Today Day Camp 2 made some new friends. They made pet rocks!  The names of their cool new pals are Cobber, Seasmo. Rocky, Sparkle, Maximus, Orion and Rockster. The campers wrote stories about the pets and how they were born/ found, about their best friends, favorite foods and favorite pastimes. It was a fun day for all!


-Anna (DC 2 counselor)

One of the reasons that our fourth session is exceptionally special is because we hold our color wars!  All of camp is split up into four teams and compete for the glory of being the winning team.  This year our theme was the Empire Strikes Back! The team captains each chose an empire for their teams. Captains George and Jack chose to be the Aborigines, Captains Becca and Jordan chose to be the Aztecs, Captains Maddy and Paul chose to be the Vikings and Captains Ellie and Maddie chose to be Team Greece   The teams spent Friday afternoon, all of Saturday and Sunday morning prepping and planning team costumes, practicing team songs and cheers, creating team banners and practicing their events.  During this time team pride was evident in the dining hall.  Throughout meals teams would stand up in the dining hall and chant catchy cheers.  Some were catchy like team Greece’s “G-R-E-E-C-E. Greece will have a victory!” And others were creative like Team Aborigine’s “You know how we do, do, blowing our didgeridoo dos!”

Come Sunday teams were motivated and prepared for the afternoon’s events.  It all began at 11 am in the council ring.  All of the teams gathered to present all that they had prepared.   Team Aborigine went first.  Their presentation was based off of a rainbow serpent’s dream world since that was how the Aborigine’s believed the world was created.  Their costumes were colorful and lively and included the rainbow serpent, kangaroos, Steve Irwin, tribal princesses and fire bearers.  All of their artwork included Aboriginal dot work and came out nicely! Their song was to the tune of the happy song “Ikko Ikko”. Next was Team Aztec! They re-enacted a human sacrifice and told the story of the last Emperor, Montezuma.  Their costumes included a human temple, tribal people and a two headed snake!  Their lengthy song to one of Camp’s favorite folk songs “Where have all the Flowers Gone?” was very informative and was accompanied by guitar players! Following the Aztecs was team Greece. They did a lovely job going over the story of Greek Gods and Goddesses and even included a bit of information on Greece’s current events.  Some notable costumes included Medusa and a person she turned to stone, Helen of Troy, Hercules, Pegasus and Athena.  On top of everything they constructed an impressively large Trojan horse. Last but not least was team Vikings. Their performance was true to character seeing as it was a tad frightening! They arrived in a beautiful and massive ship with seven rowers in it. Each of which had a paddle that had a letter of the word “Vikings” on it.  Their presentation included Viking Gods and Goddesses, giants and Valkyries. Overall the judges were astounded with the creativity and execution of these presentations.

After lunch the games commenced! The afternoon is split into four rounds. The first three are composed of games and competitions that every camper participates in while the fourth round is a giant relay race. The events of the first three rounds are varied but all are so wonderful.  Some are creative like one event where campers need to create a vision of their empire on the beach out of sand and limited supplies. Some can be competitive like water basketball, tug of war, log sawing and nukem while others focus on camp crafts like ladder lashing and tent pitching.  There is an event for everyone and campers have a lot of fun with these events. At the end of these rounds, the teams were all very close in points.  Team Aborigine was in the lead by only a half dozen points which put a ton of pressure on the relay. 

The relay race covers almost every area of camp.   It begins with a camper making a bed and folding pajamas in the parking lot.  They run matches to someone who eats a huge slice of watermelon and then a third person run the matches to archery.  Two campers have to hit the target twice.  Then a water bucket is walked through a windy path without spilling.  The matches are passed to campers in inner tubes in the big pool then to campers making loops around the small pool.  Two campers have to make two hoops at basketball, one camper pushes another in a wheel barrow, then other campers have to ring two horseshoes.  The matches move over to hockey at the tennis courts, then to toilet paper - where two campers take turns wrapping a stationary camper in toilet paper.  Then the matches go down to the waterfront to get canoed out to Santa Claus and kayaked back to the beach.  A few campers fill a five gallon bucket with sand and then some more dribble a soccer ball across the ballfield and back and then the matches get run up to the team fire builders in Boys Homestead where they must build a fire and burn through their rope first. The teams were neck and neck throughout the entirety of the relay.   Every team had a moment where they were ahead of everyone else.  They all arrived to the fire pit within a minute of each other and ultimately team Aborigine’s rope burned all the way through first!

