Monthly Archives: July 2016

Cabin night, feelin’ alright…JUNK FOOD DAY, that’s what I say!

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

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Good morning sweet, sweet world!

Last night was a successful and fun cabin night! There were so many smiling faces around camp as campers got to bond with their cabin mates and participate in some awesome activities.

LCH went on a hike with Carmi to the Log Cabin

Avalon made containers to drop eggs off the top of the treehouse without them breaking! Keeping their babies safe!

Loons made stained glass with Zach

Wombles went down the tipi zipline! Wahoo!

Chateau Fiasco and Fiddler’s Green went to the lake for a dip and some sweet s’mores! Nothing says bonding like sitting around the campfire with some s’mores!

Atlantis went to the wood shop with Brad

Treasure Island had a “mock apocalypse” and went on a blind-folded journey through camp while hearing stories from their counselors

Forbidden Planet spent the night at the pizza oven! YUM

The Burrow made some SICK crafts with Hilary

Down Under made tie dyed shirts and then gathered ’round the campfire for s’mores and a dance party in the Old Dance Studio

French Quarter went to the pool to swim and play games! Fun!!

Paquatahnee made glass beads with Elise! Rockin’!

Valhalla made snacks in the barn kitchen! I love snacks!!!

Shangri-La went camping and then had a talent show around the campfire. I heard there were some beautiful acts!

Halley’s Comet worked on some pottery with Kirsten in the pottery studio.

Wabanaki did a roadtrip to Goodwill and Dairy Queen!

Camelot had a spa night with face masks and made s’mores

Taj Mahal got to decorate their very own mugs! Coffee and tea, ahoy!

In other news…today is JUNK FOOD DAY! Normally on a Sunday, there would be bagels for breakfast, however, today camp had the sweet surprise of being greeted with doughnuts and Pop Tarts and sugary cereal instead (oh my!!) There were some SWEET (and funny) recipes such as Froot Loops on the chocolate frosting of a Boston Creme doughnut, and a doughnut/Pop Tart sandwich. PLUS we were shown the “proper” way to eat a doughnut (with a knife and fork) from our British counselor, Lee, and then were shown the PROPER way to eat a doughnut (by eating the pudding first with a spoon, then shoving cocoa puffs into the doughnut, pouring milk into it and shoving the whole thing into your mouth) by American counselor, Peter I. In a world full of different cultures, I’m just glad we all can eat doughnuts!! More recipe updates to follow later in the day…

Tonight is the Staff Talent Show!! More reports on that later after we see what talents our counselors have been hiding all session!

Until next time! Stay sweet, planet earth!

Miss Melody

Let’s do the timewarp again!

Saturday, July 30th, 2016

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Good morning, friends! Humming Bird here! I’ve got some stellar updates for you today! Let’s start from the very beginning…. (it’s a very good place to start)

Last night was the THROWBACK THROWDOWN! We had some amazing time warp-y activities, like a prehistoric cave, a vintage photobooth, hopscotch, and a time warp obstacle course! Check out photos of the groovy night!

Today we awoke at some earlier-than-normal times… We couldn’t sleep because we were so excited about JAKE DAY! What on earth is Jake Day, Humming Bird? Hold your horses, let me tell you! Jake Day is the glorious day that comes but once a session, when we record EVERY SINGLE CABIN performing their cabin cheer! Our talented video staff also record Meeting, and other silly stuff we do around camp! Where does all this footage go?? And WHY IS IT CALLED JAKE DAY?!?! I’m getting to that! We send all the footage to a long-time former counselor named Jake, who edits the whole thing and compiles it on a DVD– a digital yearbook, if you will– which gets sent to all our campers around December! Check your mailboxes!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!! In addition to Jake Day, it’s also JENNY’S FAVORITE DAY! What in the world does that mean? Well, beloved Program Director Jenny is a HUGE fan of FRENCH TOAST! She loves it more than almost anything in the galaxy. So once a session, Jenny’s Favorite Day brings french toast to our breakfast lineup! And guess what– THAT DAY IS TODAY! It was SO good!

Speaking of our PD’s, did you see the picture of ALL FIVE Program Directors wearing their Candy Drop shirts?! Yeah, that’s right! ALL of our trusty PD’s have been up in that plane! Thanks for keeping the candy schvitz comin’, ladies!

