We awoke to the sound of reveille at 7:45 this morning. The sun was bright, and the air warm at Camp Takajo, giving us our first indication that we were on our way to temperatures that reached the eighties. Campers and counselors in all age groups came charging out of their bunks and made their way down to the lake to take their first plunge of the summer. These braves souls want to be members of our Dippies Club, which requires them to start their mornings at camp in this refreshing manner every day of the summer. This tradition started back in 1947 when the camp first opened, and those who have joined the Dippies view this feat as a badge of honor.
After breakfast, every camper was checked for head lice by a professional company, and only your son had head lice. Just kidding! Remarkably, we were 100 percent lice-free. The group leaders and I had a great laugh as we reminisced about one of our favorite ex-campers turned counselor who insisted he be given a head lice check a few years ago. He was so persistent, bordering on annoying, that I instructed the technician to tell this counselor that he, in fact, had head lice. The counselor was upset and a bit mortified but relieved when I offered to pay for his lice treatment. The technician greased up his hair with a thick goo, and the counselor proceeded up to the baseball field to run his activity in the boiling hot sun. Only the administration and I knew that this counselor did not have head lice, and we found great joy at our dear friend’s expense. We only allowed this good-hearted prank to continue for a day or two, no, actually only a few hours. And, to this day, when the head lice company comes, we think about one of our favorite campers turned counselor, and the laughs we had together.
We took our first steps getting into our regularly-scheduled program today. Hobby classes began, and campers of all age levels had a chance to start working on projects and focusing on their creative sides. Every camper had an opportunity to visit every land sport, to participate in mini-games, and get acclimated with the instructors in each program. Just about every camper made his way down to the lake for his swim test, which allows our waterfront director to place our campers in appropriate instructional swim groups.
With all of this preparation underway, we will be ready to move into our regular program tomorrow. One of the keys to a child’s adjustment to camp is getting into a routine. While I do not consider our program overly rigid because we pride ourselves on our flexibility, I do believe children thrive with structure. The pace of our day and the diversity of our activities have given our new campers the ability to get ensconced in camp with less downtime to think about home. I could not ask for a better beginning to camp.
