Monthly Archives: July 2018

More about the (un)Fair Lazy Day!

Tuesday, July 31st, 2018

Down Under hanging out in the duck pond!

Hello all, it’s Mama Iguana here! I am SO excited to tell you all about our amazing lazy day yesterday. We had a great un-fair on camp for the youngest third of camp and the rest of camp went to the Bangor State Fair! It was one amazing day full of prizes and fair puns for our younger cabins!

At the un-fair, campers participated in activities to try and win as many tickets as possible. There was a nomination table at the gazebo with each counselors name written on it. Every time a camper won tickets, they could put a ticket into an envelope to vote on a counselor to get slimed! There were some great activities including spin-the-wheel, ring toss, duck pond, fish bowl, lollipop tree, and pop the balloon! We also had the inflatable slide out, face painting, and ice cream! In the end, James got the winning vote with 593 tickets to get slimed! There was lots of cheering for him and some disappointment from campers who voted for Bethany or Chris. Oh, well… At least they got to see a counselor get slimed!

The older half went to the Bangor State Fair. The campers got wristbands so they could go on an unlimited amount of rides! People were going on the zipper and the fireball and eating fried dough or Oreos. There was a crazy performer who went up a tall ladder, lit himself on fire, and jumped into a pool of water! Don’t worry families, no one was harmed in the making of the event.

Last night, we had an amazing performer Antonio Rocha who told some wonderful stories and did a mime performance. At the end of the night, he threw some invisible balloons to the whole camp and everyone got to tie a balloon to their wrist and bring it back to their cabins. Mine popped, but hopefully everyone’s are still floating around the cabin! Taj Mahal and Forbidden Planet had their own cabin activities. Taj Mahal made cookies and Forbidden Planet watched a movie.

Today is the seventh day of classes. Everyone is starting to finish art projects and practicing for sharing night! Make sure to check out photos from both of our (un)Fair days and Antonio Rocca last night!

See ya later alligator,

Mama Iguana

Cabin Night, Teen Programs, and Lots of (un)Fairs!

Monday, July 30th, 2018

Community!

Howdy! It’s Mama Iguana here to update you all on our fantastic cabin night from last night and give you a special, special, special update from one of our Community campers! Community is a teen program that lives up at Blodgett house, about a mile down camp road, and does different service work within their group, as well as in the greater Maine community. Here’s the update:

One week into Community, the Blodgett house has been abuzz with excitement. After some vigorous cleaning, our space is now a home. While it took time to adjust to the lack of electricity and running water, we’ve managed to fully adapt to this sustainable lifestyle. We’ve been cooking everything from mac & cheese to French galettes, all becoming more experienced cooks in the process. While secluded from the rest of camp, we have been able to further our understanding of sustainability and appreciate the beauty of nature. We have also reached out to our local community through an assisted living center, a local farm, and a state park. After many blissful swims, some Kyle-induced sun salutations, and lots of cups of decaffeinated tea around the fire, we have successfully developed a community of strong relationships.

Thanks for the update, Community! Make sure to check out photos below of all the fun Community has been having, as well as some photos from our other teen program Alive! Alive is an art-based teen program located on camp that has advanced art classes throughout the day, goes on trips, and spends a lot of time preparing for an amazing show at the end of the summer.

Now, back to details from our night on main camp, cabin night! Here’s a list of what all the cabins did.

Loons made glass beads

Gimme Shelter had a dance party and made s’mores

Avalon went on a slip ‘n slide

Chateau Fiasco did glass fusing with Philippe

Bermuda Triangle went on tipi zip and did some X-treme art

Forbidden Planet was “adulting” and their counselors held mock job interviews

Down Under glazed their mermaids from pottery and had s’mores

French Quarter did tie dye and designed shirts with popsicles

Paquatahnee got their faces painted and did tie dye

Lower Carriage House made banana boats and painted with water colors

Shangri La did a color personality test and tie dye with s’mores

Wombles went to the end of the world and burned clay figurines

Camelot made cookies and had a tea party

Wabanaki made cookies blindfolded

Valhalla went on a hike with s’mores and stargazing

Fiddlers Green went swimming and had s’mores at the lake

Taj Mahal went to Mamma Mia 2! in Belfast

Today has been full of fair and un-fair activities! The older half is at the Bangor State Fair while the younger half stayed back for an un-Fair. Stay tuned for an update on all the adventures from our lazy day tomorrow! For now, check out photos from cabin night, community, and alive!

