It’s the Big 10!
It Might Be…It Could Be… It is! The Big 10!
This afternoon we paid tribute to two incredible staff members who have each spent 10 years at North Star: our tennis pro Cecy Jaik and our kitchen manager Rudy Rizo! Not only have these two devoted 10 excellent summers to making camp a better place, but they’ve done so from coming all the way from Mexico! After Cecy’s brother Carlos became our first International Big 10 last year, we can now proudly boast three staff members with the dedication to return for 10 straight summers across international borders. For those who don’t know, the Big 10 is a big surprise for all of our campers and the majority of our staff, especially those being honored in the celebration. Guests, family and friends invited by our honorees, who are often camp alum or connected to North Star in other ways, come up to camp to a huge, welcome embrace, and tell stories about their person.
This year, instead of telling a story about Cecy, Carlos challenged his sister to a spontaneous tennis match on the terrace, and surprised her afterwards with a brand new tennis racket. Members of the kitchen staff shared kind and thoughtful words about their friend and loyal co-worker Rudy, commemorating him not just for the value he brings to us in the kitchen, but the warmth and kindness he shares with us all as a human being. It was a special celebration for two incredibly special individuals.
Afterwards, we gathered around the flagpole to announce our Green/White captains for the session! Green-White is an ongoing competition that spans the entire summer, and so our 8-week campers who were named captains last session will continue to serve as captains for the session, while we named new ones to replace those who were only here for first session. One of North Star’s biggest honors, each village has two captains, chosen by their counselors for good leadership, sportsmanship, and a positive attitude in their cabins and all around camp.
In a special ceremony, the campers are handed torches to hold as the captains’ names are announced one by one. After all have been named, the captains join their torches together to show that even when we’re divided into teams, at North Star we are still always one. Throughout the summer, these captains will get the special responsibility of planning and leading their teams in Green-White events, and serving as role model representatives for the other campers on their team.
Tonight we also had our first Friday Night service of the session! At camp on Friday Night, we enjoy a quieter, more thoughtful evening at the council ring, where we reflect on the past week with a specific theme, sing songs, listen to a sermonette delivered by one of our staff members, and do our keylog ceremony where campers throw a keylog into the campfire to express their gratitude for something. Campers dress up for a formal evening, which means a recommended dress code of a collared shirt and pants or at the very least something clean. We don’t cheer at dinner, and we try to keep the volume down to a minimum. In the lodge, everyone tries to act with their best and most respectful behavior, and at the council ring, we don’t clap after musical performances or the sermonette, we just silently appreciate.
Each week also focuses on a specific theme or value. Through responsive readings and listening to campers and counselors reciting famous quotes and passages related to the theme, we invite and encourage all of our campers to reflect thoughtfully on what the theme means to them. This week’s service was about having a positive attitude, and Alex B. delivered a touching sermonette about what a positive attitude means to him. For many folks here at camp, Friday Night is their favorite and most memorable camp tradition.
