We are so GRATEFUL for the break in the heat this week.  Of course that meant that there were storms to contend with Monday and high winds Tuesday and Wednesday - but yesterday, yesterday was a fantastic day on the waterfront!  Several staff were down there helping the waterfront crank out some sailing rides all afternoon and during free time.

Last night we held a mini central on the beach.  Arrowhead takes a lot of pride in being decentralized. (Our emphasis is on the individual group experience over planning things out with other cabins.  So, when we do all camp activities we call it a Central because it's really the only "centralized" thing we do) And when we decide to do Centrals - we do it right!   All of our Specialists (non-counseling staff) and Day Camp Staff ran activity or food booths all of the beach.  The Outside Crew spent most of their day rigging up strings of lights between the trees and trees of floodlights to keep it all bright and cheery.  Paul and George , from the Environmental Center, hosted a hot dog bar with our Prep Cooks, Chloe & Roisin.  Kat, Arman, and Wyatt were serving up fresh popcorn.  Morgan and Ellie were scooping up snow cones.  Maddy and Molly from the Craft Shop ran a really silly photo booth.  Carleigh and Nikki from the infirmary were doing face paint with David from the kitchen.  There were tons of games to play and glow in the dark necklaces for everyone!!  A highlight was pie throwing - campers got to throw plates of shaving cream at staff members.  It was EVERYWHERE.  Word of the street is that it tastes minty and clean but no one would highly recommend getting it in your mouth.

We're all a little sad that it's the last day but we're squeezing in all the last moments of fun that we can while we prepare for all of tonight's festivities - Camp Arrowhead (Cheesy) Chicken for dinner, Dirt for dessert, Eucharist with Ginny Wilder from Trinity and Old Swedes in Wilmington, and the CAMPFIRE!!!!  

See you tomorrow camp families!!

peace-
Teri V (The Program Director)

Fourth Session is off to a great start!!  The Ad Staff took time at the meeting last night to check out the weather forecast.  It was promising rain from 3am to 6pm..... so believe you me - we were pretty happy when it only rained for about an hour and half today!!  Yes - there was still thunder to interfere with both free swims but the campers and staff handled it like champs.

Homestead came up to the dining hall and played games with the counselors and all of the specialists who suddenly found themselves free as the storm rolled in.  And Pioneer spent their Free Swim playing Worst Case Scenario with Justin over the loud speaker.  He would read some multiple choice answers to crazy survival scenarios and the campers would cheer for their favorite answers.

Just a few pro tips here - but if you find yourself driving in quicksand - you should follow other tire tracks - NOT slow down or swerve back and forth.  And motorcycle helmets with construction goggles makes better head wear than tin foil in the case of volcanic eruption.  You're welcome.

The weather cleared up in time for Free Time and evening activities are moving along just swimingly - Hay Rides, Drum Circles and a Mariachi Themed Bonfire at the beach :)  We're confident the first day was full and we're sure that all will sleep well tonight.

TODAY IN THE DINING HALL:
BREAKFAST: Pancakes & Sausage
LUNCH: Meatball Subs, Carrots & Fritos
DINNER: TACO NIGHT!!!

peace,
​Teri V (The Program Director)

This summer at camp we’ve been learning about what it means to love God and love our neighbors through service and gratitude. We start our week by learning Jesus’ greatest commandments: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself (as you might imagine we’ve been singing Love Round II quite a bit this summer). Then throughout the week different groups lead chapels with different themes such as serving others, practicing patience, kindness and forgiveness, as well as working together. This week H-8 gave a really great skit about helping others using John Cena and The Rock, and tomorrow’s chapel includes some very interesting renditions of some of our favorite chapel songs by P2.

