Beautiful face paint from the When I Was Young dance!
Good morning, everyone!
It’s Luna Bug, back and ready to share stories and news tidbits from all across camp. Get ready because today we have a jam packed report and plenty of photos to accompany it!
Yesterday was quite the junk food day! Although the doughnuts, pop tarts, and sugary cereals of breakfast are always favorites, there’s something to be said about the savory chills dogs of lunch accompanied by cheetos and oreos, and the ravioli at dinner that make every Junk Food Day complete. Well, as much as I love the savory, the day really wouldn’t be JFD if we didn’t end it with *drum roll* sundaes! After dinner we all gathered near the dining hall and one by one went in to get our sundaes, based off of which cabin was the quietest! Once inside we had vanilla ice cream from a local creamery, and then our choice of toppings, and man did we have choices! We could have caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, or strawberry sauce, and then whipped cream, marshmallow fluff, rainbow sprinkles, or a cherry… or we could have it all. Yum!
After the sundaes everybody went over to the Rec Hall to dance out all the sugary craziness at the When I Was Young dance. There was tons of dancing accompanied by the tunes of our awesome DJ Grandpa a.k.a. Jacob. If dancing wasn’t your thing we had a bunch of other activities too like decorate a diaper, finger paint face paint, baby name changing, lullaby writing and glory day stories, match the childhood story to the counselor, guessing which baby picture matched the celebrity, basketball, and a “color on the wall” mural. It was all so much fun!
After the dance we went back to our cabins for a good nights sleep in order to be well rested for today- the first day of our new minis, and the 5th day of classes! Some campers signed up for “minis” which are basically two different classes that each run for four days, instead of one class that runs for eight days. It’s a really cool way to get a chance to try a bunch more things at camp than just the four classes. To get the day going everybody chowed down on an Egg Bar breakfast with potatoes and toast and fruit. Today’s fruit was a bit more special than the usual bananas and melons because we had fresh Maine blueberries! As much as Cara B. and I enjoyed Junk Food Day, we really enjoyed the fresh blubes.
Now, as you all have probably figured out by now, loads goes on here at HVC every day that is out of the ordinary. However, not all of it happens within the usual routine of our day, so Cara B. and I are going to take the time to tell you about a few little things that happened over the past few days:
Kae Kim is the wonderful woman who has helped bring the Korean campers to HVC over the past- wait for it- 21 years! Yes! She has been working with HVC, and staying at camp, for nearly as long as PK and MK have been here! Yesterday at evening meeting we recognized her hard work, both this summer and for previous ones, and Meg and Peter presented her with roses and a beautiful glass fusing piece depicting tipi hill. Today, Kae left and we are so sad to see her go!
A few days ago there was another exciting evening meeting presentation: 5 year vests! Peter read out a list of about 15-20 campers, and after a few minutes we got it- these were all campers and counselors who had been at HVC for 5 summers! To recognize their commitment to the community and meaningful contribution their presence has had we gave them amazing navy blue vests with embroidered “5 years” on it over the Hidden Valley logo. So cool!
And now, here’s an update from one of our teen programs, Hidden Valley Adventures. On Saturday, HVA returned from their second trip of the summer which was spent at Acadia National Park. Nothing could slow down these kids—they summited 5 mountains in 2 two days!! Cara B. and I have a hard enough time climbing tipi hill once a day so we are impressed! One of HVA’s favorites was the famous Beehive trail, which includes granite steps, iron rungs to climb up, and several handrails for exposed rock scrambling sections. *gulp* The payoff to all that work was amazing- the hike opens up to incredible views of Sand Beach. They were rewarded for the 8-hour hikes with a delicious dinner out in Bar Harbor.
After Acadia, they spent a few days back at camp and took day trips to Camden for sea kayaking, and Waterville for an Escape Room. On Tuesday, they headed off to Canada where they will be hiking and spending a bit of time in downtown Quebec. After that they will make their way to AdventureBound in the Forks, Maine for their last adventure of the summer- whitewater rafting and rock-climbing. What a way to cap off the summer! Here’s to an amazing second session of HVA!
Check below for photos from all of these events, and a few more!
Faithfully yours,
Luna Bug