As we go through our Jake Day, we look forward to tonight’s CABIN NIGHT!! Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow, and a list of what all our campers did!

But for now, I have to go set my watch right… after last night’s dance, I have NO idea what decade I’m in!

Feelin’ groovy,

Humming Bird

Fourth day of classes: feelin’ fine and ALIVE!

Friday, July 29th, 2016
Atlantis!

Atlantis!

Good morning people of the worldwide community!

Last night was we were graced by the beautiful superstars, Kim and Reggie. Their performance was SPECTACULAR (as always) and super inspiring. There were smiles all around, from campers and staff alike. The Rec Hall was BEAMING with joy. Earlier in the day, Kim and Reggie had spent time in workshop with the cabins Down Under and Atlantis, where they worked on a cabin cheer and then performed it at the show that night! Atlantis also sang some silly sea shanties (by the sea shore!!)

Today is the fourth day of classes!! Campers get to work on their projects (stained glass? glass beads? wheel pottery? cooking? things with strings?! you name it, their whistling while they work on it!) So glad to get back into the swing of the class schedule! So many fun things to do!!!

In other news, tonight is the THROWBACK DANCE! More news on it tomorrow, but tonight we will go back in time and see costumes from any era! Word on the street is we may see a dinosaur appearance or two…remember that SICK time dinosaurs roamed the earth!? What a throwback!!

NOW…IT’S TIME TO THROW IT OVER TO OUR FOLKS IN THE ALIVE DEPARTMENT. WE HAVE ARTSY FARTSY REPORTING LIVE FROM THE ALIVE MEETING.

Hello all! Artsy Fartsy here reporting live to give you the juicy updates from Alive. Last night Alive supposedly went to Belfast to make nature art on the beach, inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. I have confirmation that they then roasted veggies over the fire when they returned to camp and swam in the lake. Word on the street is that there was a STUNNING sunset as well. Scandalous!!!

I have spoken with some of the Alive counselors, Olivia and Ace, about how the Alive classes are going. “They’re going really great,” Olivia beamed, “we are doing Japanese stab-binding in our book making class.” “We are also doing creative collaboration in my spoken word and movement class,” Ace added, “that means we are doing half dance, half spoken word, free write and poetry.” There were smiles on both counselors faces as they discussed some of the other classes such as songwriting.

NEWSFLASH: Tonight the Alive group is going to the Bates Dance Festival to see Kate Weare Company (a modern dance company from New York). Every summer Alive goes to this dance festival and we have confirmation that it is an amazing show indeed.

No word yet on the Alive Show theme…wait…what is that?…I’m getting word that a theme has indeed been decided, but in Olivia’s words, “it is on the DL.” No clue has been given as to what it may be. We will keep you posted and report if we hear any news on the matter.

This has been Artsy Fartsy reporting live, now back to you Miss Melody!

Thank you Artsy Fartsy! That’s all for now folks, I will keep you posting on all the happenings here at camp!

Stay groovy, folks, and have a wonderful day!

Miss Melody

 

‘Tis the season!

Thursday, July 28th, 2016

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Hello, folks! Humming Bird here! What a beautiful day we have had here in the Valley! The sun has been shining, the snow’s glistening on Tipi Hill, and the elves have been working hard in Santa’s Workshop!

Wait, WHAT?!?! But, it’s July…. YUP! Snow came early this year, and we’ve got WINTER IN JULY!! Our older half spent the morning doing some FESTIVE activities! We had holiday caroling, a Frozen dance party, gingerbread houses, awkward holiday card photos, Christmas cookies, ugly sweater-decorating, even a snowball fight! The icing on the holiday cake was our sledding station! We had huge chunks of ice that doubled as sleds, as campers rode them down Tipi Hill! Don’t believe me? CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS! It was a holly jolly day!

Meanwhile, the younger half spent the morning at Lake St. George, hangin’ out, loungin’, relaxin’ in the sun! They had a VERY summer in July kind of day! Once they returned, we all gathered for a lovely lunch prepared by Chris and Lillian and their team! Yummy yummy!

