren’t full of excitement too though. A big hit today was our “tie-dye” Tuesday, lots of interesting creations being made during free land.

The nights have been equally as exciting, with some classic, but fun night activities. Last night, campers had to solve the mystery of who stole the rat, “Piper,” from nature. After questioning many suspects and interviewing our staff for facts, campers finally found Piper! She was safe and sound, and ready to be held again. Tonight, it is the epic battle of red vs. blue in our camp-wide game of capture the flag. Campers certainly love being able to run all over camp and work together to get those flags!

This week, we also have our final wilderness explorer trip of the year. This week, the group is headed up to Pictured Rocks National Lake shore. For four days and three nights, this group will explore some of the most beautiful places in our state, if not our nation. These trips are always a hit, and campers always come back with many stories to tell!

Campers show off some impressive tie-die

According to these campers, this is their “Narwhal impression.”

The Blackfeet cabin plays a name game on Sunday

Singing songs in Mac Hall after meals is always a hit

Our explorer group at Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore

Advertisement

Where’s Sarah?!

No, we didn’t loose one of our staff members, but our campers did have to work together tonight to find her. After performing an investigation as to the whereabouts if Sarah Van (our sailing director), campers then had to compete to get her back in a giant game of capture the flag. In the end, it turned out that Sarah was in the basketball kiosk the whole time!

Of course, there is much more happening at camp than just night activities. It seems that even in the short amount of time in between activities and meals campers find a new adventure to be had. Some of the most popular activities include playing “Lightning” and “Nuke ‘Em.” Both of these are twists on older games (Basketball and Volleyball, respectively) but can get many more people involved. Nuke’ Em is especially popular this year, as is its neighbor pickleball. In fact, pickleball has been growing so popular that a new court was laid this summer! While we still have to paint some lines on it, campers still have a lot of fun out there.

Yesterday was also our traditional “Tie-Dye Tuesday.” This free-land activity allows campers to tie-dye white clothing in Arts-and-Crafts. It is always amazing to see how many campers tie-dye, and how creative and imaginative they can be. Yesterday also ended with a gigantic luau! Campers had tons of activities to go to, such as pontoon rides, hula contests, and lei-making. There was even a spot to grab some freshly grilled pineapple!

Tie-Dyed T-Shirts created during “tie-Dye” Tuesday

A game of Nuke’ Em is played on our new volleyball court

The Blue team gets pumped up

The teams meet at the middle

What a Wednesday!

Wow! This week has been so busy. Yesterday was full of new and exciting adventures. While younger campers spent their mornings largely learning to sail and canoe, Tuesday saw lots of smiles and cheers as these cabins got their first chances to do these activities. Campers also got some freestyle practice in our swimming area, as well as some exciting games. Land activities were also full of new things, with our frog pond being a huge hit! An awesome time during the day are our free land and free water periods. During these times, campers get to choose any land and water area they wish to go to. Our area directors sure do work hard to create new and fun activities to do during these times. A big hit yesterday was “tie dye  Tuesday. Campers created a bunch of amazing tie dye. Wednesdays and Thursdays are always fun when campers are proudly sporting their tie dyed shirts, socks, bandanas, and more! Thursday night saw a fun twist on our traditional “Battle of Gettysburg.” Grouped into four teams, campers took place in several assaults of flour! Everyone got pretty messy, so an all camp swim followed the epic battles!

Wednesday got off to a bang, as 20 campers participated in our lake swim. This event kicked off at 6:30 in the morning as campers and staff boated across the lake. After some stretches and warm-ups, everyone started to swim towards camp. Accompanied by power boats, yak boards, and lifeguards, all of our swimmers made it safely back to camp. At breakfast, those who participated were rewarded with donuts and hot chocolate! Also at breakfast, some of our campers participated in “Wacky Wednesday.” Many of our campers and staff dressed up in silly clothes and did their hair weird for this special event.

It is amazing how even though today is only half over, campers have been doing so many things. Always a favorite is wobbly Wednesday in canoeing. There, campers (with the help of some staff) practice flipping their canoes. Once they have made a splash, canoers learn how to right their canoes and empty them of water. Today will also see our mud walk, where campers will take a quick dip in our mud pond, and then a little shower in the lake! This evening will see our “Yooper” night. This night will involve our campers making some “dirt cup” snacks, playing pin the antlers on the deer, and even a quick trip to our homemade sauna!

tie dye

Just some of the many pieces of tie dye art that our campers created this week!

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

Week Three is Already Here!

Week 3 has started off great! As always seems to be the case when it comes to camp, the weather is usually better than we could hope for! After arrival and some introductions, campers hunted for their counselors who were hiding in the woods- but when they found them, there was a twist! After all of the counselors were found, each counselor had only one minute to make our campers laugh. Those who didn’t had to face the music as they jumped in the lake. Being such good sports, all of our counselors ended up jumping in the lake anyway!

Monday went pretty smoothy as campers had their first experiences in all six of our fantastic areas. While younger campers learned the basics of how to sail and canoe, as well as took part in swim testing, older campers got their first look at arts and crafts, recreation, and nature. Everyone had a blast at lunch, where we announced the winners of our clean cabin, clean caper, and kiss up awards. With those awards being given out everyday, many campers will come back with stories of how they did a fantastic job helping keep camp looking great. The night activity was Pirate Night, and campers had to work to put together a map that lead them to their “treasure” of snacks. To get the map pieces, campers had to answer some trivia, play “battleship,” navigate a gauntlet of wet sponges, and work as a team to cross a “deadly” alligator-infested volleyball court. In the end, everyone found their treasure and even enjoyed some hilarious skits put on by our staff.

Today has been an equally exciting day, with campers learning some basic freestyle technique in swimming, playing lots of exciting games in recreation, and having fun in every area they are visiting. As always, tie-dyeing in arts and crafts is  a huge hit. Tonight will see “Big-B’s Ultimate All-Sports Challenge” which will pit campers against staff in some of the fiercest competition ever. Campers will rotate through our staff of “expert” athletes in sports ranging from free-throw shooting to tetherball. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, as we honor our nation for the 4th of July. We will be having an awesome extravaganza much like a county fair, complete with popcorn and a dunk tank! Afterwords, campers may be up a little later than usual as we dazzle them with a “special surprise.”

A Rainy Start

Yes that’s right, we have gotten a fair amount of rain to start our 2012 season! But thanks to our awesome staff we have been able to keep up the spirits and continue to provide many fun, meaningful, and safe activities for our campers. With 6 class periods each day, as well as free water and free land, there is never a shortage of fresh and fun things for campers to do. The children have been busy playing sports of all kinds in rec with our new rec director Brent, as well as having a chance to wake up early and play sports for a half hour before everyone else wakes up. Campers can also choose to go to polar bear swimming, where they dip in the lake real quick at 7:30am!!! Of course, today was tie dye tuesday, and as always it was a big hit. While tie dye was popular, many campers chose to go to nature or recreation instead where they were introduced to new ideas and games.

Of course, camp wouldn’t be complete without our famous night activities. On Sunday, campers experienced a Daggett auction where we saw who had some of the craziest belongings at camp. Monday night was the Mr. and Mrs. Daggett pageant, held indoors due to the rain. But the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of campers, who got to dress their counselors up as well as help them to make a talent. Sioux and A-Jit-a-Ma were our winning cabins! Tuesday night was a blast from the past with Grease Night, which had campers “drag racing” yak boards, learning the hand jive, and even making some hamburger cookies. There is still much more fun to be had this week, including the first trip of the fishing club, wild people night, the frog pond, campouts, and much, much more.

Just a sample of some of the tie dye our campers did!