Along with our summer theme, we have activities that campers complete to help engage with loving God and their neighbors. Campers have filled out ‘fruits of the spirit values posters’ which ask campers to think about problems in the world they would solve (so far my favorite has been the JFK assassination), kind people in their lives (a lot of campers have been listing their counselors and fellow bunkmates!) and things they are good at so they can brainstorm ways in which their talents can serve others. On Tuesday’s, we fill out chapel cards, where campers give a small portion of their store cards to our chapel fund. The chapel fund helps campers who might not be able to come camp otherwise as well as funds a young girl in the Philippines with medicine, general hygiene products as well as school supplies and tuition. So many people are grateful for the money the campers have donated, and we hope they feel proud knowing that even at such a young age they can help make a difference.

One of my favorite activities we’ve done this summer has been top secret service missions, where groups perform intentional acts of kindness for other groups around camp. Last session P8 created a nature center piece and name plates while they set P1’s table, and P7 cooked out and gifted P8 with homemade banana boats. Meanwhile this
week the SPF girls are planning to serenade their secret service target, the SPF boys with a homemade song. It’s been a blast watching groups plan and scheme ways to brighten someone else’s day. We’ve also been sending groups out on Random Acts of Kindness Scavenger hunts, where they run about camp giving people compliments, helping specialists clean their areas, and learn fun facts about some of our staff members! These scavenger hunts end by the whole group ringing the friendship bell, and golly is it exciting to hear the groups recount their scavenger hunt adventures and the new friends they’ve made. Last week H-5 was particularly excited as they ran throughout camp and complimented our dining hall supervisor Lexie’s hair. Aunt Doreen has also been in a
bunch this summer helping groups make cards to give to staff members, as well as making boxes filled with nice notes and sweets to be distributed to local police and firemen, as well as sent abroad to family members of campers who are in the military.

We are so excited that we are getting to spread the love of camp to those who do so much for us each day.

One homestead camper affectionately called me the chapel lady last session, however, a more accurate title may have been the labyrinth lady. since every group comes to the labyrinth to do a great activity called U Rock. We usually do this activity towards the end of the week, and have campers walk through the labyrinth blowing bubbles and saying things they are thankful for, popular ones have included their
families, friends, pets, camp, nature, and pizza. When campers get to the center we pass around a rock, and campers tell one another why they rock. Last week with P8 we did the compliment throne and everyone in the group complimented everyone else, and H6 last week ended with a smiley, giggly, group hug (and a few tears from their counselors).

It’s a great thing to watch so many groups reflect upon their week and the ways in which their cabin mates have helped them out and made them smile.  When we close each session, we tend to do it in style with a Eucharist service. Each group has a part in making the service successful, from making bread, to singing songs and performing skits. This summer we’ve heard great renditions of Justin Bieber’s “Love
Yourself”, and Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” rewritten to talk about camp and chapel. However, the greatest part of eucharist is definitely our closing song, “Lean on Me” when campers circle up and put their arms around one another, it’s a great reminder of the family each unit forms in their time at camp.

I hope that when your kids venture home they will keep the lessons of loving God, and their neighbors close to their heart, we’ve definitely seen it’s impact on our community here at camp.

Peace,
Bethany (Our Christian Education Director/ Chapel Lady)

I know you're all bummed we didn't get a chance to post 4th Session.  I'm super bummed about it myself.  Time just did not allow.... but I promised at least one awesome Mom I'd write a mega post complete with pictures :)

We've had a record number of campers this summer - including a PACKED 4th Session.  We boasted a record number of 2 week Homestead Campers (over 60), EIGHT full Pioneer Units and a two super groups of Pathfinders - (18 and 15 campers).  Below are the Unit Photos for anyone who may have misplaced theirs or simply just wanted to see the other groups.

Our Sunday Central was our 18th Annual Color War - Elemental Evolution.  The Teams were Earth - Captained by Paul & Maddy, Fire - Captained by Ellie & Becca, Water - Captained by Michelle & Grace, and Wind - Captained by Stephen & Jocelyn.  The Ad Staff were judges and Team Spirit for the events. 