Now, let me tell you a little bit about how Trip Lazy Days work around here. As you’ve already seen, one half of camp leaves for a trip, while the other half stays behind on Main Camp for the lazy day. Once everyone is back on camp, we have a super cabin clean and rest period, during which time campers prep their cabins for INSPECTIONS! It’s not as scary as it sounds– two counselors go around in silly costumes and make sure our campers are keeping the cabins clean and livable! Sometimes campers try to scare or bribe the inspectors, who report back on what they saw in each cabin at Evening Meeting! Right after the inspections, the half that stayed for the lazy day (in this case, Older Half) enjoys some wonderful time at the pool (FUN!) before heading to Meeting and dinner!

Speaking of Evening Meeting, did you hear what our evening program is tonight?? KIM AND REGGIE ARE COMING!! I am SO excited to hear them perform again! Rumor has it, our celebrities are already on camp!! Did you know that Kim and Reggie perform in stadiums of 15,000 people?? And we are lucky enough to have our own private concert with them every session! WOW! They’ll be performing tonight with Atlantis and Down Under, so stay tuned for photos of that!!

Now allow me to backtrack a little bit, and tell you about our Electives last night!! We had SO much fun together! There was, of course, Capture the Flag (who won? Who lost? Who cheated? It’s all a mystery!) we baked cookies, and Peter gave his forbidden Hidden Valley tour! We also had some new options, like a High School Musical-themed dance party, and tennis baseball! There was even an option to blow up a watermelon! That one looked fun! We had a spontaneous parade, touch rugby, artsy craftsy things, and slow motion video!! It was a really great night, so be sure to check out photos!

That’s all I’ve got as far as updates go… be sure to check out our photos of the day and last night! And tune in tomorrow morning to see pictures of Kim and Reggie’s performance tonight!!

I’m off to scavenge some more of those Christmas cookies…

Humming along,

Humming Bird

IT’S RAINING CANDY!!!

Wednesday, July 27th, 2016

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You heard it here first, folks!! THE CANDY HAS DROPPED!! It’s an exciting time here in the Valley! Stay tuned for more photos!!

Humming Bird

Llamapalooza…? Or…. Meg’s Rodeo…? BOTH! TWICE THE NAMES, TWICE THE FUN!

Wednesday, July 27th, 2016
Valhalla girls havin' fun!

Valhalla girls havin’ fun!

Good morning, friends, Romans and countrymen! Lend me your ears… so that I, Humming Bird, can tell you all about LLAMAPALOOZA!! It. Was. SO. Fun. !!!!!!!!!!

Cabins gathered at approximately 6:40pm last night on Deer Meadows Field. They sat on the hill and awaited their charge. The Program Directors stood before the crowd. Behind them, counselors sat at their stations in anticipation of the events to come. On the word of the PDs, the campers ran to their stations, clear minds, open hearts, forgotten crazy creeks. They met up with their stations and danced, sculpted, spat, and frisbee-tossed to the limits of their abilities. Our campers worked hard last night at Meg’s Rodeo; a moment of appreciation for all their hard work, please.

Today we are celebrating the THIRD DAY OF CLASSES! WHOOOOOOOO!!!!! At this point projects and presentations are really getting underway, as our campers continue to get to know each other and become more confident in their own talents! I can’t wait to see what they all do!!

Tonight we’re looking forward to ELECTIVES! And tomorrow we have our very first trip lazy day of the session! Stay tuned for the theme, and photos of the silly day!!

Until then, I’m off to practice my sprints– gotta get to the elective I want tonight!!

Humming along,

Humming Bird

Oh Sweet Cabin of Mine…

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016

 

Down Under kicks off the session with a pool party!!

Down Under kicks off the session with a pool party!!

Good morning, good moooooorning! Humming Bird here! It’s a beautiful, sunny second day of classes and we here at camp are just ecstatic about the day ahead of us!

