The sun gods smiled on us this week, as if to make up for so many overcast days, and you could feel the unbridled joy as we experienced a jam-packed week of intercamp, socials, and trips. Our oldest campers, the Okees, came back last night after traveling to a nearby camp and earning a hard-fought 10-6 win in roller hockey. On the heels of this exciting win, they woke up today eager to take on the challenge of a 15U lacrosse round-robin, an event that is circled on the camp calendar. In the first game, after coming from behind twice, they succumbed by a point in a back-and-forth struggle. Facing a formidable team in their second game, our oldest campers rose to the challenge and earned an exhilarating victory by scoring the winning goal in overtime! A terrific two days of competition that left our oldest campers spent, but feeling the pride of “leaving it all on the field” and going to battle with their brothers.
Our Junior Grey campers, boys who just finished sixth grade, had the perfect warm, sunny day to splash around at Aquaboggin Water Park in Saco, Maine. They had unlimited use of all the pools and slides, got to ride on Bumper Boats, took to the land to race around the track on Grand Prix Go Carts, and ended with a game of mini-golf. But the day didn’t end there. On the way back to camp, they stopped at Smitty’s, an eat-in movie theater and camper favorite, and watched the latest Mission Impossible movie. This ended a week of Little Trips that gave every age group a break from the regular routine and an opportunity to enjoy a new venue with friends and counselors.
After their evening showers, our Warrior campers headed to the Council Fire Ring and held their weekly campfire, singing and dancing to their favorite camp songs. Neil Minsky, our Senior group leader, took his boys to the ring after the Warriors exited, and spent some time re-capping the week and setting some goals for the week ahead. These get-togethers mean so much as they reinforce the values represented by the Arch Ideals that we embrace each and every day.
Tomorrow, we’ll host our annual Takajo Swim Invitational, which will showcase our talented swimmers and our professionally trained waterfront staff. Under the direction of Nick Andreacci (who moonlights as our IT specialist and camp-wide troubleshooter), this competition will be organized and run in a way that rivals a college swim meet.
On Sunday, many of our boys will visit their sisters and cousins at nearby girls’ camps. The girls will return the favor next week when they join us for our annual Carnival. Still so much to look forward to before we host our first Visiting Day since 2019. It’s hard to believe we’ve already come to the end of week three. The summer is going way too fast!
