Reunited after Bazzinga

Hello, hello, hello!! This is Humming Bird here, with a special report on our last day of the first round of classes!! It’s a beautiful, hot day here at camp, and our classes are all winding down, with counselors and campers alike gearing up for the next two weeks! Before I get to our halfway-through-the-session celebrations, I’ll fill you in on last night’s festivities!

During evening meeting, we had a Candy Drop scare!! A fourth-year counselor, Thad, was missing from meeting, setting everyone on high alert, because it’s always fourth-year counselors in the Candy Drop plane! AND THEN! As Peter was making his evening announcements, Hidden Valley heard a rumbling up in the sky… it was overwhelming! Campers and counselors stood in unison, eyes fixed on the clouds, no one breathed as the camp all held a collective breath until we saw, emerging quite loudly from the thick, stratus clouds, A HELICOPTER!!!!! Most certainly NOT the Candy Drop plane. Campers and counselors were equally disappointed with the outcome of the scare, and I won’t point any fingers, but there were tears. (I was one of the criers, as I was so convinced it would be yesterday! I had my pillow case at the ready!! Oooh, the humanity!)

Anyhoo, after that tearful meeting, our campers enjoyed BAZZINGA!!! What’s Bazzinga, you say? It’s a night of pure madness! Our counselors switched cabins for the night, and went around with their new cabins to different activities!

Camelot, Taj Mahal, and Deer Meadows played Quidditch on the soccer field!

Wombles, Down Under, Paquatahnee, French Quarter, and Shangri-La put on a Newspaper Fashion Show for the rest of the camp!

Loons, LCH, and Avalon played a game of Man Hunt in the Backyard!

Bermuda Triangle, Chateau Fiasco, Forbidden Planet, and Gimme Shelter played Capture the Flag at Deer Meadows Field!

Wabanaki, Fiddlers Green, and Halley’s Comet played Cascade in the pool!

Valhalla took a trip up to tipis last night and spent evening program making nature art at Pinegrove, and contemplating the role of humans in nature… how cool! And of course, they finished up the night with some s’mores around a campfire!

Community was up to some cool stuff last night, too! They cooked dinner at the lake, and built their own rafts! Today they are off to Peace Ridge Farm to volunteer!!

Today we are looking forward to tomorrow’s Super Lazy Day!! OH MY GOODNESS, SO LAZY!! The whole camp has a massive lazy day, no trips! Everyone stays in their pajamas, signs up for new classes, and does bonding activities as a cabin! It’s super duper fun and super duper lazy!! It’s also a wonderful way to welcome our incoming two-week campers!!

There’s a lot to look forward to, folks! Including THE CANDY DROP!!!!! The Super-Official Olive Oyl Humming Bird Candy Drop Probability Rating of the Day is a mere 12.34%. We will keep you posted!

Keep looking out for more exciting news from camp!

Humming Bird!!

And a special community album…

Fun at pool activities!

Goooooood morning, friends! Humming Bird here! The skies are clear, the temperature is warm, and the fun has begun! Today is our seventh day of classes, and that means we’re winding down the first two weeks of the session here at Hidden Valley! Classes are wrapping up, putting on final layers of glaze, finishing up their soldering, and melting and grouting and rehearsing, and more, so that every art project, dance performance, and song will be ready to share with the rest of camp!

Last night we had a beautiful pizza dinner, provided by our culinary crusaders, Chris and Lillian!! We had plain pizza, of course, in addition to camp classics like pesto tortellini, pepperoni, white cheese, and pepper and onion! Campers couldn’t get enough of the pizza, but don’t worry, Mom and Dad! We had salad for them, too!!

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Greetings, readers!! Humming Bird here with some updates on our Trip/Lazy Day!!

The older half just finished up Mad Scientist Day! An evil mad scientist has been turning counselors into The Blob!! If they are infected with the Blob Virus, they turn green and cannot stop dancing– what horror!! Campers had to accomplish different tasks in order to get clues as to who our evil mad scientist was! Some of our science-y activities included a Slime Relay Race, an Egg Drop, a Fire Challenge, Potion Testing, Ice Extractions, a Big Tangram Puzzle, and a Rube Goldberg Machine-making challenge! Our campers did a great job revealing Haley as our mad scientist!! Now they can celebrate their success with an extra long rest period, followed by Pool Activities! Counselors will set up stations around the pool, so campers can do anything from playing Magic the Gathering, to going down the slip and slide, or of course just plain swimming!

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Hello, friends! Humming Bird here with a late night post about tonight’s Cabin Night!! I guess tonight I should call myself Night Owl (hehehe!)

We had a wondrous night of cabin bonding tonight, with plenty of clever, creative activities!! Here’s a list of what our cabins did tonight!

Loons went on a scavenger hunt to the End of the World and built a fort out of junk!

LCH Went to the treehouse and made a splatter painting, which turned into a paint fight! After some showers, they ended the night with some stargazing on this beautiful, clear-skied night!

Avalon had a lake cookout and went for a swim and a sauna!