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful cabin night! Here’s what everyone did….
LCH made cardboard cars
Avalon had a scavenger hunt that led them to the pizza oven
Loons went for a dip in the lake
Wombles made dinner and s’mores with a fire at the lake
Chateau Fiasco worked in the glass beads and glass blowing studios
Atlantis went on a creek walk and made s’mores
Treasure Island made pizza in the pizza oven
Forbidden Planet did a Dungeons and Dragons role play
The Burrow did a fairy scavenger hunt
Down Under had a pool party and played getting to know you games with M&M’s
French Quarter made s’mores around a fire
Paquatahnee made cookies and a hand tree
Valhalla did tie dye and made a mural
Shangri-La made paper lanterns and s’mores
Haley’s Comet pottery with Kirsten
Wabanaki made tie dye and hair ties
Camelot did screen printing with Sandy
Fiddler’s Green took a tour of a local firehouse
Taj Mahal did a big circle to get to know each other
Alive had a trivia night

Check out photos of the activities that our devoted counselors worked hard to set up!

Today we awoke to the smell of… what’s that? PANCAKES!!! PANCAKES!!!!! PANCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yum 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks, Chris and Lilian! We’re enjoying a sunny, sunny day here at camp, so everyone has their sunscreen and water bottles and hats as they walk to and from their classes! Later tonight we’ll gather on Deer Meadow’s Field for LLAMAPALOOZA(/Meg’s Rodeo… whichever you prefer!) Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow!

For now, I’ve gotta go check out the water fountains… they make excellent bird baths on a hot day like this!

Humming along,

Humming Bird

 

First day of classes fun!!

Monday, July 25th, 2016
Yum, cooking class! Good work!

Yum, cooking class! Good work!

Hello! Hello! Hellooooo! Miss Melody AND Humming Bird here! Miss Melody first…

I’m happy! and I’m singing! Because I’m happy!! It’s the first day of classes and I am SO excited to get things started back up again. There are SO many fun classes planned for today. From the class, “Where the Wild Things Are” to “Woodland Secrets” to the cooking class, “Berry, Berry, Zestful Summer” to horseback riding to glass beads…my head is spinning with all of the activities going on!

Today we started the day off right when we had an egg bar at breakfast…I’ll HAPPILY wait on line for those eggs of golden perfection. At morning meeting we were greeted by the Snack Scot (pictures below!) who told us about his journey from Scotland to make sure that all the campers got snack and put their trash in the proper receptacles. How funny it was to see Stephen in a kilt with the Scottish flag, and how cool it was to see Chris playing the bag pipes! We also heard from the Interest Group staff about all the fun activities happening at Interest Groups today. The Pool (fun!) is open!! What a morning!

Last night was the lovely ceremony, one of my favorite evening programs if I had to choose, of Pine Grove. We all walked up in silence to the top of Tipi Hill where the tipis counselors, Cassie and Mckenzie, had a roaring fire prepared for us to sit around. How wonderful it is to sit around a campfire on tree stumps or nature’s floor and sing in unison…it truly brings a community together and is one of the most magical experiences I’ve had. There were SO many great acts…some were inspiring, some were funny, some were creative, and some were downright beautiful.

Valhalla had us all singing and dancing to a silly camp favorite of “Baby Shark”

Loons showed us how fast they could sing the “Campfire Song Song” from Spongebob (but it will help if you just sing along! Bum bum bum…)

Paquatahnee had us singing about the pros and cons of having a rickadandoo…it’s red and gold! and purple too!

Halley’s Comet sang a beautiful cover of the “Bare Necessities” in which they changed the words to talk about their life at the horse barn as horse lovers! Love their passion!

Chateau Fiasco had us all dancing to the “Nature Anthem” and it made me want to go climb up and down a mountain and be nice to everyone!!

Wombles showed us their wacky side when they sang about their wackiness by changing the words to the macarena!

The Burrow had us all goin’ bananas with their fun banana song! Yummy AND funny!

Avalon changed the words to the “Pizza Man” song, otherwise known as “Ay Oh Bo Diddly Bop!” (With a radio in my haaaaand! I will be Peter Kass-i-en!)

Forbidden Planet had us all feeling what it’s like to be a penguin drinking tea. What a great workout it is to be a penguin!!

Down Under sang a beautiful rendition of “This Land is Your Land” in which they showed us that “this CAMP was made for you and me!”

Taj Mahal sang the sweet song, “Halo,” by Beyonce. It sounded so lovely to hear the whole camp singing it together!

Treasure Island changed the words to the Spongebob theme song-so funny!!

