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!

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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