Peace and love,

Mama Iguana

 

 

 

Tons of Talent and So Many Surprises on Day Six of Classes!

Sunday, July 29th, 2018

Grace’s improv painting!

Hi there! It’s me, Cara B., here with an update on this glorious warm, sunny day.

If you caught yesterday’s evening post, you’ll know that we finally had the long awaited Candy Drop! Just as we were about to gather for evening meeting, we heard a buzzing murmur up in the sky. It was none other than the Candy Drop plane! We ran over to the soccer field with pillow cases and sheets in hand. Many cabin groups used what I like to call the “Meg’s Rodeo water balloon toss tarp strategy,” holding a sheet together and running under the candy to catch the sweet treats before they even hit the ground. Others went about the drop the old fashioned way, running as fast as they could to collect the candy once it hit the grass. After all the excitement, we headed back to the Gazebo to debrief.

We learned that the amazing droppers were fabulous fourth year staff, Jacob and Peter I., who received their Candy Drop shirts today during morning meeting. Not many people noticed, but Jacob and Peter actually dropped french fries from dinner the first time around! Droppers from previous years went up in front of meeting to talk about their experiences, and we read some mysterious notes that were attached to the candy, including “fake fact,” “where’s the plane?” “burst the star,” and “five cups of coffee.” We were all pretty confused, but the AWACs seemed to find these notes totally hilarious.

After enjoying our dinner of burgers and fries with all the fix-ins outside picnic style, we gathered in the Rec Hall for the Staff Talent Show! Boy, who knew we had such a talented group of staff? Charlotte solved some tricky math problems, a large crew of counselors danced the awkward Macarena, Natalie, Emma W., Seth, and Leah S., all sang wonderful songs, and Sandia did too with some help from Dario on Piano. Rob P. showed off his pen flipping skills, Grace painted a picture using audience requests, Emma J. signed along to a song from Hamilton, and Seth did some hilariously emotional improv poetry using suggestions from the audience. The AWACs finished off the night by doing the Harlem Shake! If that wasn’t enough of a blast, we continued the evening with a surprise dance before heading off to bed.

Today is the sixth day of classes! We had our bagel Sunday breakfast, heard some beautiful dulcimer music played by Meg and Tom before morning meeting, and got covered in cereal when Forbidden summoned the spirit of “alternative drops,” throwing Frosted Mini Wheats at everyone. Tonight is Cabin Night, so each cabin will be doing a super special activity with their cabin group. Tomorrow is another fabulous lazy day, where the older two thirds of camp will be going to the Bangor State Fair, while the younger half stays on camp for the…”Unfair…” We’ll have to stay tuned for an update from Mama Iguana on that one.

That’s all from me! But before I go, a quick update on what our awesome teen program, ALIVE! has been up to:

Hey, guys! Here’s our report from this first week of ALIVE! We had our sketchbook initiation ceremony and got to work drawing and making collages. We’ve written poems, taken light photography pictures, and made glass beads. In classes, we have been choreographing, acting, singing, making typography, paper mache-ing, making pottery, playing ukulele, and so much more! Asher and Chance have even put together a giant sun catcher in their spare time. Friday Night we set up a gallery at the Rock Dance for the rest of camp to come see! Now we are starting to plan for our showcase performance at the end of the session, so stay tuned for more!

Awesome! Enjoy photos from the Staff Talent Show, and the surprise dance!

Climbing away,

Cara B. Ner

CANDY DROP!!!

Saturday, July 28th, 2018

Pillow cases ready for the Candy Drop!

Good evening, everyone! Cara here with a very important, urgent update on candy precipitation!

Tonight, just as interest groups was ending, before evening meeting had even begun, we heard a plane flying low over head. Could it be?? We all thought, an early arriving Candy Drop plane??

Indeed it was! We all ran to the soccer field as fast as we could to be graced by the delicious morsels being dropped from the sky by fabulous droppers, Jacob and Peter I.!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for all the details including candy catching techniques and AWAC notes! For now, enjoy some photos below.

