Our Camp Takajo boys started their morning today with a slightly later Reveille and their favorite breakfast. We held team practices for basketball tournaments that are coming up this week and worked on costumes in preparation for our Takajo Carnival, which takes place on Wednesday. Campers also took advantage of our coaches who made themselves available for our boys who wanted to get a little extra attention in the sport of their choice. Campers who have sisters and cousins at Camp Vega, Camp Fernwood, and Camp Pinecliffe took off mid-morning for brother-sister-cousin events hosted at their family member’s camp.
It was difficult not to be glued to the screen as two of the best male tennis players in the world faced off in the finals at Wimbledon. We lowered the big screen in the dining hall and turned the match on during lunch time so that our boys would have the opportunity to see these two warriors compete during our meal.
I have always told my sons that when they compete I never want to be able to tell whether they are winning or losing by the expression on their faces or by their body language. An example of this philosophy was never more evident for our boys in camp than this afternoon when they watched Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic battle to a fifth set tiebreaker in the final. I was pleased to see that even though the meal had ended, our boys were glued to this final and remained in the dining room through rest hour just so they could see the outcome. I took this opportunity to address the boys and use this grueling match as an example of how true athletes compete. There was no whining or complaining about calls. There were no excuses for injuries or faulty equipment. It was two men giving every ounce of their energy, focus, and determination to win a championship.
In the end, our boys witnessed a humble winner and a gracious loser, who rightfully was disappointed that he lost. Roger Federer should have no regrets because he gave a hundred percent. What also resonated for me about this match, as I watched this among our campers and staff, was seeing these two athletes, competing in their tennis whites with no flashy outfits, just traditional tennis attir– allowing the focus to be on their skill and not their fashion.
Tomorrow, our thirteen- and fifteen-and-under basketball teams will compete at a neighboring camp in what has always been a very intense basketball tournament. Watching this tennis match, provided the perfect opportunity for me to show our boys how important it is to keep one’s composure in the heat of battle.
This evening, the entire camp came together into the MJG Playhouse to watch our Senior Big Show, Bugsy Malone, for the first time. The MJG Playhouse, named after Camp Takajo’s founder, Morty Goldman, was built in 1953. This was the first large building that Morty built in camp. Contrary to the belief that Takajo focuses primarily on sports, Morty believed that the strength of a camp was based on its diversity and structure of the program. Morty felt that it was important to build the playhouse in the early years of camp, rather than an indoor sports complex because he wanted a space large enough that the entire camp could assemble. Hanging on the walls inside this iconic building are pictures of every cast that has performed in a Senior Big Show since the inception of camp.
Our campers were entertained to a show that featured two, rival gangs in New York City back in 1929. While these gangs were adversaries, by the end of the play, we realized that they had more in common with one another. On some levels, it reminded me of a few bunks we have around here. For a few of our actors, this was the last time performing on the Takajo stage, and they should be proud that their performance was memorable. As with the ending of every camp event, our Okees, the oldest boys in camp, led us in the singing of the Camp Alma Mater.
As I looked out onto the campers and staff, I couldn’t help but notice how the camp has come together in the first four weeks of summer. We are truly becoming a family, building friendships and making lifelong connections. We have had our share of gleefully happy moments and have wrestled with moments of struggle, but we are learning how to live with one another, how to show respect and empathy for each other, and the importance of making everyone feel valued. It’s going to be a busy week and an emotional weekend, but we count our blessings for every moment we have together.
