What could be in the plastic bags?!?

Greetings, everyone! Cara B. here with a super exciting update as staff training draws to a close.

A lot has happened since we last spoke. Firstly, we have AWACs!! our 10 fabulous AWACs arrived throughout the day yesterday and we are so excited to have them. They spent the day getting to know each other and talking about their special role in cabin life. Last night, they enjoyed a campfire and s’mores and slept over in the Foothills dance studio. This afternoon, they will receive their cabin assignments and move in with their co-counselors!

Yesterday, counselors were busy continuing prep in different areas around camp. There was a mountain biking drill in the morning and a drill up at the ropes course in the afternoon- both went absolutely swimmingly. Speaking of swimming, some lifeguards were down at the lake preparing for windsurfing and boating classes! How fun does that sound?

After a long day of class and cabin preparations, counselors and AWACs gathered in the dining hall for the staff training lobster banquet! There was delicious lobster for all and chicken parm or spanakopita for non-crustacean eaters. When everyone was finished with dinner, something peculiar happened. The dining hall was hushed by a whistle from Chris, one of our head cooks. Meg and Sandia (adorned in their cow suits,) wheeled out a cart containing plastic bags, their contents a mystery for anyone new to HVC. They were silent, and staff stared in awe, confused by the lack of table-pounding and screaming that usually accompanies this point in the evening. Once Meg and Sandia returned to the kitchen, the noise started slowly. The rumble of hands hitting tables and voices yelling for ice cream grew, and soon the dining hall roared for the tasty treat. Soon, Meg and Sandia returned with Ben & Jerry’s for everyone, the perfect ending to the amazing meal. Staff gave the kitchen staff a huge cheer for the amazing meals they cooked us this summer before we headed off for our final staff training evening program- Pine Grove.

Pine Grove is a super special camp spot at the top of Tipi Hill where we open and close each session. Staff walked up Tipi Hill guided by torch light (there is no technology up at Pine Grove- not even flashlights!) to share camp songs, stories, and poetry by the fire. It was a wonderful way to reflect on the past few weeks and remind ourselves that we are all here to support each other.

Today is a big one, the final day before arrival day! This morning counselors chaperoning bus trips were sent off to their collection destinations in Boston and New York. Counselors on camp will continue to prep their cabins with a big clean, bunk tags, a welcome sign, and more! Counselors have created some fantastic themes for their cabins:

Wombles Pirates

Down Under the Sea

Avalon Aliens

Pawuatahnee (Cats and Dogs)

Gimme Shelter Guardians

The Burrow Busy Bees

Loons Spoons

Shangri-Lahbstahs

Atlantis Dinosaurs

LCH Lotsa Chickens

Chateau Fiasco Noir Films

French 1/4 Fromage (cheese!)

Fiddlers Green Gardens of the Galaxy

Valhalla Velociraptors

Camelot Candyland

Treasure Island Deep Sea Divers

Wabanaki Wizards

Haley’s Comet Starry Night

Forbidden Planet Forbidden Mittens

Taj Mahal Moons

Awesome! Some campers have already arrived with their amazing pro-staff parents, and more will be arriving this evening from the Portland airport. It really feels like summer now that camp is filling up with incredible campers! Mama Iguana and I are SO excited for arrival day tomorrow and for the summer to officially begin. Stay tuned for lots of arrival day updates tomorrow including front yard activities and opening night skits. For now, enjoy some photos from the lobster banquet and of our lovely AWACS!

Climbing away,

Cara B. Ner

Big cheers at the staff talent show!

Hi there! It’s Mama Iguana here to give you an update on the past couple days. Camp is getting busier and busier as we approach the final week of staff training… only three more days until our first campers arrive!

Counselors have been busy prepping for their classes after finding out their schedules for the first two weeks of camp. The other night, the evening program was lesson planning! Starting off the night, counselors rotated through a few stations learning how to build a fire and how to structure a class featuring plumbing 101 with Peter. Counselors then met with area heads of various parts of camp to discuss what they wanted to teach, what materials they needed, and how to make their classes as fun and exciting as possible! Everyone is super pumped to share all their skills with campers in a few days!

On Sunday afternoon, staff got their cabin assignments and moved into their cabins with their co-counselors. The night was full of discussion on cabin life, communication between staff, and getting to know each other! Counselors started thinking about cabin themes, structure, and some fun activities for cabins the first few nights of camp.

Last night, the kitchen staff prepared a wonderful dinner of pesto pasta and chocolate chip cookies. Everyone was raving over the amazing meal which led to an amazing night! Staff gathered into the Rec Hall for the Staff Talent Show! The MC’s were on a family road trip, stopping at various attractions throughout the show. Ian kicked off the night by catching various foods with increasing size into his mouth, Sandia sang a lovely song with Dario on piano, Seth and Nick put on a hilarious performance, and Lucy, Elise, and Cate sang some Miley Cyrus without opening their mouths! The night ended with an unbelievable HVC band. The crowd was blown away and couldn’t stop themselves from dancing in their seats. There was also a late night show with Moses and Will to give new counselors an overview on some miscellaneous camp areas. It was a night full of entertainment and wow, was it impressive! Who knew so many people had such amazing talents!

