Last Night after dinner and a spectacular performance by a majestic string quartet currently paying a visit to camp.  Campers headed on down to the Rec Hall and oh what a sight was to be had. Counselors adorned the tops of the Pottery Studio, The Hilton Bathrooms and the Rec Hall dressed as various Capital members from the post-apocalyptic nation Panem. Panem is a fictional country from the Book and Film series the Hunger Games which as you may remember from yesterday’s news update was the theme for this years Wheel of Misfortune. Campers delighted in the weird and wonderful outside acts including water balloons filled with glitter, face painting, counselors tied to trees and the silent guards who blocked the entrance to the Rec hall which acted as the Hunger Games ‘arena’.

Soon the doors were flung open and my inside sources report that it was an eerie but incredible sight to be seen. Our 10 tributes who had been chosen from the Reaping two days ago were scattered across the stage preparing for their first battle and our Capital hosts, the enigmatically dressed, Effie Trinkett and Cesar could be seen through a mock television screen constructed during the day.

As Peter introduced the Wheel of Misfortune and handed the ‘Games’ over to the Capital Hosts a countdown sounded throughout the Rec Hall and our tributes ran outside to the ‘Cornucopia’ and the first of many epic battles.  Throughout the night Campers were offered the chance to compete in a variety of weird, wacky and gross games in order to aid the various favorite tributes in their quest to win the Games. Campers were selected by Gruesome a garbage bag clad AWAC who mysteriously emerged on stage with his camp-famous hockey stick to choose his ‘victims’. The aforementioned games played throughout the Wheel last night included…

‘Catching Bees’ which involved campers having their hands covered in honey and then attempting to catch as many flying crepe paper bees as possible.
Using only their feet and toes to uncover precious glass beads from a kiddy pool filled with green jello and ice.
Whipped Cream and Chocolate Pudding hair styling.
and Of course the traditional sibling challenge, which this year involved siblings attempting to camouflage one another using buckets full of mud…

At the end of each Game many a camper received a whipped cream pie in the face and each cabin went home with a special prize to be collected upon by the cabin at a time of their choosing. Prizes are offered up by counselors and involve such thing as – hair dying, waiting on a table for breakfast, tractor rides, baking cookies, serenading cabins and so much more.

All in all it was an incredible night of wackiness and fun and tired campers returned to their cabins for a good nights rest in preparation for today’s lazy day!

The Older Half enjoyed their 15 minutes extra sleep this morning and with the sun shinning donned bathing suits in preparation for their day at the beach today. At the beach there will be sand castle construction, reading circles, rock exploration, frisbee and of course plenty of swimming time. The Older Half will return to camp, I imagine with half the beach in their bags and shoes, this afternoon for rest period and some cabin clean up time before rejoining camp to swap lazy day stories at evening meeting.

Younger Half will be venturing into yet another world of magical fiction with today’s Harry Potter Day. Both Counselors and Campers are incredibly excited for the beloved world to take over camp this morning. Campers will be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw before embarking upon an array of Hogwarts Classes including Care of Magical Creatures at the Animal Barn, Potions Class, Quidditch Lessons up on Tipi Zip, Transfiguration and Herbology down at the Creek. The Younger Half will also have their own time in the sun enjoying an afternoon by the Pool before joining the Older Half for Meeting, delicious dinner and today’s evening program Valleyfest.
Valleyfest is an open, supportive and fun chance for campers to show off their incredible talents before the camp and after last sessions 32 acts I can’t wait to see what we have in store tonight!

Check out these some snaps shots from last nights Wheel of Misfortune Snap Shots, there will be plenty more Wheel and Lazy Day Pictures to come.

Always,
George of the Jungle.

Hi there, Hidden Valley fans! What’s the haps?

It’s Bagel Sunday over here and though it’s a bit cooler in temperature, the sun is shining and it looks like it’s going to be another lovely day.