All of camp is split into four teams - that begin to meet Friday to plan out their team cheer, song, costumes, flag, banner and Presentation as well as who will compete in each event.  Presentations are made to all of Camp after Eucharist Sunday morning.  Three rounds of events play out in the afternoon and the day culminates with an enormous Relay Race all over camp - where every team member plays a part.  They pass a set of matches from the beginning to the end of the race and are done when their team builds a fire and burns through their rope.  It's pretty exciting.  This year was particularly "breathtaking" as Team Wind came back from 4th place to win the relay - but ultimately, Water won the War.

Below are some photos of the teams, the banners, flags and fire builders - a coveted position to hold in the relay race.

There was a CRAZY rainstorm during Wednesday Night Cookout the 2nd week.  All our staff had to put their wet wood fire skills to the test.  And as you can see - even the smallest of campers (our Taste of Camp Boys) managed to grill their burgers over a fire and enjoy their cookout just the same :)

Overnights are a true gift of the 2 week session.  Having more time to get all the regular camp activities done totally creates the space to head out into the woods, cookout several meals in a row and sleep in tents!! The Adventure Pathfinders slept over in Outpost the first week and got to take a 2 night overnight at Trap Pond the second week.  All of Pioneer went on overnights in Outpost the second week.  And several Homestead cabins went on Outpost overnights during the first week.  The Adventure Pathfinders also went on a long canoe trip from our waterfront around Herring's Landing and into Wolf Pit Pond - across the street from Camp's Exit Road.  It was low tide upon their return - and, well, it got a little messy :)

We also had some special visitors with us this session. Bishop Wright joined us for dinner one night and lead a song with a super fan and Assistant Counselor, Declan. Father Calhoun Wick, a member of Christ Church, Christiana Hundred, visited camp with Mr Hal Haskell - a lovely gentleman that actually helped to purchase camp for the Diocese in 1954.  Father Jeff Ross, from St Peter's in Lewes celebrated Sunday Eucharist with us.  And Father Max Wolf from All Saints, Rehoboth and Saint George's Chapel came to celebrate Closing Eucharist with us Thursday night. Theresa Stamegna and  Bess & Jim Landolt came to man our Alumni Booth and Jim filled in as a guest musician at Eucharist with his son, Sam - our Boys Pioneer Unit Leader.

I sign off with my deepest apologies for how long this took to write.... but I HOPE it really is better late than never.

peace-
Teri <}}><

Ah two week sessions, my favorite sessions, with crazy Sundays, more time to get to know campers, and most important, Sailing Pathfinders.  Every afternoon during two week sessions, the Sailing Pathfinders - otherwise known as SPF's - flock to the beach and learn the ancient craft of sailing.  They brave the high seas of the Rehoboth Bay, along with its many creatures and jellyfish, battle the days when there is too much wind and when there is no wind, and at night, hear the word IRONS ringing in their ears.

Being an SPF alumna, I remember the first few days of sailing as capsizing, nearly getting stuck in the marsh, and wondering what I was doing.  So, to save some confusion and capsizing, I have tried to morph the sailing program into a more show-and-tell teaching style, as well as using candy to gain the short summer-time attention spans.  The first day of fourth session had winds around 18mph and more white caps than I’d want to sail with on a Sunfish, so the SPFs sailed two boats at a time and I went out on the jet ski to coach the new sailors through their first tack (turning the boat around).  A few days later, the wind was almost as strong as the first day, so we held a rigging-sailing around a buoy-unrigging competition.  Once everyone felt comfortable on catamarans, the waterfront staff and SPFs sailed across the bay to what we call Treasure Island.  The next day the pathfinders mastered our biggest boat, the Hobie 16, that has two sails, a ton of ropes, and is buckets of fun.

 Unfortunately, our last day with the SPFs is rainy and thundery, but Maddie and I hope that they have taken away a lot from these past two weeks and will use their new sailing skills for a long time.

