Rain and Picnics

There is an 80% chance of rain today… and we have a giant “Blow Out” picnic scheduled. No Problem, right? Reschedule and all is right with the world. Well, camp is not always that simple.

This picnic is a tradition that dates back about 30 years, Corn Roast. We cook ribs, chicken, turkey legs, Corn in the husk, and a BUNCH of other great food items. The girls get dressed up in their “Country Western” clothes and paint freckles on their faces. We bring in a band (Kat Williams, a finalist in “America’s Got Talent” LOVES to play at Greystone) and give the girls lots of free time. It is a FANTASTIC evening; comes at a great time of camp too… kind of a deep breath of relaxation prior to the madness of the last 10 days of camp.

Thus the dilemma—- the food is cooked, the band is booked… changing days is probably not an option (we are double checking). In such cases; we roll the dice and see what happens! It is kind of exciting.

Last summer a HUGE rain storm hit in the middle of our fanciest event, Derby Day. All of camp was wearing their best clothes, we had just finished watching the horse show and were milling about the softball field reception area (amazing food stations… really super nice), when the rain hit. About 2 inches of rain fell on our picnic all at once… the whole camp celebrated the moment (kitchen included) and it became a favorite memory for many who were there.

Camp is a celebration of circumstance… some good and some not… the art of life is learning to embrace it all and make the best of whatever happens. Cabin life is like this (imagine what it is like to live with 10 people in one room with one bathroom). Classes are like this (no matter how much you enjoy a particular skill, there are days…). And events are like this.

Today and tomorrow we have a lot of campers rafting. Some of the best whitewater rivers in the country are close to camp (a couple hours drive) and about half of the camp will be tasting that adventure today. We had some girls leaving for the Chattooga river at 4 AM. Poor Kelly, who gets to oversee the loading and departure of the busses every year. We then loaded two trips for the Pigeon river in Tennessee at 8:30 and 9:30… a total of almost 100 campers out of camp rafting.

I LOVE whitewater rivers. Canoeing is a pure delight for me and many campers… but we no longer take canoeing trips on whitewater. This was a casualty of the shorter summer (camp used to be 7 weeks long, much easier to go on multi-day trips) and a more dynamic program (Campers never want to miss an EP these days… and trips can’t return in time for EP). About 10 years age we finally threw in the whitewater towel after having low enrollments for the program (we cancelled several trips due to no camper participation). So now we give the girls a taste of the experience in a very safe and controlled setting… rafting is perfect.

We contract with Wildwater Ltd., a company run by a former Greystone counselor who sent his daughters to camp and “gets” what we do here. They take excellent care of the girls and run a very professional organization… and the girls do enjoy the trip. Being back in time for EP is what really makes it work!

Breakfast today featured home made French Toast and sausage links, real Maple Syrup… it is very good. I am eating more bread than I ever do in the “real world”, we all are… can’t help it. There is something special about fresh baked bread.

Lunch is Crispy Chicken Salad (a nice tossed salad with chicken strips on top). An easy lunch for the kitchen because they will be BUSTIN it tonight for Corn Roast.

Corn Roast does feature all that great food (much of it meat), but also features root beer served from kegs set up around the Gym. Root Beer is actually an art form, some people are passionate about how complex their root beer tastes… and this is the good stuff! We hope to make the girls fanatics about good food and beverages at camp. A little zest to savor for a lifetime.

I will get some rain pictures this morning, then pray for us tonight.