Kai-Yi-Yikus Nobody like us, we are the Evens, Evens, Evens…
Rah for Odds, Odds to win, fight to the finish, never give in…
The cheers of the respective teams certainly do give an indication to the age of our camp. They feel like cheers from a bygone era; which they are. Cheers today are far more sophisticated and edgy… these are hard to understand. I had to call Sarah for the words just now; who can remember such phrases?
But that does not mean that they are not yelled out with incredible volume and enthusiasm! The excitement in camp today is over the top. We will be having good natured competition in our classes all day and a huge Carnival this evening. It is going to be a GREAT DAY!
Let me spend a few moments on the Carnival. This tradition dates back to the late 80’s (I think). We began with a Carnival done “old school” (little games played outside with a country fair kind of feel). We then upgraded to “inflatable fun” (the actual name of the company that provided our first rides). The girls LOVED the change. Bright colors, lots of noise, lots of music, giant slides, dunk tank. Big Fun.
We eventually perfected the program. Some things we bought (cotton candy machines, funnel cake fryers, hawaii shave ice machine, popcorn machine); other things we rent for each occasion (the inflatable stuff… nice to have variety every year). We ran power to the appropriate spots around the softball field, water to the appropriate fill spots, pre-position tables, have the nurses on hand to give out cold water, trained counselors for cleaning trash and vomit (what carnival would be complete without the occasional vomit from too much funnel cake?). When I go to the State fair, I am struck by how much better we do carnivals than the professionals (maybe just because those guys that run the rides creap me out).
Anyhoooo—-
It is a great day.
Hope you all are having a nice Saturday, all is well here.
I am going to Waterpark this morning, also hope to go to the Bead Hut. I really want to show you what a special place that program area is for the girls. No other camp (no other school) has a “torch” room like this. Does it sound like a bad idea to have girls mixing pure oxygen and propane to form 2,500 degree flames that instantly melt glass? It is a very safe activity (thousands of campers have gone through the program and we still love it), and it is VERY different. This is a skill that can be enjoyed for a lifetime (it is very artistic and surprisingly easy to set up at home). The beads the girls take home are treasured- and they SHOULD be.
OK. Enough for now.
Jimboy