Peace, love, and IRONS

Becca

In the still of the morning the teams Ocean, Swamp, Savanna, and Jungle were finishing up their last minute costumes and preparations for the beginning of the competition central. 

Father Mark Harris came from St Peter's in Lewes to celebrate Eucharist with us in the Council Ring.  The team captains did the homily (sermon) together.  Each Teams Captains were singing versions of Walking in the Light they way they liked it about their own teams and came around to singing a version about camp together instead.  Father Mark reminded us that sometimes when we live in community our many versions of stories need to be merged together to tell a better more complete story of who we are.

Opening Ceremonies began at 10:30.  All four teams presented their team cheer, song, flag, banner, and costumes for the judges.   After lunch and siesta the judges and teams met in Boys Homestead for three round of events like Log Saw, Song Writing, Tug of War, Yahtzee, Sudoku, Pool Relays, Obstacle Courses, Ladder Lashing and more!  

The day of central culminates in a huge relay race that runs all over 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.  It's intense and exciting.

The round worked out in such a way that even though Team Savanna burned through their rope first - Team Jungle had more points and won "The Battle for the Biosphere!"  

A highlight of the day was at the firepits - Team Ocean was still building their fire and the other teams finished celebrating and shouted Ocean's cheer with them.  Team pride is great but Camp Pride is better :) 

All of camp cooked out dinner on the beach.  Hot dogs and hamburgers, baked beans, chips and ice cream were served to each unit while campers and staff played frisbee and nukem and sat on the dock.  Heat lightning flashed in the distance cancelling free swim and everyone was tired enough they didn't seem to mind missing it and going to bed early!  Rain actually held off until nearly 10pm - leaving Central virtually dry - HUZZAH!

peace-
Teri & Keith

Right its time to cool off and we are heading to the pool. First things first -  let me introduce you to our staff. Our pool director this year is Nicola (one of our Camp America staff from Wales), our Assistant Pool Director is Katie and we have two lovely lifeguards Morgan and Ned.

We have two pools here at Arrowhead our largest is 10 feet at its deepest point and 3.5 feet at its shallowest, our small pool ranges from 2.5 – 3.5 feet.

Having both pools is a great advantage and weapon against some of those hot, sunny Delaware days. Campers can attend a range of swim times throughout the day, we have swim blocks, free swim, monk swim and polar bear swim.

Free swim is offered to campers as an optional choice and allows them to socialise with others outside of their unit.

Each unit attend one swim block a day, which involves structured activities provided by our lifeguarding team. These include, water aerobics and numerous games such as, Sharks and Minnows, Water Basketball, Water Volleyball and Water Relays. One of the most popular of these is Sharks and Minnows, to explain it’s essentially a game of tag with a twist. A player may only be tagged while above water but are safe below the water line…the aim is to get to the other side of the pool without being converted into a deadly shark. Minnows for life!

Our Monk Swim and Polar Bear Swim are poles apart, excuse the pun! Polar Bear Swim occurs at 7am and gives campers a chance to swim before breakfast. Monk Swim runs at 8:15pm for Homestead and 8:45pm for Pioneer. The first 10 minutes is a silent swim time and recently this has been followed by a lively sing-a-long. It’s a great way to end the day and proves to be very popular amongst our campers. 

Ciao Ciao for now

Whit your Brit
(aka Whitty, Office Manager)

It’s Wednesday!! Which means its Wednesday night cookout and all of the units cook their evening meal over a fire! Homestead and Day Camp journey out into Outpost whilst pioneer cook in their unit and then attend a potluck in the Pavilion.

Homestead cooked up some tasty burgers along with some s’mores for dessert. I’ll have s'more please!.. Meanwhile Day camp hosted a potluck of their own in the Arc. Day Camp 3 made stir fry, Day Camp 1 made pizza in a pot and Day camp 2 added a twist to a delicacy here at camp and rustled up some Mexican S’mores, (think s’more but with a tortilla and peanut butter!). Yummmmy! 