After everyone celebrated and washed off, all of camp headed to the beach where hotdogs and hamburgers were barbequed.  After all the excitement everyone was exhausted so they headed to bed.  All of camp earned an extra hour of sleep this morning!   Now that the weekend has passed camp is back to our regular schedule except for both Adventure Pathfinder groups who left camp to go on a two night camping trip at Trap Pond.

Peace!

Melissa

Greetings from Fourth Session here at Arrowhead! We’ve had some refreshingly cool weather recently, but that all changed today with a heat wave! Have no worries though, we were prepared with water stations posted around camp, and the daily swim blocks and free swims have never been so appreciated. Many cabins also did extra water activities. H2 and Adventure Pathfinder Group 2 went banana boating today. P7, H1, and Day Camp 1 went kayaking and canoeing, and P6, P4, H8 went sailing. Speaking of sailing, the sailing pathfinders beat the heat with sailboat races as they tried out their new skills. And H7 dropped water balloons off the beach tower at targets, with the waterfront staff as special guest commentators.

Wednesdays are always fun days here at camp because they always end with a cookout for dinner. Every age group does something different, but all end with full bellies and fun memories. All of the homestead groups went out to their home in the woods, called outpost, to make burgers and s’mores. They spend the evening there, each getting a chance to help build a fire, cook their burgers, then build their own s’mores. Outpost ended today with a session of round robin group game favorites such as Ninja, Bang, and Hi-Ya. Then Homestead trekked back to camp and H6, H7, H1, and H3 went to a night time free swim. While that was happening, our Taste of Camp cabins, H2, H4, H8, and H10 went to a bonfire to celebrate their last on camp. Each group did a skit, along with several groups of specialists and the Adventure Pahtfinders in group 2, who graciously helped send off our little guys with a few skits of their own.  

In Pioneer, Wednesday means Potluck day! Each group cooks a large quantity of a dish for the whole of pioneer to share. Today, The ladies of P1 made Quiche, P2 made Fruit Salad Kabobs, P3 made Pankins (which are bacon, apple slices, and pancakes all rolled into one),  P4 made Rosemary and Bacon Roasted Potatoes, P5 made Dutch Oven Monkey Bread, P6 made grilled PB & Js, and P7 made Train Wrecks (a plethora of breakfast foods, vegetables, and potatoes all mixed together). As you can imagine, no one left the potluck without a very full belly.

The Pathfinder groups had a potluck of their own on the beach, serving Chicken Stir Fry, Roasted Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Pesto Pasta, and Monkey Bread. The Adventure Pathfinders also caught sea food from the bay and added Mussels Diablo, Fried Clams, and Boiled Crabs. After eating, the pathfinders hung out on the beach and played volleyball as the sunset.

I can’t imagine a more fun way to end a Wednesday than eating homemade cooking and hanging out with friends. Just one of the many reasons why Camp Arrowhead is so wonderful!

Until next time friends,
Emma
Girl’s Homestead Unit Leader

              One major perk of two week sessions is since there is more time, groups have the option to camp out! The Adventure Pathfinders packed up their coolers, tents, and canoes for a two night excursion to Trap Pond State Park.  To prep for this trip, the campers went on a two hour canoe trip on Thursday morning with their counselors, the waterfront director, and their unit leader.  While at Trap pond, this unit will canoe under cypress trees, explore the many hiking trails, and cookout seven meals over fire.  When they return we will make sure to tell you all about their adventures in great detail!
                Back at Camp Arrowhead, the Pioneer cabins left their homes in pioneer to go on an overnight 15 minutes away in Outpost.  They carried their tents and cooking materials and spent the night out there.  For entertainment, they played all sorts of games and when the timing was right all of the units ventured out to the marsh to watch the sunset.  P1 was feeling adventurous so they made chili in a bucket and s’mores with Oreos.  P4 planned chapel so they could lead it in the morning for the rest of the units out In Outpost.  All in all, this overnight was a success!                
                When Pioneer came home from their overnight on Tuesday they were pleasantly surprised to meet the new Taste of Campers.  The Taste of Campers or as we call them sometimes “Tasties”, will be here for three nights and about four days to try out the many activities Arrowhead has to offer and experience life away from home. We are very happy to ride out the rest of the session with them.

