August Camp Opening Day

Welcome to “camp” everyone! While we are SO SORRY we are not actually welcoming you to camp today, we are still VERY excited to have you join the Camp Connection and hope each one of you will check in on it every day.

We created a special website just for you that we hope will give a little “taste of camp” at home. We’re calling it The Camp Connection! Check your emails today for the information and links to this special page. You will want to check it out throughout the next 2 weeks as we post fun activities, songs, and videos that we hope will make you smile.

For many of you this would have been your first summer at Greystone and you might be sorry that you are not an “old camper” yet… but I have some good news! There is a tradition that after the first day every girl is considered to be an old camper, and we have decided that this blog counts for your opening day… so HELLO GREYSTONE GIRLS!! This is officially your first year at camp! Yea!

Today I am thinking about what today was supposed to be like. You would have arrived at camp very early in the morning (starting around 7:30 AM) and found out what cabin you would be living in for the rest of your session. Everyone would gather on the softball field and wait patiently for the “bunk run” at 8:30… I always love seeing your happy, excited, sometimes nervous faces. It is also always fun to see how fast you run up the hill with squeals of delight as you move in.

Then you settle into your new cabin… putting up your pictures, arranging your pillows, getting your drawer arranged, and organizing your shower caddy. Actually, your mom probably does most of that for you, but it is still exciting! While your mom is busy with your bunk, you would probably spend most of your time talking to the other girls in your cabin. You would check out every name tag, introducing yourself over and over while you imagine who will likely be your best buddy (we always find ourselves making lots of friends at camp… the best part of the summer for sure).

After about 30 minutes someone in the cabin would remember… SCONES!!! Everyone runs out at the same time, perhaps promising to bring some back to the counselor (who has to stay in the cabin until everyone has checked in). The scones are amazing and are something we are kind of famous for. They are surprisingly easy to make, here is the recipe if you want to try today!

The rest of the morning is a blur of activity… you spend the morning with your cabin: touring camp, getting your health checks, taking your cabin photos by the lake, passing your swim test, scheduling your classes, and then going to LUNCH! By that point you are so hungry you could eat a horse. The buffet is always so good and it always has lots of Greystone Bread. Yum. Then it is back to your cabin for some get to know you games until our Afternoon Assembly in the Pavilion… the first time we are all together in the same room. It is so exciting to be jam-packed in the pit, elbow to elbow with hundreds of girls who you know are likely to become your best friends.

Then we dismiss to afternoon classes as you quickly adjust to being a real camper! There is something magical about settling into the routine of camp. It is easy, it is fun, and it is exciting! You find yourself basking in the warmth of a day that is turning out to be about perfect.

The bugle calls us to our first flag-lowering ceremony and then we are dismissed to our first meal in the dining hall. It takes you about a minute to find your table, this is where you will be eating for the next week… sometimes it is a bit crowded in the dining room but you don’t care, you just want to EAT!

We always have the same meal that first night, a crowd-pleaser for sure: Spaghetti and Greystone bread and honey! Evening Program is shortly after dinner and it too is a crowd pleaser… a fun program that introduces you to all the counselors (who do funny skits). We end by reading the four Bible verses that hang around the Pavilion (a tradition that goes back 100 years) then it is back to your cabin where you get ready for bed, hear a short devotion by your counselor, then snuggle under your covers for your first night at camp.

You think to yourself as you drift off to sleep… I can’t believe I am here, this is going to be GREAT!