Welcome Home

Opening Day feels a lot like Homecoming to these girls. The genuine joy that they experience is infectious and a delight to all. We are glad that our girls are back at camp and are looking forward to the next month of fun.

As you know, our Opening Day weather was just about perfect! Warm temperatures, absolutely dry (no rain last night), not a cloud in the sky, and a light breeze coming off the lake. This is a particular blessing given the rain that hit us at Junior Camp this year (rained almost every day!). We are thankful for little blessings like this, they are deeply appreciated!

Not that such a thing as weather makes a bit of difference at Main Camp. In the famous summer of 2013 it rained literally every day of Main Camp, and we still remember it as special. Main Campers make every day the BEST DAY EVER! They LOVE being at camp. They LOVE the food, the unexpected new events, as well as the well worn events that have marked our camp for 99 years. These girls love camp and their love is what makes Main Camp great. It is wonderful and we have anticipated their return for an entire year.

My observations of the day so far:

• We did a good job of tagging bags. We continue to seek perfection, but this year was very close. I am so proud of our team who worked very hard to serve with a smile!
• We had a very busy reception. Katie, Margaret, and I loved talking with you and we were just sorry that we didn’t have more time to chat (we could have talked all day long and not had enough time). Thank you for making the effort to say hi. We are so glad to have had the chance to see you.
• Scones are a wonderful way to start the day! Gervais cooked almost 2,000!
• The campers LOVE each other. Those awkward first moments that we all face when thrown into a new situation have evaporated like the mist in the morning. Already, whole cabin groups are skipping down the road hand in hand… a beautiful thing to see! Within the next few days, the foundations for lifelong friendships will be surely established.

YOU ARE THE BEST FAMILIES ANYWHERE!!! I am touched by how well you relate to your well adjusted daughters. We are very grateful that you allow us to be a part of your life.

I will be writing every day of camp again this year, letting you know what is going on (the weather, the EP’s, the special moments, and the food). Such details help connect you with your girls. We encourage you to include camp details when you write your emails and letters (by making note of things going on at camp, it affirms that you are a part of the community and takes the emphasis off what they might be missing at home!). I will also use this forum to open my heart to you from time to time.

Camp is a place where our hearts become very soft… thus it is not uncomon for campers, counselors, and directors alike to share a tear from time to time. We laugh a lot, we play a lot, we talk a lot, and we will find ourselves growing close in delightful ways. I will try to convey this growth to you… but I know it will fall short of the reality. There is no way to know camp unless you are at camp; but we will try!

• Lunch a great buffet lunch featuring some wonderful turkey that Gervais smoked yesterday. It has a really great dry rub and the perfect amount of smoke flavor, sliced thin and put between slices of fresh baked bread still warm from the oven… WOW! Our food is exceptional, a fact that no doubt adds to the high morale we see every day.
• Supper will be our traditional Spaghetti and a big salad (fresh bread, of course). After eating we’ll declare: “you are ALL Greystone girls now” pronouncement.
• EP is Program Presentation. All counselors do little skits with their program area. Simple camp fun begins. Everyone then goes back to their cabin and has the first cabin devotion of the summer. This is a precious time that the counselors have been anticipating, sometimes for years (campers dream of one day having a cabin and giving that first devotion). It will be a good night.

Thank you for sharing your girls. It is such an honor!