Monthly Archives: June 2017

Half-Moon Jug Band’s in Town!

Friday, June 30th, 2017

Hamilton hangs out with some friends

Good morning world! Olive here with some news for you on this fine day.

We had a fabulous evening last night with the Half Moon Jug Band. We got down to all the classics like Tuna Noodle, This Land is Your Land, and Country Road. We were all up and dancing and singing along to our favorites. We then went off to bed after a very fun and relaxing lazy day.

We woke up this morning to the beautiful smell of bacon, and we enjoyed a delicious egg bar, bacon, fresh fruit, and toast feast this AM. We were then back into the swing of things with morning meeting and off to classes! It’s bound to be another busy and exciting day here on camp concluding with the Space Dance! Campers will be making decorations during interest groups to prepare and I’m sure will be getting decked out in their best outer space gear for tonight.

We’ve got lots of photos for you today, including a little photoshoot of our new baby pig, Hamilton. Campers have been enjoying getting to know him and taking care of him in llama care. Also be sure to check out our emerging pop stars in 2nd period’s How to be Popstar with Lucy and Jacob. They did a photoshoot in their pop star personas all over camp…it’s pretty amazing, you don’t want to miss it.

So long for now, friends and talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

Olive

Traveling Through Time, Going for a Dip, and All the Photos to Prove it!

Thursday, June 29th, 2017

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and all those in between! Special reporter Olive Oyl here with loads of news and pictures for you on this beautiful sunny day!

First things first, we had an awesome electives night, with the schvitz letting up just in time for us to do all of our regularly scheduled activities. There were the classics, like capture the flag, pizza oven, baking cookies, and light painting (be sure to check out the photos). Plus some old HVC quirky favorites like destroy the Nalgene, Peter’s forbidden tour, and the spontaneous parade. There was also pool games, nature drawing, a scavenger hunt, and making pendants in glass fusing. All in all it was a wonderfully diverse and fun night that ended with the whole crew gathering in the Rec Hall for some singing. We did brown squirrel, my dog bean, and ended the night with the Farthest Field with some help from Meg. We then made our way to bed and enjoyed a little sleep-in this morning on this fine Trip & Lazy Day.

The younger half was up bright and early for their lake trip, leaving after breakfast and arriving back at camp this afternoon. The younger half enjoyed swimming, soccer, the playground, and a ukulele jam session down at the lake. They munched on a delicious picnic lunch before heading back to camp for ice cream and rest period and cabin clean in their bunks. All cabins got visited by our fantastically strange cabin inspectors this afternoon and the results of dirtiest, cleanest, scariest, silliest, and everything in between cabins will soon be revealed at evening meeting.

The older half enjoyed a laid-back day on camp with a late sleep-in, breakfast, and a cabin clean in the morning. We then gathered together for Time Travel day, which featured creating mini time capsules, name that tune, caveman survival, and futuristic block printing. We then had a delicious lunch on camp and had a nice relaxing rest period in the afternoon before heading off to pool activities for some swimming, friendship bracelets, reading, card games, and some R&R before evening meeting and dinner.

Tonight younger and older half will be reunited once again and we’ll enjoy our lazy day dinner of Mexican or Pizza night…TBD! We’ll then enjoy a spectacular evening of music with the Half Moon Jug Band, an HVC tradition.

Plus…here’s a little community update! The crew did an escape room (prison themed, check out the amazing photos) the other day and had a blast. Today they went on a sea-kayaking trip, which looked like tons of fun. The group is back at Blodgett enjoying a home-cooked meal this evening.

Well, that’s all for now, friends. There are two galleries today because of all the photos we have to share! The first one is of today’s time on camp during Time Travel Day and the trip to Lake St. George in the morning. The second one is electives from last night, community on their trips, and some oddballs. Enjoy it all!

Lovingly,

Olive

Photos part one (Time Travel Day, pool activities, and Lake St. George):

Photos part two (electives & community):

Onwards and Upwards on the 3rd Day of Classes!

Wednesday, June 28th, 2017

Josie getting a kiss!

Good morning, lovelies!

Another egg bar, another day. Luna Bug here, full of hash browns and orange juice ready to report on all the goings-ons around camp.