Over in the Pioneer Pavilion, there were plenty of choices at the potluck. P1 made Kiesh, P2 brought along some puppy-chow, the men in P3 baked some Mac and cheese whilst P4 also made pizza in a pot tonight. P5 cooked some apple crisp, P6 went gourmet with some Chicken, bacon and avocado pitas and P7 warmed everyone’s hearts with some rice and casserole.

That concludes another successful Wednesday night cookout.

So in case I don’t see ya..

Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight! =D

Ryan
Boys Homestead Unit Leader

Greetings.  

Lets go…its time for day 3 of session 4. So I thought I would begin with introducing you to a typical schedule here at camp. As many of you know we are decentralized, so campers experience all the activities we offer with their unit, led by their conselor and CIT. We find that this is a great program as it promotes a strong sense of community and for me personally it is this very thing that made me feel so welcome during my first summer in 2009. I know that fellow staff (past and present) and campers can relate to this.

Our mornings begin at the sound of the wake up bell at 7.30am, followed by breakfast at 8am. This morning we enjoyed pancakes and sausage with all the trimmings and a cold glass of OJ, we also had the option of our cereal and yogurt bar too. Chapel is normally led by a different unit each day with the exception of the first full day at camp.  This is led by a group of staff and with the aid of some wise handpuppets we introduced the campers to this year’s current theme, ‘Walkin’ in the Light’.

After chapel, programming begins, we split the day up into hourly blocks, 3 before lunch, 3 after lunch. Dinner is at 5.30pm after which campers enjoy free time followed by a final block at 8.15pm.  (Free time is exactly what is sounds like - campers are able to decide which activity they would like to do – giving them a chance to revist their favorites)   Around 9 units start their reflections and get ready for bed .  Units use this time to reflect on their day and learn a little more about each other.

The schedule differs slightly on a Wednesday, as its Wednesday night cook out. Homestead campers visit outpost, their home from home in the woods. Each unit sets up a dining area using tarps and ropes, build a fire and cook their dinner.  This is followed by roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.  There will be more to come regarding our Wednesday afternoons/evenings shortly, I believe Ryan our Boys Homestead Unit Leader will be taking you through this week’s cook out.

Ciao Ciao for now.
Whit your Brit
(aka Whitty, Office Manager) 

Well we are heading into session 4 of the summer…how this has happened is beyond me…time is flying by. First off I would like to welcome all those arriving this evening, we can’t wait to meet you and this session is set to be a great one.

So we have had a chat here at camp regarding our blog and we have had an idea! In order to give our readers an overview of our camp program I am going to write about a different activities as I am able. 

As for today I will take you through our arrival day and first evening. Our staff  arrive back to camp, enjoy lunch and ready the camp for the arrival and welcome of new campers. The arrival process can be quite busy but our wonderful CITs have everything under control and manage the luggage line in superhero style.

Campers are welcomed into the dinning hall and are introduced to their counselor and fellow campers. It’s great to see the unit meet and get to know each other.  There were a few intense games of Jenga today. Once everyone has arrived a unit photo is taken and then it is off to the pool for a swim test.   The thunder storm actually changed our normal routine this week – we’re still catching up with units.

As a welcome night dinner we have chicken tenders and macaroni cheese.  We also have a full salad bar.  And tonight’s vegetarian option is “Hip-Hop Halupki.” What on earth is that? Well…its cabbage rolls stuffed with a yummy mix of lentils and veg in a tomato sauce.

After dinner everyone heads to the chapel and all the staff are introduced to the campers. Each unit then depart with a bag of marshmallows for roasting.

Well good night one and all, its time to get some rest for our first day of adventures tomorrow. 

Best Wishes - 
Whit your Brit 
(aka Whitty, the Office Manager)