Gimme Shelter’s birds of prey did “Birdsketball fun” on the basketball court!

Bermuda Triangle did a Commando Hike, which is a super fun hiking game, followed by s’mores!

Chateau Fiasco did an outdoor cookout in the Slums firepit, and played some tag, Manhunt, and The Wind’s A’blowin!

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Community!

Hello, dear humans! This is Humming Bird here! We had a spectacular night of staff talent last night, at our Staff Talent Show! Picture this! The scene opens on our fabulous MCs, Sequoia and Alex, dressed in leaf garb (see the picture below!) and opening up their Talent Talk Show, greeting their audience, and introducing the first act, HVC’s very own, THE GAZEBOYS!!!!! (Get it? Like our gazebo! But a boy band!) The Gazeboys had our audience screaming in their seats, and set the stage for the rest of our acts! We had singing and dancing and juggling, oh my!!

Elise did some fabulous sock puppet musical ventriloquism, John put on 5 bowties and a tie to the tune of The Final Countdown, and Paul made minute rice in a microwave onstage, IN ONLY 58 SECONDS!!! As you can clearly tell, we have some very talented staff members here at Hidden Valley, and they graciously shared their skillz with our enthusiastic campers!

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Good morning, folks! Olive Oyl here with lots of camp news for you!

We had a fabulous jungle dance last night with tons of amazing costumes. There were many jungle animals– lions, tigers, bears, leopards, and zebras, just to name a few. There was also plenty of jungle foliage, with leaves and flower-people (some were even poisonous!). We also had tribe people and the fruit loops toucan! Plus some owls, a ladybug, and guy that had been lost in the jungle for forty years! Campers and counselors were super creative with their outfits and fit right in to our pseudo-jungle for the evening. We danced the night away, painted our faces, went on the Tarzan zip line, and made rain sticks. We also had snake tag, a slip n’ slide, a wild safari (tractor rides around camp), and monkey basketball (similar to horse). It was an awesome night full of lots of wacky costumes and fun games galore. We can’t wait to find out the theme of the next dance!

We’ve been having a fantastic, sunny morning full of some candy drop speculations. It was French Toast day, which is an extra special breakfast here at HVC, and was made complete by whipped cream and sweet strawberries on top. We also noticed some counselors and PDs sporting their “Top 11 Reasons Why the Candy Drop is Today” t-shirts, which is always a strong sign. It’s also a beautiful, clear day…perfect flying weather…

Today is also a special day here at HVC as it’s the fourth of July! We were all encouraged to wear t-shirts with the names of places all over the world. There were shirts from Germany, Costa Rica, New York, California, Portland, Maine, Portland, Oregon, and right here in Freedom, just to name a few favorites. We also had some patriotic-looking folks– be sure to check out the pictures!

Our teen program, Community, has also been having an amazing time up at Blodgett house. Yesterday, they hiked up to the Log Cabin just past pine grove, where they spent all day learning about nature and the history of camp! Today, the group is journeying to the local Farmer’s Market to enjoy some good food and local culture! Tomorrow, Community will be enjoying the fast-pace fun-times of the Unity Raceway! After that, they’ll come home, prepare a delicious meal (as they always do), and help lead a fantastic cabin night program for one lucky main camp cabin! But that’s not all they’re doing to make main camp just a little more magical; Community has also just assumed the role of anonymous pen pal for homesick main camp campers! Still on the horizon for Community is their trip to Acadia, and the evening program they’ll be hosting for the entire older half of camp at Blodgett in exactly one week!

That’s all for now! We’re off to enjoy another awesome day of classes and celebrate this wonderful day!

Adios,

Olive

Hello, earthlings!! Humming Bird here with an update on camp life!

As Olive Oyl reported yesterday, we smiled the day away with an exciting Trip/Lazy Day yesterday, ending with a rolicking performance by HVC favorite, Kim and Reggie!! We enjoyed classic songs like We Come From The Mountains, Wade in the Water, and Dem Bones, and by the end of the night, the whole camp was up and dancing around the gazebo! But the fun didn’t end there, folks!! Kim and Reggie made a cameo appearance at our Morning Meeting today! They led us in Solar Power, and Trampin’, getting our day off to a fabulously musical start!

So now after our short break, we are back to our classes, and the weather does not disappoint! The sun is making a brilliant appearance in our flawlessly blue Valley sky! I envy anyone taking a waterfront class on this warm, sunny day!

With this flawless weather, it is a beautiful day to spend some time in Hidden Valley’s own flourishing garden, Meg’s Planet! During Interest Groups, campers have the opportunity to hang out with Meg and Sierra in the garden, tending to the plants, soaking up the sun, and marveling at the nature abounding throughout our beautiful camp! Hopefully they won’t find any candy wrappers on the Planet today…

We are still finding those wrappers all around camp! There’s no telling when we’ll find whole pieces of candy on the soccer field… But campers are beginning to form theories regarding the exact timing of our top secret candy drop! Camper’s are predicting a Candy Schvitz as early as this evening! The Super-Official Olive Oyl Humming Bird Candy Drop Probability Rating of the Day is 22.46%. Do you have any guesses?