Before we get into today’s events, let’s back it up to yesterday, and the candy-drop speculations of the day. During interest groups, a bunch of kids met with Tanya to discuss the conspiracy theories, and they presented their findings during evening meeting. They seemed to be in agreement that the candy drop would most likely be on Monday, but who knows. Somewhat mysteriously, the drone of a plane was heard not once, but TWICE, during the course of camp meeting. Although it wasn’t the actually the candy drop, it did seem a bit like a warning, or some secret message, to hear the planes during camp meeting… Perhaps it will be today? Tomorrow? Camp is a buzz with speculation!

Because of a big schvitz storm last night we switched what would have been Llamapalooza to movie night and we watched…Moana! The whole camp gathered in the rec hall after dinner and watched the film, and then it was off to bed. Time to sleep and get prepared for our 3rd day of classes!

We woke up to the aforementioned fabulous blue sky and settled in to camp meeting under the warm sun. As always, Peter got camp meeting started with his booming “HEY YOU GUYS!” and we started  our parade of announcements and traditions. To highlight a few- “Tide Klum” (Pronounced Tidé) announced laundry, and we heard about Interest Groups and about the opened time capsules in Meg’s Planet. The joke of the day was told, more groups were called, and finally, the Spirit Animal of the Day was announced to end meeting and send us off to classes.

Heads up! Anika and Kate from Shangri-La have been taking awesome photos and shared them with us, so we posted them for you all to see! Check below for those photos, and tons more from the past few days of classes.

Virtual high five!

Luna bug

Getting into the Swing of Things!

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017

Good morning, folks! Secret agent Olive Oyl here with lots of news and photos for you on this fine day.

We had an exciting morning with pancake bar for breakfast, complete with fresh blueberry sauce and syrup. Yum! And we got treated with a few special songs at camp meeting. Peter I. sang us a glass beads song for interest groups and Ian got us started on one of our Tuesday traditions, “Dinner’s Better With a Letter,” by singing an awesome song accompanied by guitar. Plus it’s Aloha Tuesday, so we’re all decked out in our Hawaiian gear– grass skirts, floral shirts, flower crowns included. They’ll be a ukulele jam session during interest groups in the spirit of the day.

So, as you all know, there was lots going on late into the evening last night and when I stumbled into breakfast this morning I saw a string of wrappers outside the AWAC shack. What could it mean?? One camper suggested at meeting that the Candy Drop is going to be on Monday because the wrappers were shaped in the letter “M”. Maybe he’s right…only time will tell…Tanya will be hosting a conspiracy theory discussion at interest groups for those campers who are curious and suspicious.

But before all the craziness we had a wonderful evening with our cabins. Oh what a night. Here’s what everyone did:

LCH made comic books and s’mores

Avalon had a huge bonfire at the end of the world

Loons made cardboard robots and raced around in them

Wombles went down to the lake for a swim and made s’mores

Bermuda Triangle built a fire, had s’mores, and played campfire games and world cup soccer

Chateau Fiasco had a family dinner in the barn kitchen with tacos

Forbidden Planet built mailboxes in the woodshop

Deer Meadows went kayaking on the lake

The Burrow built cardboard mailboxes and made s’mores

Down Under had a PJ party and decorated cookies

Paquatahnee went on a scavenger hunt to find s’mores supplies

French Quarter made a cabin sign and clay beads

Gimme Shelter did light painting and a dance party in the Foothills

Wabanaki went on a scavenger hunt to find s’mores and swim in the pool

Fiddler’s Green made a mosaic for their cabin

Valhalla did tie-dye and the color personality test

Camelot made shrinkydinks, s’mores, and sang campfire songs

Shangri-La made memory jars and played the M&M game

Haley’s Comet worked on a stained glass project for their cabin

and finally…

Taj Mahal went rock climbing off camp!

And that concludes our amazing evening of cabin bonding and activities. Be sure to take a look at the photos to see what we’re talking about!

Meanwhile, it’s another day of classes and we’re excited to be getting back into it! Tonight we’ll have Llamapalooza/Meg’s Rodeo, which is a camp classic and sure to be lots of fun. Can’t wait to fill you all in tomorrow!

