Well we had the last central of the summer last night, and what a central it was! All over camp bright lights were strung up and the sound of different music genres echoed from the Chapel right down to the Waterfront. All of our specialists and administrative staff rallied together and divided up between the eight stations located around camp.

The setup was as follows:

Hootenanny at the Alumni Plaza, which had country style music, accompanied by straw hats, plaid shirts, square dancing, musical chairs and whole bunch of fun.

EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in the Staff Lounge, which had the alternative sounds of the New Zealand underground pumping, glow stick flowing and good vibes all round.

Hip Hop at the Craft Shop, which had the classic beats by dre, bandannas, black lights and old school hip hop tunes that got everyone involved.

Disco Funk in the Pioneer Hall, complete with disco ball, flare pants and maybe one afro, this was the place to be, to bring back those great memories of Saturday Night Fever.

Throwback Thursday (#TBT) in the Rec Hall, holla back to the good days of nineties pop! The rec hall was playing all the classics and none of the new stuff, getting people up and dancing to all the "oldies and 
goodies."

Beyoncé in the Chapel, which had lemonade, glitter and whole lot of sass, the chapel was full of single ladies (and gents) who were crazy in love.

Reggae at the Beach had a massive bonfire and whole bunch of chill vibes, they were jamming and bringing love to all.

Sock Hop in the Dining Hall, which was complete with flare skirts, root beer floats and so many sixties doo wops that had everyone surfing across the USA.

All the cabins moved around in a rotation to four of these stations last night and had an absolute blast!

It was cool to see that Pioneer and Homestead units come together and dance, I personally had a boy and girl Pioneer group come to the EDM in the Lounge station and danced for the longest time apart,

but by the end they had come together to create a giant dance circle, which I’m sure was the case for other stations. So that was cool to see, hopefully they made a few new friends last night. I think music has a great way of getting everyone involved and it was great to see that happening all over camp!

Overall, this week has been great so far and everything is running smoothly, it has warmed up a little too, but everyone is keeping cool by drinking water and taking advantage of the bay and those free swim blocks! Spirits are up even though all of our campers are leaving tomorrow! We’re going to miss them.

Tonight we have our final Eucharist in the Chapel and Bonfire- our Last Bonfire to be lead by Walt Lafontaine as th Summer Director. It’s going to be an exciting night, the skits are looking pretty good and there’s 
bound to be a few shenanigans from the staff, but it will be fun!

Cheers!
Maddy B (The Office Kiwi)

So we have come to our final session, what a summer it has been! It seems like yesterday we were waiting for our first campers to arrive and now we have our last. It’s been an incredible week so far though, already the camp is in great spirits and buzzing with action in all areas.

The low ropes again has its hands full this time of week, all groups are making their way through with the adventure crew and the waterfront is bustling with campers keen to get on sailboats and the famous banana boat (which is brand new). The pool is also full of kids getting in their swim time, playing nukem and octopus.

The humidity is keeping away this week so far, which has been great for everyone here, it feels like summer in New Zealand. The bugs aren’t really  around either and it’s made everyone a lot happier!

We have a central happening this week, which is a part of all our sessions that gets kids from all over camp to come together and hang out. This week’s central is: ‘Dance the Night Away’. It will take place at
eight locations all over Camp Arrowhead that are themed different music genres, for example; the Waterfront is playing Raggae music, there’s Hip Hop in the Craft Shop and the Alumni Plaza is hosting a blue grass and country station. It should be a fun night, I’m sure it will be pretty cool to walk through camp and listen to all the different music playing at once.

For the meantime, Camp Arrowhead is moving forward into the week. There are a bunch of carepackages just waiting to be delivered - Good job to you parents! The kids are loving them and it’s awesome to see ther faces light up when their name is called. Don’t forget about sending bunk notes, if you feel there isn’t enough time to send a postcard or letter, send through a bunk note and I’ll get them to your camper!

Cheers!
Maddy B (The Office Kiwi)

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)

The final Monday of the camping season has come and gone and it was a day bittersweetness for the staff and new adventures for the campers. None of us can believe that the summer is almost over! It feels like yesterday that we were all in staff training gearing up for the arrival of first session campers! I guess this is the best example of the expression, “Time flies when you are having fun.” J

            Today was a busy day for everyone, especially since the weather was so gorgeous. It was breezy, sunny, and mild, and everyone wanted to take advantage of it by being outside as much as possible with some creative and unique activities. H8 spent a portion of the afternoon harvesting herbs in the camp garden, and H1 and H7 spent their last block of the day stargazing.  P2 went on an arrowhead hunt on Santa Claus Island, and H5 and P3 went “deep sea diving”, more commonly known as bay swimming. Also fairly new activities, P5 went paddleboarding and H3 had a camouflage lesson complete with face paint!

            Even though this is one of our bigger sessions, (about 190 campers!) we still always have room for all the campers to participate in classic camp activities that we have become known for. Some times, that may mean combining two activities into one, like H13 and H6 who had some kids kayaking while the others sailed, and vice versa. APF got to know eachother this morning by playing icebreaker games and lashing at their site during the first block of the day. And P4 did the same later in the day, as they built teamwork skills and got to know each other during a fire building competition.

            In other areas around camp, like the craft shop, H11 made dream catchers and H9 glazed terracotta pots. At the pool, P6 did a monk swim. At the waterfront, H2 caught fiddler crabs to feed to the resident turtles and P1 went on a sunset boat ride. At the high ropes course, H4 went on the swing. And in the rec hall, a place that rarely sees campers, P7 listened to scary stories.

            My personal favorite activity that went on today was a dessert cookout made at the brand new fire pit at my shelter by H10! The fire pit was made as a service to camp by the adventure pathfinders and I was so excited to see it get used for the first time tonight. It was the best Mexican S’more (s’more in a tortilla with peanut butter)  that I have ever eaten.

            It has been a pleasure blogging for you this summer! Until next summer friends,

            Emma

       Our fifth and final session is already flying by! Due to technical difficulties we weren’t able to update you all Monday night, but here are some highlights from this session so far.
      The ladies of H6 and H8 tested their bravery on the plank at the high ropes course while H10 and P2 got adventurous at the rock wall. The men from P3 and P7 also experienced excitement at our high ropes course as they tried out our high ropes swing. H5 and H9 got in some group bonding on our low ropes course, testing their minds and bodies with challenges from our low ropes supervisor Ben.
       So far session five has been full of crafts. For the first time we’ve been holding some of our craft shop blocks poolside and the results have been great! The gentlemen of H13 made boats and held a competition to see whose stayed afloat the longest while the ladies of H7 and P5 started making “world beads” with dirt from camp. H2 made sand candles down at the waterfront and P1 worked on painting some tiles in the craft shop. The guys from H3 and P4 tried their luck at tie dye while our oldest campers, the Adventure Pathfinders, made their own mini totem poles to take home.
     A lot of groups have also been taking advantage of our natural environment. H6 made tea from sassafras leaves and H8 held a cookout on the beach. H1 and H4 both went on guided nature walks and P5 got up to watch the sun rise over the bay. Our Pioneer campers finished off their evening Tuesday with a bonfire at the beach while some of our Homestead groups went to water aerobics with our fabulous pool staff. Overall it’s been an amazing first few days at camp. This may be our last session but that doesn't mean we're slowing down so keep checking the blog for more updates!
-Anne and Shaun