Revolutionary Spirit

One of our Intermediate campers summed it up this way. “Fourth of July is one of those days that makes you wish camp went on all year.” When you walk into the dining hall, the guys are singing and dancing.  Born in the USA, Party in the USA, Proud to be an American, and the Star Spangled Banner echoed loudly through the Lodge this morning. Then we read the Declaration of Independence and talked about what the day means to us at camp. In a community with campers and counselors from around the world, this day commemorates not just pride in our country, but also the important of standing up for what you believe in. We emphasize at camp the importance of always doing what’s right, even when it’s hard, and Independence day is a great reminder of that.

The morning was our Green-White Marathon. This is a relay race that includes nearly every event in camp. It starts with a running race and includes fun-bugging, swimming, canoeing, climbing, archery, riflery, biking, skipping, tent building, tennis volleying, bed making, basketball shooting, bucket filling, singing, and more, before leading to Boil Water Boil. In this final event, the whole camp gathers around as the two teams compete to build a fire that can boil a tin can full of water over the top first. It was a very close race with the White team squeezing out Boil Water Boil to take the lead and win the Marathon.

After lunch, we gave the boys some time to pretty themselves up for our Fourth of July picnic with camp Birch Trail. We took the bus over to Minong and were greeted by the girls disguised as pirates. It was a great night filled with games and dancing, and of course the ritual of trying to out-cheer each other.