June 13 2025
Today is the Birthday Ball! We make sure birthday girls feel special on their actual birthday, but today is an extra occasion to remember. On her actual birthday, their counselors make a big poster to hang in the Dining Hall, the entire camp sings at a meal, and their cabin eats donuts together after breakfast on the porch (complete with birthday hats, a huge birthday girl foam crown). But that’s not all. Tonight, Margaret and I are hosting a party for these girls at our house. We serve Chick-fil-A (nuggets, Mac & Cheese, Fruit, Salad, and a giant cake for dessert), dress nicely, take lots of pictures, and have a blast. The meal is awesome, our house is awesome, and the girls are awesome. After an awesome time, the girls will rush down to the Talent Show for their reserved front-row seats.
We will enjoy the show in the Pavilion, as it is a cloudy day and the ground is likely to be too wet for an outdoor show. We had our first Rest Hour rainstorm yesterday as the skies opened up for about an hour. This was a moment we had anticipated all summer, for everyone loves to get cozy under the covers as the background sound of rain on tin roofs lulls us to sleep. It was enough rain to extend Rest Hour by 15 minutes and slow down the entire camp for the remainder of the afternoon. The ground will remain wet today due to the lack of sunlight and forecasted rain, making the Pavilion the perfect venue for what is sure to be a great program.
The camper talent show is always impressive. The quality and variety of acts are terrific, with campers bringing both highly choreographed dances and impromptu skits that they worked up in their cabins. Some will play musical instruments, some will sing, some will play instruments and sing at the same time, some will tell jokes and recite poems, some will do gymnastics, and some will just do something unique that we have never seen before. The crowd will love every minute of it, with lots of laughter and loud cheering throughout the night.
So much of camp is impressive that the Blog might feel a bit like propaganda. This is not intended. We are trying to convey how great camp is when we are in The Bubble. But we also know that things that are not perfect and are noticed (by a few or a lot of campers). Facility, for instance, is really wonderful (having been continuously improved for 100 years) but always has ways to improve. To give you the inside scoop on what we are still working on (or with) this year:
- High water due to the hurricane and a damaged dam (All docks covered by water, both water slides still getting fixed, wet grass by the lake). We’ve had to get creative with classes, but the girls have embraced the changes…like they often do.
- New bathrooms are a work in progress. (We renovated Bungalow 1-4 bathrooms and are excited about having more showers but are dealing with some wet floors now.) We’re using different squeegees and curtains to help with this one.
- Camp pavement has some potholes. (Campers don’t care about this one; actually, I might be in the only one who notices.)
- New Riding Rings were not completed, and our English Riding program was delayed due to the hurricane. We were excited about the resurgence of the Riding program for this summer, but the hurricane had other plans. We hope to bring back this program next year.
This is a facility list of those things we’re working on around camp…I can’t think of anything else right now. I share it in the spirit of full disclosure, but also know that none of these things are affecting the community’s experience. Campers and counselors alike are entirely “in The Bubble” and think that everything is great. Not perfect, but great. If the girls carry this perspective into the real world when you pick them up next week, the blessings of camp will continue to last indefinitely.
Breakfast Breakfast Sandwich Buffet (picnic buffet as we slept late) Lunch Spicy Chicken Tacos, Cranberry/White Chocolate Cookies Dinner Ravioli and Meatballs, Green Beans EP Camper Talent Show Weather 78 degrees, cloudy skies, a good chance of scattered showers.
