Cruising & Super Bowl Rings
Today we began our last cruiser day of the session with a lovely donut and cereal breakfast served by Dan and Beth. They introduced a new donut this morning that was a huge sensation among the campers: cream-filled chocolate long johns! It was a great start to a beautiful, sunny 75 degree day filled with awesome fun.
This week, our I4-S3 age group had their Village Cruiser Day, where they headed to Adventure Zone in Duluth, MN for some fun with laser-tag, mini-golf, batting cages, and arcade games. Tuckered out from all the excitement, campers and counselors headed to Duluth Beach for a nice, relaxing evening with some delicious pizza.
Back at North Star, we sent the brave cabin of J-1 out on the Mighty Namekagon River for our youngest cabin’s first ever trip. J-2 returned from a successful trip on the same river and got to enjoy the rest of the day here doing cruiser day activities as a cabin. This week saw special activities of “Make Your Own Jibbitz” where campers got to design and create their own jibbitz out of clay for their crocs. Cabins also got the option to make Mini Pizzas in the kitchen, which is such a joy to watch as campers get to experience the satisfaction of noshing on the fruits of their own labor, after they spent the period mixing ingredients together, kneading dough, applying toppings, and waiting patiently as their pizzas cooked in the oven. Full of culinary enthusiasts, the chefs of Pine Manor were granted the special request to make Carne Asada tacos in the kitchen, and the result was outstanding.
Together, they worked hard to sear the steak, slice up onions and cilantro, cook tortillas on the stove, and make a delightful hot pepper salsa from scratch. Everyone served their part, with those less cooking-inclined helping out by getting together everything the chefs needed, cleaning up afterwards, and playing great tunes in the kitchen to keep up the great energy. It was a great time for the whole cabin, who generously offered me a taste when they were finished.
Our oldest boys gathered tonight to hear from Brandt Tilis, the Executive Vice President of the Carolina Panthers football team and my cabinmate from my camper years here. He talked with the boys about his career, working in sports, and about how what he learned in his years at North Star helped prepare him for a career in the NFL. He spent 14 years with the Kansas City Chiefs and (per Glick’s request) brought along his three Super Bowl rings for the campers to see and even try-on. The boys asked questions for nearly two hours and would have kept going if we would have let them. We’re so proud of Brandt and were so lucky to have him visit camp and spend time inspiring our boys!
As we look to the week ahead, there’s still plenty of camping left for our first session folks! We still have two more days of activities, Espionage, Peels Day, and a whole lot more exciting stuff planned for everyone!
