The weather gods caught up with us today as we awoke to gray skies and steady rain. The perfect weather to stay home, cozy up to a roaring fire, and read a good book, but that would not happen. Oblivious to the rain, our boys came barreling out of their bunks at the sound of Reville and charged to the dining room for their favorite Dunkin’ Donuts.
After breakfast, our boys took turns in our two indoor sports complexes playing dodgeball, basketball, and indoor soccer. College lacrosse stars Cardin Stoller and Kyle Morris ran indoor lacrosse clinics all day, working on passing, catching, and stick control. The Warriors piled into the Warrior Rec. Hall with their Diablos for a clinic on performing epic moves from our Diablo specialist.
The hobbies were bustling all day with boys creating some fantastic works of art. The cast of Hercules was in the MJG Playhouse doing a read-through and blocking scenes for the Senior Big Show. I told the staff during preseason orientation to expect the unexpected. And today, our counselors performed at the highest level, keeping our boys active and stimulated.
After dinner, the rain started to dissipate, and we took the opportunity to have a family night for our boys. While some camps have extensive “brother” programs, we choose to have “families” within the Takajo community. Our little guys can meet and interact with campers of all age levels in camp. Tonight, each of our oldest boys (Okees) went to the bunk of a Sub Senior (14-year-olds) to welcome him into his Takajo family. The Okee and Sub Senior then went to the bunk of an Intermediate camper (13-year-olds) to welcome that boy into their Takajo family. The groups expanded as they made their way throughout the entirety of campus. As you can imagine, our Hawks (third graders) and Crows (first and second graders) had their hands against the bunk screen windows, looking out in anticipation of meeting their Takajo family.
It is a beautiful opportunity to show leadership and role modeling to our youngest boys and a thrill for our little guys to be in the presence of our camp leaders. Our Okees imparted their knowledge of camp, sharing the camp’s traditions and answering questions from our younger campers. These groups will try to eat together at cookouts, sit together at camp events, and look after one another throughout the summer. While the rain created a dreary start to the day, our counselors and Okees managed to make this another memorable day.