Hugs and kisses,

Olive Oyl

Candy Drop Conspiracies to End a Great Day

Monday, June 26th, 2017

Hmm…lots of candy…lots of AWACS…what could it mean?!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Olive Oyl here with special guest FutterButter. I was on my way to bed when I smelled the faint scent of chocolate and sugary sweets. Then I heard a ruckus and found a wild gaggle of AWACs amidst a HUUUUGE pile of candy. What could that possibly mean? See if you can decipher the image and help me out here. More clues to come…

Meanwhile, we had a fabulous first day of classes– be sure to check out all the awesome pics! There was guitar and horseback riding, swimming and skateboarding, glass fusing and blowing, kayaking and paddleboarding, mountain biking and costume design (just to name a few). After a busy day of classes (or for our adventurous crew, a fun day on the ropes course) we enjoyed our Blue Skies and Rice Krispies and a laid back Interest Groups before gathering together for our first official evening camp meeting. We heard from Promos, Iron Chef, and Gurus and all felt good and right in the world. After a yummy dinner we joined our cabins once again for an awesome cabin night– more details and photos to come tomorrow.

Plus there’s a little Community update– they spent the day in Belfast volunteering at a nursing home and taking in all the scenery. Lots more fun to come for that group.

Well, I’m off to bed, folks. Have a great night and keep your eyes and ears peeled for candy wrappers and low flying planes…

Sleep tight,

Olive

 

 

First Day of Classes is Here!

Monday, June 26th, 2017

Wheel Pottery!

Rise and shine, world! Olive Oyl and I are here with a little preview of the day to come for all of HVC!

I, Luna Bug, was correct in my prediction of Egg Bar this morning for breakfast! So, fueled up on all the eggs, toast, and sausage we could eat, camp headed off to morning meeting. We heard about who is getting laundry done today, who is on ropes, and who is on glass beads.

It’s a glorious day for the first day of classes! The sun was shining on us as we headed off to first period, where all the campers are now. Then, it will be off to second and third period. After third period everyone will head to lunch, where they will meet up with their cabins or with friends for lunch. Then it’s rest period, and then after that will be fourth period. After fourth period we’ll have Interest Groups where everyone will grab their snack at the Snack Shack, and then head off to their Interest Groups, or just hang with friends. After that will be camp meeting, then dinner, and then finally CABIN NIGHT! Each of the counselors have something different planned for their cabins, so we’ll let you all know later what everyone has been up to!

Ta-ta for now!

Luna and Olive <3

Farewell, Orientation Day!

Sunday, June 25th, 2017

Walking up to Pinegrove!

Evening! It’s Luna Bug here with the final late night report on this whirlwind of an orientation day.

Olive Oyl talked about all the different things we had to do around camp (swim evals, class sign ups, etc) and I can happily report that they all got done. Wheel pottery and glass beads are full, as always, but there were also wild card hits like Burn Baby Burn, a class that seems to be centered around building things just to be destroyed. Further investigation on that class, later.

After the (as promised) delicious lunch, cabins settled into tours of camp, the last licks of unpacking, and working on pinegrove performances. Both the pool (FUN!) and the lake (FUNNER!) were open today for the swim evals, and even the ropes course was in use because HVA had a chance to climb the course before they set off for their first trip. Even though orientation day is a bit of an unusal day, camp really felt like it was in full swing today.

We had a great camp meeting, followed by a spectacular spaghetti and red sauce dinner. Raise your hand if you can’t get ENOUGH of Lillian’s delicious garlic bread! Okay, let’s just imagine that we all raised our hands while I daydream about that garlic bread…

After dinner we all headed to base of tipi hill for Opening Pinegrove. Our tipis counselors Emily and John led us up the hill in silence to the pine grove, where every camper and counselor sat around a big camp fire. One by one most of the cabins performed, from fun songs like Baby Shark to more heartfelt ones like Riptide. Overall it was a fantastic and amazing evening, and it was so cool to see each cabin as a unit stand in front of camp and perform!

A little schvitz tonight is going to clear up by tomorrow morning and give us a clear and warm first day of classes! My prediction for breakfast? Egg bar. Check back in tomorrow to see if I’m correct, and to get the update on all the goings on around camp.

Sweet dreams everybody!