Buh-bye!

Cara B. Ner

Rockin’ Out In Front of the Camera!

Saturday, July 28th, 2018

Rockin’ out at the Rock Dance!

Good morning folks! Mama Iguana here to give you an update on our super fun rock dance last night.

Yesterday’s evening meeting was held at a different spot. Everyone gathered by the picnic tables in the backyard. Is that a hint that the candy drop is coming?!? I guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Last night’s evening program was the rock dance! Campers taped rock to their foreheads, dressed as rock stars and musical artists, wore some earth tone colors, and put on some whacky outfits! There was a crazy fun dance in the rec hall but also many activities to do! There was rock star face painting, basket disco ball, air guitar, painting pet rocks, dressing up and doing a paparazzi hunt, and playing the game “Who am I” with famous rock stars. Our amazing DJ, Jacob, put on some great tunes for the group including “God’s Plan”, “Cotton Eyed Joe”, “Thriller”, and much more! The night ended with an HVC classic, “Don’t Stop Believin'”. Everyone let out their last high notes and dance moves before the night came to an end. Campers all headed back to their cabins and got a good night’s sleep before Jake Day!

This morning, some cabins got an early start for Jake Day! Jake Day, which happens once a session, is when our amazing video crew films every cabin doing a special cheer or chant before morning meeting. Morning meeting and evening meeting are also recorded so that campers can receive a yearbook with a video of all camp highlights from the summer! Make sure to check your mail in the winter for a special gift from HVC!

The rest of the day is a normal class day! Hiking class just left on a big hike, there’s a drone flying above the lake taking videos, and everyone has their picture perfect face on for video taping! Speaking of being in the spotlinght, tonight is the staff talent show! Counselors have been busy preparing to show off all of their amazing talents. Stay tuned for an update from Cara B. tomorrow! For now, make sure to check out all the photos from the dance.

Xoxo,

Mama Iguana

A Full Moon in the Sky, a Half Moon on the Stage!

Friday, July 27th, 2018

Taj loves the HMJB!

Hiya, bloggers! Cara here with an update on this beautiful sunshine-y day.

Yesterday afternoon while the older two thirds of camp watched a movie, the younger third did some awesome cabin activities. Here’s what everyone got up to:

Gimme Shelter and French 1/4 did a workshop with the Half Moon Jug Band

Loons made fantasy maps

Down Under made mermaid versions of themselves out of clay in the pottery studio

Avalon played theater games

Paquatahnee made glass pendants

LCH made post cards

Coolio! After evening meeting and a Mexican style feast, we headed to the Rec Hall to hear the Half Moon Jug Band perform. And boy, did they rock the house down! They performed an original song written with help from Gimme Shelter and French 1/4 and sang some Half Moon favorites like “The Cat Came Back,” “Lobster Pot,” and “Jug Band Music.” They also sang some awesome covers of “Country Roads” and “Louie Louie,” and ended the night with everyone’s favorite- “Tuna Noodle Baby,” a song about tuna noodle casserole that has a super fun dance to go with it. Once we were positively pooped from all the boogie-ing, we headed back to our cabins for a good night’s rest.

We woke up this morning to a delicious egg bar breakfast with tater tots and bacon. At morning meeting, ropes director David gave a public service announcement reminding everyone that the scrumptious tots are a food that can be eaten with any meal, and shared the proper way to prepare them in the oven (evenly spaced on the pan, rotate half way through cooking). We heard our thought de jour, sang happy birthday, and were sent off by forbidden summoning the spirit of sleeping in late and missing first period!

Good thing no one actually slept through their alarms, because today is the fourth day of classes! Campers in dance and music classes are hard at work practicing songs and routines, projects are coming along in the glass studios and at the Buckhorn, and sports teams are bonding and practicing their skills. We are certainly in the swing of things over here!

Tonight is our first dance of the session- a rock theme! Rockstars, The Rock, rocks themselves, you name it! It’s gonna be a rockin’ time! Mama Iguana will be sure to give you all the details tomorrow. For now, enjoy photos from the Half Moon Jug Band and cabin activities.

Peace out, cub scouts!

Cara B. Ner

Electives, Game Shows, Movies, and More on our First Lazy Day!

