Camp Life (Food and Assembly)

A big part of this blog is to give you authentic glimpses into what camp life is like. To succeed in that goal I will take little bites every day (explaining small aspects of camp life). By the end of the session you will have gotten a “tasting menu” of our little “bubble”. Today’s topic is Food!

Each day begins with Gervais and two of his kitchen crew waking up very early in the morning to prepare for our 8:00 breakfast. Much of the work has already been done by the prep crew the previous afternoon, but the final assembly requires a real pro… and Gervais is the best camp chef I have ever seen. His goal with every meal is to astound the camp community with really wonderful food that is cooked from scratch. No processed ingredients and no “heat and eat” shortcuts. This way of cooking is labor intensive, and that work is mostly done by our young kitchen crew (mostly teenagers who work a single camp session). We give them a huge stockpile of matching t-shirts (a different theme shirt every day) and hold them to a high standard of work. Our meals are high points of every day; anticipated with great delight!

Each meal begins with prayer and ends with songs. The sounds of the dining hall are great indicators of camp life… enthusiastic conversations happen throughout the meal and are replaced by singing old Greystone songs as we clear the tables. For what it’s worth, those dining hall sounds are very already very loud and the songs are quite literally heard all through Tuxedo! The songs are led by our “Solid Gold Dancers”, who entertain us as they sing and dance during song time. Abby, Caroline, and Maddie were given the “solid gold” job at June camp this year and they are knocking it out of the park!

Laura is also a fixture to each meal as she gives the camp announcements just before dismissing everyone from the Dining Hall. Laura runs a tight ship, keeping us on schedule and reminding us of what is happening next. Nobody need worry about knowing what all those bugles and bells mean, Laura explains it in detail and with humor at every dismissal (not only meals, but also assemblies). Laura will encourage the girls to Wash, Water, and Screen multiple times every day (Wash hands, Drink Water, Sunscreen applied). Each camper now takes comfort in knowing who I am (Breakfast Club makes me quite popular), who Laura is, and the various counselors who populate their schedule. The directors and counselors are now trusted and enjoyed. Thus, camp becomes a very sweet community that is marked by love and delight.

Our times together at Meals and Assemblies give us wonderful community building opportunities… the camp knits together… love grows… and life is sweet.

So when you write your camper (do write her… both emails and hand written letters), let her know how excited you are about the food, the morning assemblies, the evening programs of camp!