Grateful Girls

Every day I am amazed at the good manners of this group of campers. There is a stack of thank you cards and posters now piled up at my house, so many that I just don’t even think about them any more. Margaret, after reading the post yesterday, said that I should mention it to you. She and I are both amazed at the thoughtfulness of your girls, they are wonderful. I thought you might enjoy reading one… literally pulled randomly from a huge stack. This was a Thank You Note to me and Margrare left on my table yesterday:

“Dear Jimboy and Margaret,

Thank you so much for letting us go bowling the night of the Rockmont Dance! That was so sweet of you to think of us!

I also want to thank ou for letting all these great girls come to live in your home this summer and these past summers. My best friends are here and I count down the days until camp starts up again! This is truly the place where I feel closest to God and Heaven. I learn so much about being a Christian here, and I can honestly say that I am the person I am today because of Camp Greystone.

Thank you so much. For everything.

Love, Love, Love

Cate”

Background: Friday night’s dance was canceled (the Rockmont boys had a virus working it’s way around their camp, we mutually decided to not risk it). As a part of the group/cabin fun, we sent the 7th graders bowling in town. This was a home run EP for that group: completely unexpected, most had not bowled before and learned to enjoy that simple pleasure of slinging a heavy ball down a wooden aisle to smash against a target of heavy bottle shaped things (OK, I don’t know what I am talking about). It was fun, surprising… typical camp; and prompted a flood of thank you notes in the days afterward.

Most of the notes are written quickly, often on cute paper, sometimes on a scrap of notebook paper that is folded over with my name on the outside. The sentiment is always shocking to me: genuine gratitude for providing something that was un-necessarily special. They knew that the trip was a special treat… and said thank you. Amazing… that 13 year olds take time to say thank you should be a real encouragement to us all. We don’t require the notes, the counselors encourage it sometimes (got several notes from entire cabin groups… that is certainly a counselor thing). Often the notes just are heart felt expressions of encouragement from the children known by society as “self centered”.

Your girls are amazing. When they go into public (rafting trip, bowling, skating, dinner and a movie) we get comments. They are well behaved, well mannered, and considerate of the public setting (camps have a reputation for loud rowdy campers who overwhelm a room with their boisterous activity). Our girls say please and thank you, they are filled with joy at the change of setting but focus the joy on each other and always listen to the counselors. They are amazing, they get noticed, they honor your family, they honor our camp, they bring glory to God… then write thank you notes. Wow.

I am afraid that our country has grown to not expect good manners (unselfish living) from our children. This is unfortunate, for children flourish and society is better if manners rule our behavior with each other. Expect the best from your girls, hold a high standard. Let them know how wonderful they are and marvel at how they respond. Who knows, maybe you will get a thank you note too!

Ok… update time: Sunny, warm, beautiful, breezy, chance of rain this afternoon. Counselor Talent Show tonight for EP (a huge favorite of the campers, but a bit light on actual talent). Bill Taylor and I are doing a number from “Glee”… it was Bill’s idea, I am beginning to have doubts.

Lunch will be a touch of Southern Cooking: Pot Roast (I know, it is heavy… but WOW is it good). Dinner is very, very good: Tilapia lightly poached with butter and lemon, Parmesian Polenta, Local vine ripened tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil, and Spaghetti Squash. Four Star dining at Greystone does occur sometimes.

Got word from Celeste Caldwell, a June Camper from Nashville who entered a cooking contest with Greystone’s Oreo Cream Pie (recipe from cooking class)… she won! I tell you the food is good… we will have to add a culinary section of our website some day. Till then, check out a great blog from “Pioneer Woman”:http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/all-pw-recipes/. Great blog, great recipes… just for fun.

A quick update before dinner… it rained during 7th period, I was at Putt Cove and uploaded some pictures of the sailors docking. It was a lot of fun, the girls were having a blast… and the rain felt great. I then stopped by the kitchen to see the preparations for dinner: very cool watching these young chefs in training make such a gourmet feast with such ease. I was also very excited to see Clay preparing some Tofu (tofu is marinated for two hours in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sesame oil the fried in canola oil). It is really good, we serve it on the salad bar sometimes.

I practiced my act during rest hour, I wish I could dance.

Jimboy