Thursday, July 26th, 2018

Avalon on PK’s Secret Tour!

Hey howdy hey! Cara B. here with all the latest on our first lazy day of the session!

Last night was Electives, and boy, did we have some fun! Electives is sort of a choose-your-own-adventure evening program- counselors and pro staff all run super awesome activities for campers to choose from. After a delicious Chinese take-out style dinner, we headed over to the soccer field to hear our options. The campers were then split into three groups, the quietest of which was dismissed first to run walk briskly to the Elective of their choice.

There were some of the classics, of course, like glass beads, baking cookies, tie-dye, Peter’s forbidden tour of HVC, and a huge game of capture the flag. There was also a Disney sing-a-long, pizza making, a life-size game of Hungry Hungry Hippos using skateboards and plastic balls, and an Elective that involved testing out Flex Tape by sawing a kayak in half, putting it back together, and trying it out in the lake! We gathered back in the Rec Hall to hear the results from capture the flag (everyone both knew the rules and didn’t know the rules, followed the rules, cheated, didn’t care about the rules, and remembered to forget them, of course), but were interrupted by the spontaneous parade Elective! We heard back from the Flex Tape group that the tape really works! To end the evening, Meg led us in singing The Farthest Field- a beautiful and peaceful song that got us all feeling ready to snuggle in bed.

This morning, everyone had a loooonnnggg sleep in- score! We headed over to the dining hall and enjoyed breakfast sandwiches on croissants before going our separate ways for the day. The youngest third of camp headed out on a trip to the movies to see Hotel Transylvania 3, while the older two thirds of camp stayed onsite for Game Show Day! After a big cabin clean, the older campers headed into the Rec Hall for the games to begin. The camp had accidentally-on-purpose quadruple booked Alex Trebek, Vanna White, Steve Harvey, and Bob Barker to host the games. There was a masking tape challenge, an “are you smarter than a counselor” segment, a round of Family Feud played by siblings on camp, two Minute to Win it challenges involving Oreos and M&Ms, HVC trivia, a rock, paper, scissors challenge, and a huge “riff off” singing challenge where cabin groups went head to head. The Roots Branches band from Late Night played throughout the show and did “name that tune,” and we ended the games with a huge balloon challenge and a dance party! It was the perfect way to stay out of the schvitz and still have a blast.

After lunch and a long rest period, the youngest third of camp are now enjoying special activities with their cabin groups (stay tuned for those photos tomorrow!) while the older two thirds are watching a movie on camp. Gimme Shelter and French 1/4 are doing a special workshop with tonight’s performers- the Half Moon Jug Band! After we join back together as a camp for evening meeting and eat a yummy dinner of tacos and burritos, we’ll head back to the Rec Hall to see them perform- I can hardly wait!

That’s all for now, everyone! Enjoy photos from Electives and Game Show Day!

‘Til next time!

Cara B. Ner

Not Our First Rodeo, But Our Second!

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

Water balloon toss!

What’s kickin’, little chicken? It’s Mama Iguana back again to tell you all about Meg’s Rodeo (Yee haw!) and the rest of our evening last night!

During evening meeting, there was lots of chatter about the candy drop. When is it? Who will be in the plane? Will there be more than one candy drop? Hmmm… so many questions! There was talk about the candy drop being in exactly seven days because it was Aloha Tuesday, there are seven letters in Tuesday, Aloha comes from Hawaii, the i’s in Hawaii upside down = exclamation points = excitement, there are ten letters in the word excitement and there are also ten AWACs, and seven of the AWACs in the candy sorting picture have their eyes closed sooooo… the candy drop is in seven days?!? Let’s see if they’re correct. Mark your calendars for the 31st, everyone!

Alright, what we’ve all been waiting for, a Meg’s Rodeo update! Meg’s Rodeo is one of the first evening programs every session where cabins rotate in groups to different activities. There was a crazy obstacle course that involved spinning, throwing three sticks, and lots of running, dizzy bat where you spin around a bat five times with a cup of water on your head and then have to run to the bucket, a game of rock tree bridge, sculpting clay with a blindfold, and trying to make a counselor llama laugh. After finishing up the stations, everyone gathered on the hill for the counselor wake up challenge. One counselor or AWAC from each cabin was nominated to lay in a trash sleeping bag, hop on over to get on their clothes for the day, run over and eat a bowl of cereal with no hands, and then spell the alphabet backwards. Our winner was Mitchell the AWAC from Gimme Shelter! It was a one wacky morning for all those counselors and AWACs.