I’m off to look up predicted wind patterns here in Montville, and I’ll get back to you all!

Ever inquisitive,

Humming Bird

Herbology at the planet!

Hello, friends! Olive Oyl here with your Trip/Lazy day news!

First off, we had a fantastic evening last night with our very first electives! We had a whole bunch of fun activities happening all over camp. There was a group writing their own musical, some cookie baking, tie-dye, a scavenger hunt (that ended in hot cocoa!), a pool party, and rounders (a British game similar to baseball). If that wasn’t enough, there was also a creek walk, glass beads, Capture the Flag, an HVC electives classic, a dip in the hot tub, glass fusing, Shrine-making on the lake path (hosted by our Community campers), wind spinners in the wood shop, creative writing, and finally, PK’s secret Hidden Valley tour, where campers got to go on the roof of the dining hall and see our dwindling stock pile of snow.

The older half just came back to camp after a fabulous day at the beach. There was swimming (of course), beach art, card games, frisbee, soccer, and a jam circle. The older half are now back in their cabins enjoying a rest period and cleaning up for cabin inspections! We’ll find out the results tonight at evening meeting…

The younger half has been enjoying the day here at camp with Harry Potter day! We had a late wake up, a yummy breakfast of croissant sandwiches, and cabin clean in the morning before getting started on our activities. There was a wide range of Potter-themed activities, like Quidditch, How to Speak Like Harry (learning British accents), Potion making, Ravenclaw riddles, Care of Magical Creatures at the Animal Barn, the Tri-Wizard Obstacle Course, Herbology at Meg’s Planet, and finally, and very importantly, wand making. The campers had a blast getting to experience Hidden Valley’s own Hogwarts for the day. We then chowed down on lunch before heading back to our cabins for rest period before pool activities. Campers are currently soaking up the sun (safely, with lots of sunscreen!), going for a dip in the pool, reading their books, playing music, and going for a ride on the slip n’ slide.

We’ll all join together shortly for evening meeting where we’ll catch up on the other half’s day, hear all about cabin inspections, and get excited for tonight’s evening program, Kim and Reggie! Some cabins have already been doing workshops with the fabulous duo this afternoon and we can’t wait to see what they have prepared for us!

Meanwhile, campers have been noticing some stray candy wrappers and incriminating AWAC photos around camp and have been developing their own candy drop suspicions…Until that fateful whir of the airplane engine, we’re enjoying the last few hours of sunshine before our wonderful evening ahead! Be sure to check out lots of photos below!

Lots of love,

Olive

Our sneaky AWACS…

Well hello there, night owls! Olive Oyl with a special evening update on this curious night…

I was on my way to bed when I stumbled upon a pile of teenagers and a pile of candy…how bizarre! This can only mean one thing…

It seems that the AWACs have been up to some sketchy business involving a lot of sugary treats. Tomorrow morning we’ll see any more clues that the daylight holds. I’m anticipating some candy wrappers and maybe some incriminating photos. I’ll be in touch as we uncover more clues as the mystery unfolds…

So long for now,

Olive

Hi there, friends! Olive Oyl here with Hidden Valley news for you!

We’ve had a great start to the day with a fabulous morning meeting, featuring many of our favorite characters, like the Clean Queen, our laundry announcer, and The Birthday Prom Queen, who helps us celebrate birthdays here on camp. We sang the Dutch birthday song, an HVC tradition, in addition to playing the birthday organ, a homemade camp instrument that I’ve heard is mind-blowing. We also heard hilarious Bird Facts from Gimme Shelter and a Thought du Jour (in French!) from Taj. Now we’re off to start another awesome day of classes, with everything from Fishing to Irish Dancing.

We had a great evening last night with Meg’s Rodeo, an old HVC favorite. We gathered in Deer Meadows field and cabins rotated around a bunch of different fun stations. We had Dizzy Bat, Water Balloon Toss, and Rock, Tree, Bridge. We also had Blind Llama Sculpting, which is like pictionary with clay, Elephant March, which involves a tennis ball, a stocking, and knocking down some cups, and Tissue Box Wiggle, where the aim is get as many ping pong balls out of the box by dancing. We also had Sheriff Laugh, where you have to break the Sheriff, and had time to come up with Cabin Cheers for Jake Day later on in the summer.

Our Teen program Community has also been up to a lot of fun lately. They’ve been working in their garden (check out the pics!), volunteering at a nearby nursing home, and today they’re headed to the Mill School to build earth looms. Awesome! They have a program coming up at the Log Cabin, a beautiful spot on camp, and a tonight they’ll be running an elective.

Which leads us to electives tonight! We’ll have a ton of awesome activities that campers can choose from, including Peter’s Secret Tour, Capture the Flag, and Baking Cookies. We can’t wait! There’ll be lots more info and photos to come on that tomorrow.

Tomorrow marks our very first Trip/Lazy day, with the older half going to Lake St. George and the younger half staying on camp for Harry Potter Day! It’s going to be a magical day!

Warmly,

Olive