Last day of camp and banquet

Today was the final full day of fourth session! Our campers and staff certainly ended the final session of the summer with a bang – today saw a final round of class activities, lots of fun and games, and a breathtaking formal banquet to remember.

Since today was the final chance for cabins to break out ahead in the quest for cabin excellence, the morning was filled with extra-special gestures in both Boys’ and Girls’ camp. Both head counselors were impressed with sparkling cabins, staff tables promptly set, and heartwarming smiles from all quarters. All the cabins in both camps strove hard to earn the Cabin Excellence award, but the winners would not be revealed until the final banquet!

The rest of the morning was devoted to the final two class periods of the session. As usual, the enthusiastic staff and campers kept the fun and the energy coming through these last classes. The waterfront reverberated with splashes and giggles as campers perfected their strokes and showed off their fancy dives, and the game field was host to several climactic games of Ultimate Frisbee. The mountain biking class got a chance to explore new trails, while RAFT class completed a lake swim while singing the telephone song to one another.

The afternoon was spent packing and preparing for that evening’s final banquet. The theme was the Roaring Twenties, and campers and staff arrived in fine form. Flappers and newsboys filled Alford Hall, mingling with the odd vagabond or Charlie Chaplin lookalike. Jazz records crowded the walls, and as the sounds of Benny Goodman’s Orchestra poured out of the stage speakers, campers and staff enjoyed a multi-course meal of pork tenderloin, cream of asparagus soup, fancy cheeses, potatoes hollandaise, and strawberry cake for dessert.

After dinner was done, the improv class entertained everyone with hilarious games of “Freeze” and “The Dating Game.” Campers and staff then gathered around the stage to applaud those receiving awards in archery, horseback riding, swimming, and Trailblazers. The campers also showed their gratitude to the CITs and the staff with many hearty rounds of applause. After much anticipation, Ian and Jasmine also revealed the winners of the Cabin Excellence award: Atira in the girls’ camp and Norman Lodge in the boys’ camp! The banquet concluded, as always, with a slideshow of pictures from the past two weeks. This slideshow was particularly poignant as it included not only astounding pictures from the session taken by Emily and Nathan W., but also some extraordinary nature photography courtesy of Sue Holzberlein.

As the evening wound to a close, campers and staff walked two-by-two down to Laughlin Lodge, each carrying their own candle. When the candles were lit and placed on the porch of the lodge, the glow illuminated everyone’s faces as they sang “One Little Candle” and the Crystal Lake song, “Symbol of Serenity.”

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