Today is the third day of classes! The candy drop chatter has continued, there’s a debate whether this cloudy sky is “flying weather”. I guess we’ll have to wait and see! Tomorrow is our first lazy day! The lazy day will start off with our first electives of the session tonight and a game show and movie day tomorrow! Stay tuned for an exciting update from Cara B. tomorrow!

For now, make sure you check out all the photos from Llamapalooza last night! Enjoy!

Gotta bounce!

Mama Iguana

Aloha Tuesday and Day Two of Classes!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2018

Wombles goes for a swim!

Aloha, friends and fellows! It’s me, Cara B., back again with the latest at HVC.

Last night was the first Cabin Night of the session! Cabin Night is a super awesome evening program- each cabin does a special activity with just their cabin group. It was the perfect way to get to know our cabin mates a bit better as we begin our month together. Here’s what everyone got up to:

Loons swam at the lake and made s’mores

Gimme Shelter did an egg drop

Down Under did tie-dye

French 1/4 made glass beads and flamingo beaks

Paquatahnee went on a treasure hunt that led to banana boats

Avalon swam at the pool

LCH had a birthday party!

Shangri-La went on a scavenger hunt that led to a spa night and hot cocoa

Wombles made waffles

Camelot splatter painted a cabin flag and had a camp fire

Wabanaki did an art project in the Animal House

Chateau Fiasco swam at the lake and made s’mores

Valhalla did Tipi Zip

Fiddler’s Green did a cookie baking challenge (the camper doing the mixing couldn’t see, the camper with the recipe couldn’t speak, and the camper giving directions couldn’t hear!)

Bermuda Triangle made their own burrito dinner and camped out at Tipis

Forbidden Planet cooked their own dinner as well

Taj Mahal had a big circle night and celebrated national hamster day

How amazing does that sound?? We headed back to our cabins as the sun went down for a good night’s rest. This morning, we put on our best whacky tourist floral shirts and flower garlands for Aloha Tuesday! On our way to breakfast, we saw that photos of the AWACS and candy bags had been hung up around camp. The campers knew right away what this meant- the candy drop candy has been sorted! The dining hall was buzzing with candy drop conspiracy theories as we munched on yummy french toast with strawberry sauce. During morning meeting, campers shared some of these theories. French 1/4 believes that the drop will occur three days after the overcast weather clears, while Gimme Shelter believes that what we should really be focusing on is when Junk Food Day will be. I’m sure we’ll hear even more theories at evening meeting after the candy drop conspiracy discussions continue during interest groups. Even the spirit animal of the day was candy drop related!

Today is the second day of classes! Campers are settling into their daily routines here; working on projects in stained glass and wood shop, getting to know their teammates in basketball and soccer, swimming and paddle boarding at the lake, and cuddling with all of the animals! Tonight is Meg’s Rodeo, a fantastic fun-filled night with lots of different activities. Mama Iguana will be sure to give you the full scoop tomorrow.

That’s all for now! Enjoy photos from Cabin Night and Classes!

Climbing away,

Cara B. Ner

 

The Candy is Sorted, Let the Conspiracies Begin!

Monday, July 23rd, 2018

Good evening, ladies and germs! Cara here with a super special late night update.

Tonight after dark, the AWACs crept out of the AWAC shack and down to Peter’s office to sort the candy drop candy! With patience and care, the AWACs took each delectable morsel out of its bag, inspected its deliciousness, and promptly dumped the rest of the bag onto the floor so that they could lay in a pile of candy because how often do you get that opportunity??

After taking some photos, test tasting the treats, and determining that the sour twizzler is the most aerodynamic candy, the WACs put the candy into brown bags to prepare to be dropped. They also threw in a few special notes to be dropped when candy drop day arrives.

Speaking of which, now that the candy is sorted, the candy drop could officially happen at any moment!!! Could it be soon? Could it be tomorrow?? Only time and camper candy drop conspiracy theories will tell… stay tuned!

G’night!

Cara B. Ner

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