We are off to a great start:
Dear Parents,
The first wave of boys for the 2019 summer arrived on Sunday, June 23rd. We had a great beginning day with waterfront orientation capped off by a council fire where counselors described the activities they teach, the history of the camp was shared, stories were told, and boys participated in campfire challenges. The camp song was sung followed by lights out. Monday brought sign up, where boys chose the activities for periods one and two for the week. That evening, campers grouped together and enjoyed a guided tour of the lake, choosing either row boat, canoe, kayak or war canoe as their means of transportation. Other evening highlights during the week included a "Minute to Win it" competition in the Main Lodge led by Matt Dandola, where cabin mates competed against other cabins in numerous one minute challenges. I found it most entertaining as an observer. Another extremely creative evening event was the counselor skit that accompanied "Log Reading" This is a weekly event where the counselors create a consistently hilarious skit, while working into the play the daily logs written by the campers. This week's theme was a visit from some Texas business tycoons looking to cash out on the local denim market. Their visit to Camp Wachusett proved fruitful. You would have had to have seen see it.
Each year the camp is divided into two teams (Blue Grey) where participants compete throughout the summer in a variety of events. The first such event occurred on Tuesday in the form of Capture the Flag, when regular activities were rained out. Blue pulled off the first victory of the season. The next competition took place Thursday on the waterfront with a modified Wachusett version of volleyball. Grey pulled out the victory. That was followed by an intense canoe and kayak relay race starting at the beach stretching around the ski dock and back to the beach, where paddles were handed off to the next teammate. Blue came up with the very close victory in that event. The over all score is Blue-2 Grey-1. The editor will remain unbiased, although he was on the grey team when a camper.
Friday was a full day off the property for Early Birds to the Great Escape Amusement Park and Water Park followed by an excursion to the village of Lake George to enjoy the arcades, wax museum, Ben and Jerry's and numerous other hotspots, before heading back to camp in time for bed.
Saturday as this is being written, we are off to a normal morning of activities. There is a strong likelihood of thunderstorms in the afternoon, which will send us to Rutland for a few rounds of bowling. Tonight we will have council fire with counselor reports and awards, followed by challenges.
Letters written home by campers were put in the mail today, so if you have not already received communications from your son, the letters are on their way.
Airline transportation for the boys returning home on July 7th is SWA #5719 departing Albany at 11:35 am on July 7th and arriving at BWI at 12:50pm. Boys arriving on July 7th will use SWA Flight #4214 Departing BWI at 2:35pm.
We will also send a van or bus to the Scott Residence in Greenwich, CT (109 Byram Shore Road, Greenwich, CT 06830) to pick up boys on July 7th and drop off on July 20th. The Scott Family has offered to provide sandwiches, water and cookies at their home on the 7th. We will plan to arrive at 12:30 and be on the road to VT by 1:00 pm. We will need an accurate headcount for passengers and luggage. Please e-mail me as soon as you can with that information.
That is a wrap for week one. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Unaliyi from the staff at Camp Wachusett! Best Regards, Phil