Today, different areas of camp are finishing up drills, counselors will be teaching mock lessons to various staff members in art, dance, horses, and more! Our AWACs (Awaiting Work as Counselors) will arrive in a few days and cabin prep will continue!

Stay tuned for more updates and check out photos from the talent show!

Catch you on the flipside!

Mama Iguana

Yee haw!

Hiya folks! It’s me, Cara B., here with another staff training update.

Last night after a delicious dinner of tacos and burritos, counselors enjoyed a favorite staff training evening program- the contra dance! Staff were dressed to the nines in their best plaid and denim attire (bonus points for those wearing overalls). We danced and laughed the night away, swinging partners round and round and promenading throughout the rec hall! It really was quite the work out.

This morning, after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, staff gathered in the rec hall once again to discuss our similarities and differences and how these will come into play when working with campers this summer. Staff are now working in different program areas around camp until lunch. Later, we will all drive down to Camden, Maine so that staff can begin to explore their summer home state.

Tomorrow, staff will receive their class teaching schedules for the first two weeks of first session- how exciting! We will continue training with drills at the lake and the horse barn, our lovely ropes crew will belay the rest of the staff through the ropes course, and lesson planning will begin! Training sure is flying by- can you believe campers arrive in just EIGHT DAYS?? Mama Iguana and I can hardly wait!

That’s all for now! Enjoy some photos from the contra dance.

Ta ta for now!

Cara B. Ner.

Pheonix and Xi face off in the blow-up jousting arena!

Hey there! Mama Iguana here for an update on staff training!

A couple days ago, we had a big surprise on camp…. staff training FAIR DAY!!!! Fair day is held on the second to last day of camp during the summer and is the perfect way to celebrate the end of each session. Returning counselors ran some of our favorite fair day booths for new staff to try out. There was face painting and henna, ice cream, a jelly bean count, and a DJ booth! Staff also got to test out new inflatables that camp received this year and wow, what a blast! There was a bouncy house jousting arena and a huge blow-up water slide. It was a great way for new counselors to experience fair day and celebrate all the hard work they have done so far during staff training. 

After a delicious dinner of fish and chips, we headed into the red barn for another booth-related event- booth night! Returners created booths to help orient new staff to camp, including camp lingo, evening programs, the daily schedule, and teen programs. Cassie, Sandia, and Anna had an amazing puppet show all about interest groups. It was a super fun, relaxing night for everyone!

Yesterday, staff continued to have meetings all about cabin life, camper counselor relationships, and more! In the evening, Meg hosted big circle night, a program to help staff get to know each other a little bit better. Everyone is getting more and more excited about campers arriving- just 9 days!

Tonight, the evening program is an all time staff favorite, the contra dance! Counselors cannot wait to put on their flannels and denim clothing and dance the night away! That’s all for now! Enjoy some fair day photos posted below.

See y’all later!

Mama Iguana

Valhalla and their beautiful banner!

Hey howdy hey! Cara here with the latest from staff training.

All of our staff have finally arrived! All of our fabulous new lifeguards passed their certification exams and the ropes staff are now expert belayers. After celebrating everyone’s hard work, staff enjoyed a yummy dinner of spaghetti to welcome our final new comers. Once our bellies were full, staff gathered in staff training cabin groups for cabin night! Cabin night is a special evening program where campers do a super fun activity with their cabin. Here’s what everyone got up to:

LCH played improve games and basketball at the basketball court

Avalon made glass beads and played ice breaker games

Gimme Shelter hiked to the log cabin for s’mores and poetry reading around the fire

Wombles painted pet rocks around the fire

Paquatahnee made tie-dye socks and did M&M questions (each color of M&Ms represents a different question!)

French 1/4 had an egg drop from the upper carriage house

Shangri-La did a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” guided cookie baking (the person fixed ingredients was blindfolded and couldn’t see, the person giving instructions couldn’t hear, and the person with the recipe couldn’t speak!)

Valhalla made a beautiful finger painted banner for their cabin

Camelot hasted a game show to get to know their cabin mates and HVC a little better

Whew! How awesome do those activities sound? Today is what’s known as our “crazy day” in staff training. Good thing we had a delicious breakfast of pancakes with blueberry sauce to fuel us up for the big day ahead. New counselors are taking their swim evaluations, going on tours of camp, and getting trained to drive camp vehicles. PK crew is busy setting up the tipis on Tipi Hill, and other returning staff are working in program areas like theater, cooking, and glass. We’ve been told that there will be a special surprise before dinner- what could that be?? Only time will tell, but stay tuned to find out…I can hardly wait!

