Pure happiness at the Counselor Candy Drop

Hiya, HVC-ers! Olive Oyl here with your final staff training update as we excitedly await for Arrival Day! After a few days of cold and rain, the sun has finally come out, so our campers will surely have a warm welcome tomorrow!

We’ve been busy getting camp ready for our wonderful campers– super cabin cleans, AWAC assignments, and bunk decorating have all been happening today. Some counselors have been pretty creative with their cabin themes, such as the Wombles Robots (aka the Wombots), Shangri-La’s Under the HV-Sea, and French Quarter’s Bug’s Eye View. Our counselors have been spending time in their cabins with their co-counselors, planning and organizing for our first few busy days full of swim lessons, class sign ups, and of course, lots of fuzzy time activities, like Ninja and Two Truths and a Lie. We’ve also had staff meetings to prepare for our incoming arrivals, discussing things like providing a warm welcome and spending time to build relationships on the first day.

Tomorrow will be a very exciting day, with super greeters welcoming campers arriving by car throughout the day and lots of sing-a-longs, friendship bracelets, and name tag making in the front yard as our cabins fill in. Our chaperones left this morning to accompany our New York and Boston buses, which we will happily greet in just about 24 hours! Tomorrow night we’ll have Opening Night Skits, where counselors will preview their classes for the next two weeks, complete with hilarious songs and skits in between.

The staff has been wrapping up their training, with last night’s Lobster Banquet and Pine Grove ceremony. We enjoyed delicious lobster (or alternate yummy dinner of your choice) and of course to top it all off, pints upon pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Much Phish Food, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie were consumed before we hiked up Tipi Hill and gathered around the fire amongst the peaceful woods of Pine Grove. Counselors shared stories, songs, poems, and quotes as we reflected upon all our time and hard work during the past few weeks and looked forward towards the start of our first session together.

Earlier in the week we had our own Staff Talent Show, which our Shift Heads MC-ed, introducing acts and providing humor as a wacky Hawaiian band. We saw the many talents of our staff, like didgeridoo, tap dancing, and of course, lip-syncing. Be sure to check out the pictures to see our amazing set of counselors!

It’s been an incredible staff training– lots of meetings, but also lots of fun (our very own Candy Drop!!!). Camp is now camper ready and the counselors are now counselor ready. We can’t wait!

I’ll be sure to keep you updated as first session unfolds tomorrow!

Adios,

Olive