Welcome To Camp!

I love Opening Day… so many great moments to fill the heart and remember with delight. Moments that have been experienced by my family for 100 years, each one of them wonderful in their own way: the mist drifting on the lake as we scurry about during our pre-dawn preparations. That moment when the first car drove through the gates. The enthusiastic cheer that rises as the luggage trailer pulls into Tentalow Row to be unloaded by an army of enthusiastic counselors. The reception on the Dining Hall porch, that first tour of camp with new cabin mates. Our first meal in the dining hall (always spaghetti) and that feeling of satisfaction when taps blows after a very long day.

This is a wonderful, beautiful, kind and loving place. We are so glad you are here!

We celebrate 100 years of camping this summer and it feels great to finally be doing what we have been planning for so long. THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE.

Margaret and I enjoyed seeing many of you at the reception. The kitchen kept the tables full of hot coffee, warm scones, and cold water all morning. We deeply appreciate your friendship and support (some for many generations). We expect that this is going to be Our Best Summer Ever!

The weather has been simply perfect for the past month. Warm days with hardly a drop of rain (perfect for finishing the many projects around camp) continue this week. This makes for the perfect setting to take a tour around camp and take a swim test. The girls stay with their cabin as they do the “check in” routines… getting to know eachother with every passing moment. The picnic lunch was great as always: our famous fresh-baked bread, smoked turkey and ham (we have a huge smoker and cure our own meats), pasta salad, lots of great veggies, fruit, Chips, and our famous brownies (a 50 year old recipe).

Cabins will spend the afternoon playing games, swimming, playing at the water park, doing the slip & slide, and just hanging out with their new cabin mates. Those first hours can be a bit awkward, so we make sure to give the girls plenty of time to do fun things together. My girls (I had three daughters go to camp) would enjoy that first day with a particular delight for it was so full of potential. “I might make my best friend for life today!” It rarely disappointed!

Tonight we will enjoy skits by the counselors for EP (Evening Program). These skits are done by program areas with program themes. It is the very definition of “hoaky humor”… VERY campy! By the end of the night the girls are really into the whole silly thing. They laugh, they cheer, they whisper between acts pointing out favorite counselors and commenting on the classes.

We love your girls and can not wait to see the amazing way God will bless them in the days to come. Thank you once again for making it possible!