Opening Day Plus an update

Welcome June Camp!

There is much to be thankful for:

No Rain (wasn’t the mist on the mountains lovely?)!
Perfect temperatures (it is going to warm up to the low 80’s today)
SMILING campers (I don’t think I have seen a “blank” face in any of the cabin groups that I met on the road.
SMILING counselors (they were nervous too… obviously they are over those jitters).
Good Food (lunch is being served and it is AMAZING)
All the systems are working (this is a complex facility with a complex tradition… lots can go wrong).
Perfect Parents… ok, you are not perfect but you are VERY kind and supportive and we are thankful.

Thank you for checking the blog… I am going to be writing this blog for the next 11 weeks and am very much looking forward to sharing the camp experience with all of you. With no visits allowed, this is how you can get the “overview” of camp. I will let you know what is happening, what we are enjoying, what went well, what didn’t go so well, what we are eating, what the weather is like, and some general comments on life at camp.

For those of you who have never gone to camp, my blog will hopefully paint an accurate emotional portrait of this experience. Camp is amazing… one of the best things that a child will ever do. We love every detail about camp and the details are so many that they would fill a very big book. I will write about the ones that I think the most significant at that moment. Usually just one update a day, sometimes several.

These blogs will provide you the details that you need to effectively communicate with your camper. You will write better letters and emails because of the details that the blog includes, but more importantly… you will “Get It” after camp is over.

The camp journey is an emotional mountaintop experience that is cherished by those of us who live it. You know how much fun it is to be included in your children’s life… when you can “talk camp” with them, you will be sooooo cool. They will share with you little details that will delight your heart. The growth in character and confidence that comes from a summer is appreciated in such details.

So… thank you.

Thank you for sharing your girls. Thank for valuing this experience. Thank you for being engaged in the details of this little thing (which is so important). It is our prayer that your girls will be blessed by their time at Greystone. I think this is going to be our BEST YEAR EVER!

Jimboy

PS I just have to tell you about the BEST NEW TRADITION EVER. Our first Assembly just ended, an assembly where we welcome the girls, introduce the Head Staff, go over a few rules, and explain the schedule for the rest of the day. This first gathering of our community is always an exciting moment for us all… today we tried a new thing that brought tears and smiles of delight. The entire program staff (those nice young ladies and gentlemen who greeted you and assisted with your bags this morning) lined the entrance to the pavilion and cheered as the girls ran down from their cabins. It was a genuinely wonderful moment. I captured some photos, but they do not do it justice. The feeling of being cheered on by a crowd of almost 100 counselors as the summer starts is hard to imagine. It was amazing. It quite literally made counselors cry with delight. I think we will do it for the next 90 years…

It is very possible that heaven will have a moment like this. I can imagine entering the gates of Glory with a crowd of cheering friends and mentors congratulating me for having made it and welcoming me to my reward. It was really wonderful.

PPS A great article on counselors was passed onto us last week. It is well written and rings true. Read it and get a glimpse into what makes this camper/counselor relationship so great.