Our Big Trips have returned, and camp is bustling with the sounds and energy of 170 campers once again. It’s wonderful to have everyone back together after five days of what we affectionately call “Small Camp.” Small Camp is a special time for our younger campers, during which we offer unique activities and opportunities for them while their older counterparts are gone on their outcamp trips. The day before our oldest campers arrived back at camp, our younger campers got to share in one of our favorite Small Camp traditions: Nell Day.
Nell Day began as a commemoration of the woman who previously owned the Johns Island property on which Camp is now located. Nell Robinson was a remarkable woman who shaped the history of Johns Island and left a lasting impression upon all who knew her. Nell Day pays tribute to her and allows us as a Camp community to reflect on our connection to the past and to the land.
Once color team rosters were announced, the next order of business was face painting!
Color teams, face painting, kooky skits, watermelons, and a treasure hunt are the hallmarks of our Nell Day celebration. Campers from the Forester and Voyageur units were selected as color team captains, and they led their orange, pink, green, purple, and yellow teams of younger campers with gusto!
The morning saw the division of teams and the introduction of the team captains and staff leaders, followed by sign-ups for “Nell Day Specials” – small group activities that are only offered on Nell Day. Options ranged from building hobbit holes to playing raptor tag, creating “food art,” and making DIY facial masks and practicing meditation.
The yellow team showed off their team spirit with face paint, costumes, and all the yellow clothing they could find!
After a full morning of specials, our staff set the tone for the afternoon with a silly and creative skit that introduced the elements of the quest our campers would soon find themselves on. As it turns out, a friendly hobbit had sent our camp director a letter warning her of the imminent approach of Smaug the dragon, who was being drawn to Johns Island by the lure of our watermelon cache. Therefore, it was suddenly imperative that our campers mount a search for these “treasure melons,” find them, and consume them before Smaug could get his claws on them!
Campers raced to the finish line with their treasure melon prize!
Spurred on by this news, the treasure hunt for the melons began. Campers traveled in their color teams to clue stations scattered across the island, where crafty staff posed riddles and assigned tasks for them to complete. If campers successfully passed these tests, they were rewarded with a clue leading them to the next station. Once the final clue led the teams to their final location, campers had to find the hidden watermelon and race back to the finish line carrying their sweet prize. After all the treasure melons had been recovered, we immediately gobbled them down – to ward away the dragon, of course.
With the mythical crisis averted, everyone gathered back at the lodge for a delicious dinner and a lively campfire. All in all, it was a fantastic Nell Day, and we’re so grateful for the time we’ve gotten to spend with our younger campers this week. Soon our Little Big Trips will set out and we’ll be a smaller camp once again (though not quite Small Camp), but for now we’re savoring these next few days of spending time all together as “Big Camp!”