Tonight, the evening program is booth night! New staff will have the opportunity to ask returning counselors questions about different aspects of camp such as the daily schedule, evening programs, off time, interest groups, teen programs, and more!

That’s all for now! Enjoy some photos from cabin night.

Buh-bye!

Cara B. Ner

Light painting creations!

Hello hello hello! It’s me, Cara B, with an exciting electives update.

Last night, after a long day of training in program areas and working on PK crew, staff gathered on the soccer field for another classic HVC evening program- electives! Electives is sort of a choose-your-own-adventure evening program. Returning staff stood in a line on the soccer field and announced the awesome activities that they would be running.There was fire building 101 (which included s’mores), a jam session in the rock band studio, a hike to the log cabin, a ukulele sing along, basketball, cookie baking, light painting, and of course, Peter’s forbidden tour. After being split into 3 groups, new staff members were released to  run  walk calmly to the elective of their choice.

Everyone had a blast! Some activities were just too enticing to resist. A button-making station was left abandoned as its participants raced after PK’s tour up the stairs to the AWAC shack and onto the roof of the dining hall. On the roof, Peter instructed everyone to remove their shoes to be thrown off the roof. Legend has it that if a pair of shoes lands right-side-up on the ground, the candy drop will be tomorrow! Sure enough, a pair of black converse landed right-side-up! Staff training candy drop anyone?? Only time will tell…The group jamming in the studio was truly rocking out! They had some incredible chemistry- perfect for the staff talent show coming up next week! The cookie making and fire building group made some delicious sweet treats, and some amazing works of art were created through light painting.

The night was concluded with a debrief in the rec hall and some classic HVC songs. Returning counselors led us in singing “The Princess Pat” and “Ayo-Bo-Diddly-Bop,” and Meg ended the night on calm note with “The Farthest Field.” Once we were nice and relaxed, while the PDs did not announce bed time for staff, everyone was positively pooped from a long week at camp. Today, staff will continue working in program areas and will enjoy some time to rest after dinner, and tomorrow, the rest of our staff will arrive! Below are some photos from electives- stay tuned for more staff training news!

‘Til next time!

Cara B. Ner

Water balloon toss!

Hi, everyone! Cara B. here with a special introduction. Reporting live for the very first time, it’s Mama Iguana!

Hey there! My name is Mama Iguana, and I’m so happy to be joining Cara B. on the blog this summer. I can’t wait to keep you all updated on all of the excitement ahead.

Two nights ago, we had our first evening program of staff training, Llamapalooza! All of the staff gathered on Deer Meadows field. Groups of counselors rotated through different activities. Some activities included a crazy, fun obstacle course where they had to jump through hoola hoops, bounce balls into a kiddy pool, write long, creative messages in a white book, and knock down bowling balls! Two worker bees led dizzy bat. After spinning around a baseball bat, counselors carried a cup full of “honey” from one bucket to the other. These bees will definitely have enough honey for the next few days, thanks to all our staff! There were even some circus runaways looking for elephants over at the elephant march. The night ended with two big group activities. Counselors did a rock-paper-scissor challenge, where the loser of each rock-paper-scissor game held onto the shoulders of the winner, ending with a final game between the two counselors with the longest conga lines behind them. Finally, once a winner was announced, staff gathered on the hill for the activity we’d all been waiting for… the counselor wake-up challenge! Counselors raced to get out of their sleeping bags, throw on some crazy costumes, eat cereal as fast as they could without using hands, and say the alphabet backwards before going back to bed. Deer Meadows was full of cheers and laughter as our new staff were put to the ultimate test.

After a good nights sleep, counselors rolled into breakfast and were surprised with the first egg bar of the summer lead by Chris and Lilian! Returning counselors helped spread the excitement and show new staff the expert egg bar technique to achieve an optimal egg experience. Our fabulous kitchen staff really set the tone for a great day ahead! After breakfast, counselors split up into groups to continue training! Ropes staff had a day full of more team bonding games and learning the basics of the ropes course, lifeguards practiced more rescues, and the horse staff went for some trail rides. We had our video staff walking around all day, filming various areas of camp, and there was lots of glass blowing going on in the Beadhive!

To finish off a great day, staff enjoyed a night of trivia in the dining hall! Counselors were split up into groups to answer six rounds of questions on different topics like HVC, world geography, and pop culture! Between each round, our shift heads acted as DJ’s for special “Name That Tune” challenges. Every other round, our fabulous MC’s David and Aileen hosted “Minute to Win It” challenges. Each group picked representatives from their team who then had a minute to complete the challenge at hand. Staff showed off their cookie eating talents, attempting to get a cookie from their forehead into their mouth without using their hands, competed in a relay that involved holding M&Ms using a straw, and attempted to spoon cotton balls from one bowl to another while blindfolded. The night came with lots of laughter, great team bonding, and loads of candy. 