Luna Bug

Orienting Ourselves! A Busy Day Ahead…

Sunday, June 25th, 2017

Yay!!

Good morning friends! Olive Oyl here with your morning update.

So far we’re having a beautiful bagel Sunday morning, featuring lots of bagels and various delicious cream cheese spreads, plus fruit and juice and cereal. Yum! We all just gathered for morning meeting before heading off to our various appointments around camp– photos, the Health Lodge, swim evals down at the lake, and class sign ups. We got some more details at morning meeting of some new classes and ones that require a little more explanation, like Pinterest class (each day you get to make a new craft), Backstage Ninjas (set design and construction for the play and the musical), Project Runway (sewing and fashion design), and Outreach Outdoors (community service and trips in the area). Awesome!

We’ll gather together for lunch (delicious, I’m sure) and rest period, before finishing up our activities for the day and spending some quality time with our cabin-mates and counselors. Pine Grove is tonight, so cabins have some time this morning and afternoon to prep a song, dance, skit, poem, or whatever they feel compelled to share this evening!

Luna Bug will be updating you later on this evening about all of the wonderful acts up at Pine Grove and how the rest of our day went. In the meantime, check out all the awesome photos from yesterday and a few from this morning!

Hugs and kisses,

Olive

Arrival Day Part Two!

Saturday, June 24th, 2017

Glittery friends!

Good evening, folks! Olive Oyl here with another round of arrival day news for all you lovelies back at home.

We had a wonderful rest of our afternoon with cabin groups going back to their bunks for a rest period before rejoining the group in the front yard to welcome our first bus, Boston, around 4:30 pm! We continued with our friendship bracelets, magic cards, and card games until our very first evening meeting. We then enjoyed a delicious dinner of fried chicken, potatoes, green beans, salad, and carrot cake– an arrival day classic. After most of us were fed, we were ready to welcome the New York buses and we hugged and sent off the New York crew to dinner. Then we all gathered together to watch Opening Night Skits in the Rec Hall.

It was a hilarious night of skits surrounding a failed music festival that needed lots of help– from all of our various of camp like music, dance, arts, sports, glass, and the waterfront. Campers got to hear all about the awesome assortment of classes offered these two weeks. Tomorrow at orientation day we’ll all get to sign up for these amazing classes, as well as jump in the lake for a swim eval, get our heads checked by the nurses, tour camp, and get our headshots done by our awesome photographers Eden and Max.

For now, we’re all getting snuggled in bed with more time to unpack and unwind tomorrow, with a beautiful night of Pine Grove waiting for us up ahead.

Ta ta for now,

Olive

Arrival day is a GO!

Saturday, June 24th, 2017

Look at that throng of people under the sun and schvitz tent! 

Hello everybody! HAPPY ARRIVAL DAY. CAMP.IS.HAPPENING. I REPEAT: CAMP.IS.HAPPENING.

Whoah, whoah, whoah. I promised myself I wouldn’t use caps lock before introducing myself, but I just got so excited because today is a great day ’cause all the campers are arriving! It’s Luna Bug here happily reporting that today is going great, and that the schvitz is holding out of rus.

Folks who are dropping off campers by car have been pouring in all day, and we’re waiting for the New York buses to come in at around 5pm. Once that happens camp is really going to be full!

All the counselors and kids who have moved in have been hanging out in the Front Yard making friendship bracelets, name tags, and playing some game called Exploding Kittens. Yes, you read that right. The game is called Exploding Kittens! It’s super fun and is going to give Uno a run for its money.

At lunch all the campers sat with their counselors, and some parents who are still here. We had cold cuts, roast beef, potato chips, corn-on-the-cob, mozzarella and tomatoes, a salad with apples in it, and chocolate chip cookies. It was a perfect lunch on this hot and humid day.

Post-lunch it’s back to the frontyard for more hanging out and waiting for campers. We’ll have our first camp-wide evening meeting tonight, and then a (I’m positive) delicious dinner. After that we’ll head over with our cabin to the rec hall for Opening Night Skits where all the campers will be able to hear about the classes they can sign up for.

Tomorrow’s going to be another big day, but for now we’re all just excited to wait for the New York Buses! Let me see you do the funky chicken!!!

Peace out and talk to you later!

Luna Bug

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