Peace!

Theresa, Sam and Melissa

During our two week sessions here at camp we hold a Sunday Central where all of camp joins forces and holds an event for everyone to enjoy.  This session’s theme was Halloween and we had a blast with it! The evening was broken up into 3 events; a Halloween party, a haunted house and a spooky hayride. 

The party was were groups spent the majority of their evening.  This is where groups showed off their awesome costumes that they worked on earlier that day. Each group created a monster which they brought to be displayed at the party as well. Campers had the option to have either their palm read or their fortune told to them via a crystal ball.  They also danced the night away and munched on caramel corn and Halloween candy.

Each group was taken to our Rec Hall where normally we store all of our camping equipment.  The building was transformed into an asylum themed haunted house.  Led by two creepy zombie dolls and filled with our staff members dressed as patients of the asylum, we sure got a few screams out of the campers! 

Then campers got to explore a spooky side of camp on the hayride.  This was nothing like Arrowhead’s usual hayride where groups sing songs and get a tour of camp’s beauty.  Instead they were taken all over camp where non counseling staff had set up creepy stations in every hidden corner of the property.  Zombies, clowns, witches and an exorcism were all included in the scare tactics among many others. It is safe to say that eve though everyone got a little spooked, everyone had a fun night.


  After all of the excitement groups headed to bed.  Since we were up a little late last night, everyone got to sleep in an extra hour which was a nice reward for everyone’s hard work. Since it is Monday we have a new batch of day campers and we are back to our regular schedule!  Here’s to making this week as fun as last week!

Peace,

Melissa

Second Session is I full swing and camp has been heating up! With temperatures in the 90’s counselors are adapting to keep the campers cool as well as entertained!   H-6, P-1 and TOC B all have cooled off at the bay on the banana boat.  P-2 decided to take the paddleboards out for a spin on the bay today.  Meanwhile Counselor Beth and her assistant counselor Maggie held a relay race for their P-6campers at the bay.  Our Sailing Pathfinders are especially lucky because they get to spend their entire afternoon on the water. They have been doing an extraordinary job learning to captain Sunfish boats in pairs.  Tomorrow they will take it up a notch and learn to sail Hobie waves!  

Since yesterday was Wednesday we practiced one of  Camp Arrowhead’s most special traditions; Wednesday night cookout! Every Wednesday evening the dining hall shuts down for an extra thorough cleaning while groups cook their own meals.  Homestead, day camp and Taste of Camp groups venture out to the woods in Outpost and cook delicious burgers with their groups.  This gives these groups a nice camping-like feel without actually spending the night. They spend the rest of their evening playing a big game of capture the counselor with the rest of the groups.  Once that is over with, they tidy up and walk back to camp just in time to cool off at the pool during free swim!

This session Pioneer groups held a Dutch-Oven-a-Palooza! Each group was asked to make a dish of their choice in a Dutch oven. P-7 decided to be adventurous and made a delicious quiche. P-1 kept it classic (but still delicious) and made chicken and rice.  Other dishes included apple crumble, loaded mac and cheese, stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes! Campers and staff left full and satisfied.

Meanwhile, both the Adventure and Sailing Pathfinder groups cooked out dishes at their respective sites then brought them to the beach to share. SPF cooked a tasty pot of chili.  They ended up with tons of extra garbanzo beans and time to spare so they got creative and decided to mash them into hummus!  APF set out crab traps that morning and lucked out by catching 14 crabs! With them they made a delicious surf and turf stir fry. 

After the cookout the TOC headed down to the council ring for their farewell bonfire.  Both groups performed skits that were short but sweet for sure.  We sang a plethora of camp songs and lit our traditional candles as we sent the Taste of Campers away to do their last night of reflections with their groups before heading home in the morning.  We miss them already and look forward to seeing a new group check in on Monday!


Peace!

Melissa