Howdy, folks! Olive Oyl here chock full of staff training news for you this fine evening!
We’ve had a busy couple of days, with lifeguard, ropes, and horse trainings all in full swing. It’s been beautiful weather here at camp, which has been perfect for going for a dip in the lake, hanging out in the trees down at the ropes course, and going for trail rides across camp. All of our new staff are quickly becoming integrated into camp life, bonding with their co-counselors and co-teachers and learning the lay of the land.
We’ve had loads of fun evening programs this week, with Llamapalooza on Thursday and Trivia last night. Llamapalooza is a Hidden Valley tradition that takes place on Deer Meadows field and features a variety of wacky stations. There was Sheriff’s Laugh, an obstacle course, Dizzy Bat, Water Balloon Toss, and Blind Llama Sculpting, just to name a few. Afterwards we all gathered back together for a giant game of Ninja, another camp favorite. We’ll have plenty more opportunities for Llamapalooza fun when campers get here first session. We can’t wait!
Last night’s Trivia was another wonderful event, with eight teams of our staff answering tricky trivia questions, featuring categories spanning from HVC trivia to world geography to name that tune. While certain teams may have known more facts than others, we all came out on top, as we here at Hidden Valley believe that everybody is a winner. After our evening programs we’ve had relaxed “Red Barn time,” where we talk, play music, and get a chance to get to know each other and unwind before bed.
Tomorrow is another busy day of area trainings before a much-deserved night off in town for Belfast Bus Night. New and returning counselors will get to explore our cute nearby town and get in some fun, social time before Monday, when the remainder of our summer staff will arrive. Until then, counselors are enjoying tonight’s evening program of electives, where staff had a choice of participating in a range of activities happening all over camp. There’s disc golf, the spontaneous parade, a dinosaur creek walk, a trust hike, sardines, a jam session, linoleum printmaking, the hot tub, a llama trek, the tipi zip line, and of course, Peter’s secret Hidden Valley tour. We’ll rejoin tonight at the gazebo to hear what our fellow counselors got up to and sing a few camp tunes before headed off to bed.
More news and photos to come as our staff becomes complete and we venture into more area trainings!
Until we meet again,
Olive