Today, staff are continuing to do more training. Lifeguards are learning CPR, Ropes staff are practicing their belaying skills, and the horse and video staff are continuing to practice. On Monday, the rest of our staff will arrive and we will start talking about cabin life, classes, and daily routines.

That’s all for now! Enjoy photos from the last couple days and stay tuned for more updates from electives tonight and various activities going on around camp!

Catch you on the flip side,

Mama Iguana

Amazing lifeguards after their big swim!

Hello, camp compadres! Cara B. here with some very exciting updates.

Staff training has officially begun! I’m happy to report that since my last post, the number of staff on camp has been growing and growing! Last weekend, our wonderful returning counselors arrived. HVC was full of hugs and laughter as staff were reunited with their buddies. During the next couple of days, returners chatted about their aspirations for the summer and how to best help new staff feel welcome and become acclimated to camp. On Tuesday, all of our amazing lifeguards arrived. We enjoyed a big, delicious dinner of tacos and burritos with all the fix-ins and then headed over to the red barn to get to know each other over card games and guitar jams by the fire.

The next day, staff gathered in the dining hall for a hearty breakfast to gear up for the big day ahead. There was fresh fruit, sausages, coffee cake, and an egg bar run by returning counselors! This was our last meal prepared by our pre-camp head cook Denise, who received a big cheer and huge thank you for all of her hard work creating incredible meals for staff over the past few weeks. Now that kitchen staff have arrived, the dining hall is open for the summer!

Once our bellies were full, the lifeguards headed to the lake for their first big swim. Despite the chilly weather and light shvitz, the lifeguards were unstoppable. The rest of the staff worked on projects around camp (including a big picnic table move,) and greeted new counselors who arrived throughout the day. After moving into cabins and getting settled in, staff ended the night with the biggest red barn hang-out yet! There was telestrations (a combination of telephone and pictionary), banana grams, and surprise s’mores by the fire! Many of our new international staff had their first ever taste of s’mores, and needless to say, they were a huge hit.

Today, all staff have been working in their special program areas. The lifeguards were back at the lake and the ropes staff were up at the ropes course playing team building games and learning different knots.The horse staff were down at the barn, our glass gurus spent some time in the studio, and our video staff were busy getting a handle on their video equipment.

Throughout the week, returning staff will facilitate some classic evening programs for new staff. Tonight is llamapalooza, and I can hardly wait! There will be dizzy bat, the water balloon toss, booty box, and of course, the counselor wake-up challenge. It’s going to be a blast!

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for our next update, which will come to you from my new blog-writing companion, Mama Iguana! I’m so excited for you all to meet her. For now, enjoy some photos of lifeguard training, hanging out in the red barn, and more!

Climbing away!

Cara B. Ner

Phillie with baby Tui and Elise with puppy Nellie!

Howdy, Folks! Cara here with an update on all that’s been going on at camp.

Some important introductions are in order for some fresh faces at Hidden Valley. Long time HVC-ers Carmi (glass guru) and Phillie (former waterfront director) have a new arrival! Baby Tui was born May 21st, making her the youngest camper at Hidden Valley! Peter and Meg have an addition to their family as well…a brand new PUPPY!! Little Nellie has been exploring HVC and making herself at home along with the other new Hidden Valley doggies- Huxley and Moose. Huxley is horse director Hannah’s dog, and Moose belongs to ropes director David and waterfront director Aileen.

In addition, pre-camp preparations are in full swing! A number of returning counselors and pro staff (and some faithful former staff who are here to help out) are hard at work getting different areas of camp ready for the summer. Yesterday, a group went down to the lake to set up the “H” dock and floating docks, while another set up the yurt in the backyard. The weather has been absolutely beautiful- perfect for a dip in the lake or spending time out in the sun. Horses have been arriving throughout the week and our fabulous horse staff are helping them get acclimated to camp. All of the instruments have been taken out of storage and returned to the recording studio, and our shift heads have begun planning programming for staff training. Camp is becoming less and less quiet; weed-whackers are buzzing, lawn mowers are humming, office phones are ringing, and the ladybugs have been sighted tidying cabins. Staff are enjoying yummy meals prepared in the barn kitchen until more folks arrive and the dining hall opens up. In just a couple days, most of our returning staff will be on site in preparation for a BIG arrival of new staff next week. Everyone is so excited for camp to fill up with friends both new and old!

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more updates once staff training begins- I can hardly wait! For now, enjoy some photos of our new furry friends, baby Tui, and projects around camp.

Lator, gators!

Cara B. Ner