With the older units away on their extended trips the middle units ruled the roost. Foresters hosted a Sunday Chapel on the topic of Music. Tuesday was Nell Robinson Day, a celebration of the woman who lived on Johns Island for many decades, raising children and sheep. Campers signed up for ‘special activities’ in the morning, and spent the afternoon on an island-wide scavenger hunt. In addition to regular activities units had other goals for the week. Voyageurs devoted some time to Unit Improvement, adding wood chips to their paths and creating a ‘stump’ circle in the center of the unit. Vagabonds built a drying rack – just in time for our wet weather. Everything on the rack is still drying out! Pioneers built a ‘chill-time’ space in their unit, where they go to relax during rest hours. Mariners pride themselves on being one of the only units that stayed completely dry during the weekly overnight. There was a tremendous downpour during the night that soaked many groups. (It should be mentioned that while the Mariners built tarp shelters they also had the ‘Big 24-foot Tipi’ available to take refuge in). Rangers spent every spare moment preparing to host the weekly all camp campfire – it was a resounding success. One of the best campfires in many years.
Saturday and Sunday were Visitors Weekend. The weather was very wet Saturday morning. But by the time families arrived the rain let up allowing families to picnic out and about on the property. Approximately 140 people came to the site on Saturday and about 60 visited on Sunday.
Sunday morning we said goodbye to the Foresters and Voyageurs as they left on their Little Big Trips (4 days/3 nights). Sunday night the Troubadors hosted ‘Coffee House’, an open-mike evening for the older units. This session’s theme was “Speakeasy”. There is a tremendous amount of talent at camp this summer and it definitely showed last night.
Today we had our American Camp Association visit. We are members of the ACA, a voluntary professional association of the camping industry. To be and remain accredited a camp is visited every 3 years. There are almost 300 standards that we are expected to satisfy as part of this process. The team just left moments ago and we satisfied all the standards applicable to our program! Preparing for this visit takes months and we are gratified that our efforts resulted in such a positive outcome.
This is our last week together, so units are busy finishing craft projects and revisiting their favorite departments. I’ll give you an update in a couple of days.