Let me start by saying that I thought I posted this blog on Sunday morning after the campers left us but I inadvertantly left it as a draft. My apologies to those of you who were expecting to hear about our final week of first session.
It has been a wonderful last week – weather aside. Little Big Trips returned with many stories, Opry House was a great success (a rewrite of “Lost” with a touch of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, created by the participating campers and directed by our Drama instructor), two days of Olympics Games, our final all camp dance, Final Fire with the oldest campers, unit campfires for the younger campers, lots of singing, trading addresses, etc. All departments were in full swing so campers could get one last session on the Ropes Course, at the Craft Shop, on the Waterfront and at Trader Horn.
This last week always seems to fly by, leaving everyone trying to figure out where the 4 weeks went. “Feels like we just got here.” and “I can’t believe it’s over already.” are statements frequently repeated in the days following the last overnight. Our two-day all-camp games called “Olympics” brings all our energy to the forefront, along with good sportsmanship and cooperation (teams are judged on both). The Blues beat the Reds this year, but the scores are rarely remembered. More easily recalled will be who our the team leaders were, what members of a unit were on what team and how wet did people get during the water balloon toss. There is a fair bit of clothes-swapping going on once unit mates find out which team they’ve been assigned to and it is impressive how many clothing articles surface that are either red or blue. Let us know if you find such an item that doesn’t look familiar to you.
It was a joy to spend 4-weeks with the first session campers. Despite the overall weather being less than summer-like campers enthusiastically participated in the program, friendships were forged and independence gained. Some units sailed smoothly through the session, while other faced certain challenges. As a community we worked (and played) together to perpetuate the spirit of acceptance and self discovery that we strive to recreate each summer. Our thanks to everyone who made it possible for campers to attend Nor’wester this summer. It is always a privilege to be part of their journey and ‘evolution’.