Walt set up an inflatable obstacle course and another bouncy castle for the campers to play in, which was a smash hit with people racing with all they had to reach the end. There were a number of stalls set up to entertain the kids as well such as; whack the skunk, football toss, a photo booth, skee ball, water balloon catapult from the water tower and the famous dunk tank.
Most of these stations rewarded participants with state fair dollars, which they used to buy sailboat rides, funnel cake, and face paint and fortunes from the great beyond. Overall, it was an amazing day and with all our campers and staff getting into the festivities, it was very successful central.
Monday brought more excitement with 4th of July festivities taking place first thing in the morning. The whole camp headed to the beach at 7am, to watch a goofy role play created by the Waterfront and Environmental staff. The section of the declaration of Independence was read as our resident British man, Luke (or King George) was put in the stocks. The whole camp then proceeded to walk to the front of camp to the dining hall, led by Walt and his drum. Once there- the national anthem was sung and an improvised salute commenced as the American flag was raised.
Chapel followed breakfast at an alternative and exciting location- The Pool lead by the Sailing Pathfinders. Will, the SPF’s Counselor, stood in a canoe holding an American flag on a thick branch of Burch. Chapel
commenced with a patriotic medley and ended with all the SPF’s jumping in the pool and Will gracefully exiting the canoe without getting his hair or the flag wet.
The afternoon was met with rain, but we all made do and opted to cook the BBQ dinner at the dining hall. It was a merry occasion with everyone eating burgers and hot dogs on their paper plates, and the
ice cream afterwards hit the spot. Later, all of camp headed down to the waterfront again to play volley ball, play ladder tennis and sit by the bonfire. Glow sticks were handed out as the sun went down
and all of the beach was filled with the iridescent glow of red white and blue. Fireworks lit up the sky across the bay and campers sat watching on the dock and water tower. It was a great end to an epic day full of American Pride and Camp spirit.
This week has been great so far, with the tasties (4 day campers) arriving yesterday, as well as the rest of Homestead. Camp Arrowhead is full of campers. H-5 is in the middle of disc golf around camp, trying to make par, but everyone is just trying to hit the 7th hole without missing, it’s a bit tricky. Today the craft shop is busy, with P-1 making watercolor artwork with Maddy and P-2 and H-7 making tie dye outside on the picnic tables with Molly. Those are going to look so cool when the rubber bands come off.
P-5 are doing Archery and came back from their overnight along with the rest of men's pioneer last night this morning looking ready for another day. H-6 is also doing Archery this afternoon and then free swim. H-2, H-4, and H-8 are also joining them at the pool for some water aerobics, octopus tag and free swim time.
The Environmental Center is full of animals, with two giant wolf spiders that were found a few days ago by the Adventure Pathfinders and a black rat snake that was eating an egg out of the chicken coop. P-3
was there this morning learning about the animals around camp and P-6 is going to be there this afternoon to explore the nature trail with Paul. H-1 is also going to be there learning about the chickens and also exploring the nature trail with George, the Environmental Assistant.
The Waterfront is all go too, with P-4 sailing this morning with Matt, the Waterfront Assistant. The Sailing Pathfinders are also out on the water. After cooking out lunch, they ventured to Treasure Island (actually Thompson's Island, but Treasure Island sounds way more adventurous) yesterday, which is a beach across the bay, it usually takes an hour to get there, but the wind was on their side and they made great time. H-3 are canoeing this afternoon before their free
swim and P-2 was out this morning with Oliver, the Sailing Instructor.
Finally, the low ropes are being used by H-9 and they are heading to the Labyrinth after to talk about how their group rocks and working on making a fun and positive environment. H-10 is heading to the rock wall his afternoon to climb the wall and go down the zip line, its great weather for it and the zip line has a great view into the bay.
Cheers!
Maddy the Office Manager