The Wheel of Misfortune’s theme was announced last night during evening meeting in a very theatrical way. We had a Reaping here last night where tributes from different districts around camp were called up to participate in… The Hunger Games! But don’t you worry, it will be a fun, characteristic of Hidden Valley spoof. This morning at meeting, the tributes were seen again, this time in a parade. They rode by on motorcycles, a tractor, a truck, and horses. They’ll be seen again tonight during The Wheel!

Last night, cabin groups were split into four different groups and participated in wonderful and different activities all around camp.

The younger cabins: LCH, Avalon, Loons, Down Under, French Quarter, Paquatahnee, and Gimme Shelter ran in a frenzy all around the back yard hunting for the Queen’s “candy” (hidden colored balls). There were challengers giving campers something to do in exchange for candy and bandits doing the same, but they would take the candy if the challenge was not completed. Once the race was done, cabin groups went to the soccer field for more games.

The middle half cabins: Chateau Fiasco, Treasure Island, Shangri-La, and Valhalla had a water party at the pool! There was a slip n’ slide, as always, a splatter paint party, a riveting game of drip, drip, drop (which is duck, duck, goose but with water), water balloons, and water serenading.

Haley’s Comet had a cabin night of s’mores at the Forbidden Planet firepit and Camelot had a hot tub party near the Foothills!

The oldest cabins: Atlantis, Forbidden Planet, Fiddler’s Green, and Taj Mahal walked up the road to hang out at Blodgett with the teen apprentices. They were given a tour of the house and talked to about the fantastic teen program opportunities that HVC has to offer. They hung out in the back yard, playing frisbee, sitting around a fire, and eating ice cream.

The suspense is high for The Wheel of Misfortune is tonight and there will be plenty of photos and updates tomorrow! But until then, here are photographs from last night and this morning.

Don’t forget to look below for some awesome Hunger Games preview photos and last night’s various activities!

May the odds be ever in your favor,
Alleycat

Hey there, friends! Olive Oyl here with your daily news! It’s the second day of classes and we’re getting into the swing of things again. It was a special morning on this “PK Day,” where all of the counselors donned “PK” style shirts (button-up, patterned, and arresting to the eyes) and shouted back “Hey Is For Horses!” after Peter’s “Hey You Guys!” at morning meeting. It was the counselor’s way of tributing the big man behind the scenes here at Hidden Valley.

Last night was electives and we had tons of fabulous activities to choose from. Some new highlights were a water obstacle course, a Disney singalong, a paint party, disc golf, and glass beads. There were the classics cookie baking, tipi zip, and capture the flag. Campers had a variety of options to choose from, whether it was making art, music, competing, or enjoying nature.

Tonight’s evening program is sure to bring more fun, with Candy Crush for the younger half, water activities for the middle half, and a teen party for the older half (yes, there are three halves here at HVC). Candy Crush involves a series of challenges across camp in order to collect balls. Water activities will take place at the pool, where they’ll be swimming, a slip and slide, bobbing for apples, plus more involving H20. The teen party will take place at Blodgett House, where the older boys and girls cabins will hang out with the Apprentices.

Speaking of teens, it’s time for a teen update! Alive has been busy signing up for new classes, like found percussion, glass beads, and music beats. Last night the group made costumes for Belfast Statue Night, ranging from paints on a palette to Greek Gods. Lots of hard work and creativity went into their designs and the final product was amazing. The goal was to raise money for the Belfast Arts District, and both campers and the people of Belfast enjoyed the project.

Hopefully the light schvitz will hold off for the rest of the day as we continue to make progress in our new set of classes! Today marks the halfway point of the session which means a lot of awesomeness has already happened, but there’s also much to look forward to. The Wheel of Misfortune is tomorrow’s evening program, and I know I can’t wait for the all the mystery and madness. Coming up next week we also have ValleyFest, the camper talent show, and The Play and Musical…so much camper talent, it’s sure to be incredible!

We also say goodbye to a special group today, the Chinese campers, who have been a delight sharing their culture and becoming members of our Hidden Valley community. We wish them a happy rest of summer and hope to see them in the future!

Check out our photos below from electives and morning meeting!

Keep on keepin’ on,
Olive