LCH had a hilarious rendition of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in which they changed the words to be the parts of a bug…Head, Thorax, Abdomen!

Wabanaki sang the heartwarming song, “Imagine” by John Lennon. It sounded even more magical having Jacob play the guitar along with it!

Camelot sang a funny original song!

French Quarter sang an adorable version of Taylor Swift’s, “You Belong with Me,” in which they replaced the words to talk about their cabin experience…”You belong at HVC!”

Shangri-La sang the sweet song “This Little Light” How beautiful!

Fiddler’s Green sang the hilarious song about Hermey the Worm in which we found out why he was getting so big…he was eating camp!!

In other news…tonight is cabin night! The counselors have been working hard to plan for this fun night in which each cabin does their own activity so they can bond and get to know their cabin mates more, to establish the cabin community. I snuck a peak at the list and there are SO many fun things planned for tonight! It’s always a surprise for the campers so…my lips are sealed!

Until next time!

Miss Melody

P.S. Here’s an update on what’s going on with the teens from Humming Bird!

Hey all, Humming Bird here! All’s well and good on Main Camp, but what’s happening with our Teen Programs? Well, let us tell you! We have two Programs to report on this session: Adventures, which you may recognize from last session, and Alive– which is solely a second session Program! Adventures left this morning for their first excursion! They’ll be spending the next 8 days on a canoe trip down the Allagash River! The 7 campers and 2 counselors will canoe and camp for the week, and I’ve been told this is the perfect time to be on the Allagash! Have fun, adventurers! We’ll give you more updates on the trip as they come, and we’re very excited to hear about their escapades!

Our Alive program is just slightly different…. rather than canoeing and hiking and camping, the 9 Alive campers will be learning about and creating art in all its various forms! They have begun their time together by creating one collective mural out of painted tiles that spell ALIVE 2016! Last night they were initiated into the program when they received their sketch books, which they will use to document their session! Today they begin their advanced classes, stay tuned for more!!

For now I’ve gotta go refill my water bottle– a bird’s gotta stay hydrated, too!!

Humming along,

Humming Bird

LETS SORT SOME CANDY

Sunday, July 24th, 2016
Candy Sort

The AWACS (Always Wanting All CandieS)

Hey All,

Curious George here with an extra special Orientation Day night update! The Candy has been sorted.. I repeat THE CANDY HAS BEEN SORTED.  The Strange creatures known lovingly amongst these parts as AWACs have broken into our secret candy stores and have divided our mountains of York Patties, M&Ms and Airheads into bags that will soon float down from the sky. This may be our earliest candy sorting ever! But when will it fall you ask? Folks your guess is as good as mine. Keep your eyes on the skies everyone because mark my words The Candy Drop will happen.. were just not sure when.

Sweet Sweet (sugar filled) Dreams all.

 

 

Orienting ourselves to camp… again!

Sunday, July 24th, 2016

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Hello on this beautiful, sunny Orientation Day! Humming Bird here! We have had SUCH a wonderful time today, let me go through the schedule…

We awoke today for the first time as complete cabins, and rushed to the dining hall for the first Bagel Sunday of the session! Delicious! Once we were good and full with our bagels and soft boiled eggs, we split off by cabins, and everyone signed up for classes, took swim evaluations at either the lake or the pool, and got their heads checked and photos taken! Folks at home, check your mail within the coming week, to see pictures of all your happy campers here in the Valley!

In the in-between time, cabins played some getting-to-know-you games, had nice, long rest periods, and of course enjoyed some delicious lunch! And don’t worry, everyone– we’ve taken plenty of hydration breaks on this busy, sunny day!

What’s left? Well, we’ve got Evening Meeting coming up soon, followed by a yummy dinner, and then we’ll gather for the first time this session at the foot of Tipi Hill, where we’ll all walk together up to our Pinegrove. We’ll sing songs together, we’ll have a few laughs, and we’ll bask in the joy of each other’s company as we gaze into the beautiful fire. I can’t wait!

That’s all I’ve got for you today! Stay tuned tomorrow for more on the FIRST DAY OF CLASSES!! Should be a good one! I’m off to practice my Pinegrove tune…

Humming along,

Humming Bird

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