If I was able to wave a magic wand and dream up the perfect Opening Day, I couldn’t think of much I would have changed about today.
The weather was picture perfect— mid-seventies, bright sunshine, and just enough of a breeze coming across the lake to remind us we were in Maine. Buses from all over the country rolled into camp right on schedule, with the exception of our boys from Philadelphia, who are still bitter after losing four in a row to the New York Knicks.
One by one, the buses pulled in. Before the luggage compartments were even opened, our returning campers were already searching the crowd for familiar faces. Within moments there were hugs, high fives, and boys picking up conversations exactly where they had left them ten months ago. Summer friendships have a remarkable way of making time stand still.
Our first-time campers stepped off the buses carrying a mixture of excitement, curiosity, and, for some, a little uncertainty. Within minutes they had met their counselors, who introduced them to their bunkmates and walked them toward what, today, was an unfamiliar cabin, but in a matter of days will feel like home.
Every Opening Day, I walk through camp in the afternoon to check on our boys.
As the day settles in, there’s a quiet shift. A counselor walks onto a basketball court with three boys. A fourth asks if he can play. Before long there are eight boys on the Warrior court. In other corners of camp, counselors start a game of gaga, tennis courts fill up, and an impromptu touch football game breaks out on the Warrior Quad.
At first, all you see are games. But if you stop and watch, you realize that boys who had never met just hours earlier are running, laughing, cheering, and calling each other by name.
It’s one of the magical things about camp. Children don’t build friendships through introductions; they build them through shared experiences. Give boys a ball, a good counselor, and a little encouragement, and strangers quickly become teammates.
I’ve always believed boys thrive with structure— not rigidity, but routines that create comfort and confidence. By dinner, they knew where they slept, where they ate, where to put their clothes, and who would be sitting beside them. There is something incredibly reassuring about that. Tonight’s menu of chicken fingers and French fries certainly didn’t hurt either.
After dinner, each division gathered with its group leader to hear about the summer ahead. There was plenty of excitement as campers learned about shared traditions, special events, and some of the surprises that await. As the evening wound down, the boys settled into a new rhythm: showers, snacks, conversations in the bunk, and the kind of laughter that seems just a little louder on the first night of camp.
Our goal today was simple: that every boy would feel welcomed, safe, cared for, and excited for tomorrow before his head hit the pillow. I can’t help but think that we’re off to a wonderful start.
