Day 11- Showtime 3rd session
Hellooooooo parents and welcome back to the final blog of Camp Skyline 3rd session. Well, as predicted, all the campers were in full speed ahead today in their activities, getting in their last rids on the ropes course, circus and horses. Even the activities that were performing on Showtime tonight were in hurry up mode as they got in their last practices before the final showing tonight. Up at the Horseback rings, the campers were competing in the horse show to see who will be rifding tomorrow for the Grand Championship. Its a great honor to be chosen to ride in that competition and they all were putting on their best show today. We’ll have the Grand tomorrow morning and we’ll be there ti get the pics and let ya know who ends up winning and bringing some major points to their club for the Horse Cup thats awarded to the winning club each session. Be sure to check back in and see how your camper or camper’s club did in the tournament.
Today was another warm one up here on the mountain, but I got to talk to a man from Coca Cola that had just come from the bottom of the mountain and he said it was about 10-12 degrees cooler up on top than down in the valley so we can’t complain that much. I know all the girls were drinking water and gator aid every chance they had during the day. Some of the campers were staying cool by playing in the pool and river, Canoeing class decided to make their last day of activities a play day in front of the canoe docks and under the waterfall at the dam. You can see in the video they were splishing and a splashing under the flow of water.
As I said before, we’ll have our Grand Championship tomorrow morning and then after lunch we’ll have our matinee where we finally get to see the performance of ”The Lion King” from our drama class. I know they as well as the campers in set design have been working hard every day rain or shine to get everything just right for the big performance.
After all that and lunch, we’ll have our cabin clean up and packing time where all the campers will attempt to get their 80 lbs of stuff back inside their 40 lb limit trunk. I have no idea how they’re gonna do it but I’m pretty sure it was all in there when they arrived two weeks ago. After the magic trick called “trunk packing 101” we’ll have our awards ceremony where each camper will receive awards for the classes they participated in and for the number of years they’ve been to camp.
And then it all starts to settle in, next open the list is the banquet where we’ll award the club leaders and the campers who excelled in each activity and finally the honor campers from each age group. and then it open’s up. The tears will start to fall as we announce what they’ve all come to see, The very thing they’ve been competing against each other for the last 2 weeks for. The presentation of the club cups. First will be the Horse cup to the club who had the Grand Champion on their roll, the Point cup to the club thats amassed the most points throughout the session by winning all the activities we have during our nighttime activities……and then the Spirit Cup thats awarded to the club that demonstrates the most club spirit, sportsmanship, positive attitude and Skyline values.
Once they announce the winning club all the campers realize this years camp session is coming to an end. Some of their best friends will be gone till next year and if they’re an age out camper this year (meaning the last year they can come to camp) then it could be a long while before they see them again. I tell ya parents, the friendships they forge while they’re here at camp are some of the strongest ones they’ll ever have. The time they spend together playing, working and actually talking to one another will have a long lasting impact on each other. This is one of the few places where they actually learn to (again) talk and look at each other and see how their words affect one another as soon as they’er said. This is where they learn to all work together through the good as well as the bad times. This is where they learn the bad times don’t last forever and you have a chance to start new the very next day when the sun comes up. This is also the place where they see the direct result of teamwork and determination when their club performs well together and is rewarded as being the winners for that night or session. This where they realize for the last 2 weeks, they’ve made some of the best friends they’ll ever have with memories they’ll never lose for the rest of their life. This is where it all happened without the use of a computer, where conversations were definitely longer than 140 characters, and where maybe they even just learned to throw a frisbee will mean something special to them if not now, then later down they road. It doesn’t matter when, the experiences are there, the friendships are bound and these campers will always remember the times that spent together here on the mountain.
Theres a couple of new items this year we want to tell you about before you come to pick up your camper on Friday. First, when you get here, be sure to stop by the front office and pick up your flash drive with every picture you’ve been looking at for the session on it. The pictures on the drive are larger files than the ones you’ve been seeing on line and will be better for printing or sharing. Plus the drive will contain pictures from Banquet night that won’t be available on line. Second, for the first time we’ll be having a Snapchat Geofilter for Camp Skyline and Riverside (on each side of the river). Please use them to spice up any photos you may take with Snapchat and feel free to share them. Were wanting to see how it goes this weekend while you guys are here so let us know!
Folks, its been a pleasure to have you guys playing along at home for the last 2 weeks and tuning in to see all the pictures and videos and what your campers have been up too. Thanks for trusting us with your most prized passion for the last 2 weeks. It’s truly been our honor to get to watch them grow and play while they were here.
Thank you and God bless. Please be safe on your travels up here this weekend and we’ll see ya Friday!!
Take care,
LJ
