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Day 1: What’s your favorite color?

Day 1 of Olympics was off to a spirited start! Cheering has reached an all time high for the summer and is sure to continue over the next 5 days! Every event begins with the chant: “G-O-O-D-L-U-C-K we wish you all good luck today!” And is reciprocated by the other team with a chant of thanks. That sets the tone for the games and the amazing displays of sportsmanship we are seeing! Although the camp is divided in red and blue, the campers are supporting all their friends and bunkmates. The Debs/Dillies, Middies, Juniors, co-ed LITS and Counselors (and Casper) all had the privilege of playing GHOST on Day 1! Mitch is holding court there with his expert team of Judgies and is in his glory! The Tweens had Newcombe (slide out and rotate!), the Junior/Inter Girls and Dorm played great games of soccer (yes–one girl did play stopper wearing a blue tutu!)…if that’s not intimidation, what is!? Who needs the London Games, when you can watch riveting beach volleyball from the Senior Girls, Dorm, Club and LITS (future Misty Mays and Kerry Walshes here at Camp Towanda!). Jets and Cadets were pumped up at the Gaga court and were called up to the flagpole this morning!  The National Girls and Inter Boys hit it out of the park at their respective Softball games and the Nationals and Senior Boys were in the [end]zone at Football!  A full day of activities, rest hour tennis matches, wood collecting for rope burning (long sleeves and long pants), and more.

Our American Pie bugle call rang at lunchtime…people still got chills remembering the breakout from the night before.  It now takes on a whole new meaning! At dinner, each team got the microphone and had the floor.  The Red Jesters pulled pranks. The Blue Royalty were prim and proper. The scores (so far) were announced and it was a 10 point spread between the teams!!! An even match.  What will today bring?

Last night was Tug-O-War on the soccer pitch! Intense match-ups and creative cheers and chants from each of the teams as they approached the rope.  The final pulls were made by the Judgies vs. the Generals.  Who do you think won? The teams retreated to practice their songs and team meetings before light out and taps.

Today is the girls’ track and boys’ swim meets (where we are sure to see future Ryan Lochtes, Missy Franklins and Usain Bolts!). We are looking forward to hearing the sides cheering on their teams to the finish lines!  Did we say everyone is cheering? “What’s your favorite color?” “A little birdie in a tree, said something very true to me”, “Thunder-thunderation”, “The team is in the huddle, the captain’s at the head”, “The cookie monster says”, “Split the V. Dot the I. Curve the C. T-O-R-Y. Victory victory let’s repeat it!”.

Many alumni from all different generations have returned to step in as Judgies. It’s great to have them back at camp, outfitted with Judgies Olympic books, whistles and tradition!

Day 2 is on! The sky is blue. It’s a perfect day for Olympics!!!

Good luck Red Team. Good luck Blue Team.

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Red Jesters vs. Blue Royalty!!!!

Okay check this out; all summer long we are working on this AMERICAN PIE video dub/synch. We are shooting scenes all around camp with everyone. We have kids kicking shoes off; we are driving chevys to levees; we are digging rhythm & blues; we sang dirges in the dark; even the parents sang along on Visiting Day!

We wore red, white & blue or dressed in costume; everyone was into helping bring alive our traditional lunch time bugle call, Don McLean’s American Pie; celebrating 40 years since its debut and 20 years as a Camp Towanda lunchtime tradition!

Throughout the summer, scenes, retakes and planning…of singing American Pie!

In recent days, the tension, intensity, excitement and heart pounding edge-of-the seat wonder that included fakeouts, psych-outs, hints, drama and predictions flowed through every Towanda camper and counselor.

Who are the Generals, what are the teams, what and when is Breakout????

Then last night’s AIRBANDS (our lip-synch extravaganza)  was on! And it was awesome…over 14 acts of entertaining and humorous songs and skits!

For the last act, we had to video one more time everyone in the amphitheater, wearing red, white and blue!  Giant inflatable Uncle Sams, life size Statue of Liberty cutouts, dozens of Star Spangled beach balls, American Flags of all sizes filled the crowd!  Off  to the side was the Chevy, filled with even more patriotic paraphernalia.

As I led the singing, the video crew was taping; the entire camp singing and waving the flags, swaying their Uncle Sams and throwing their patriotic beach balls…

The words resounded against a beautiful sunset sky…

When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown

At which time a thunderous explosion of 10 minutes worth of red and blue firewooks rammed up into the sky from beyond the other side of the field house in just 10 seconds; while red and blue confetti exploded above everyone’s heads from the new lighting tower at the top of the amphitheater.

The air horns sounded, the crowd went wild, screaming, huddling in support as the chevy drove in and the banners were unfurled on stage…..

The RED JESTERS and THE BLUE ROYALTY was presented as the fluttering continued of the confetti.

The Head JUDGIES announced the Generals, Camper Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants.

The crowd went wild. Cheers, applause and highly spirited support; Breakout of the 2012 Towanda Olympiad had begun.

A quick team meeting, the opening ceremony with the lighting of the Olympic rings, staff meetings, Judgies meetings and taps.

The early reports say it was a great breakout, emotional on many levels: the campers huddled and hugging each other, the adrenaline of pride and support  and the overwhelming psyche for 5 days of fun, sportsmanship and competition; on all levels.

Camp Towanda was at its best and it just seems to get better every day,

I can’t wait for today’s activities to begin! I will be reffing GHOST matches for the next 5 days!!!

If our technology works, rope burning will be on the campcam, currently scheduled for Friday night…

Good luck red, good luck blue….

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1,3,5,6 We Want Olympics!

Is it the Red Hollywood vs. Blue Broadway? Nope…another FAKE OUT! Mitch’s shirt changes color often; boys are doing zumba; girls are screaming; MISSter Towanda; 5 year club reflections; intense silence at flagpole; and in the mess hall.  Stephanie is working on another tree branch sculpture; Serious Nature Live is covering the fundamentals and procedures of outdoor survival.

We win the lacrosse championship! We move to the semi-finals in tennis!

But every movement, sound, color, thought is focused on the start of Towanda’s Olympics…when is breakout?

In the mess hall, at line-up, at activities, you can hear the chant:
“1-3-5-6, we want Olympics…2,4,6,8, tough luck you  have to wait….Not much longer”

Stay tuned. Perhaps. 100% maybe!!!

-“High Intensity” Mitch and “Aren’t the Olympics on TV?” Stephanie

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Fake Outs, Psych Outs…Is there Anybody Out There?

So much going on here;  rain, sunshine, cool temps, hot temps, thunderstorms, activities, all camp singing American Pie at different venues, flags waving, kids swaying, mud ghost, indoor Outdoor Adventure as an activity, culinary class at the Farm with Chef Paulette, Club and Dorm Fake Outs, Pink Floyd Psych-Outs, BBQ indoors, BBQ outdoors, Horseracing in the drizzle sponsored by the Dorm, the Debs raid the Club of all their visiting day candy, bumper cars, campfires, did someone say Fake Out??

Things are moving fast; people are racing in all directions, late reveille, early to bed, milk and cookies, rain on the roof, Casper barking, did someone say Psych-Out?? And that was just Sunday……who knows what will happen today??? Tonight is Miss-ter Towanda!

Needless to say, camp has Olympic Fever!  Is there anybody out there?

Mitch

P.S. Are you watching the Campcam live? If you were tuned in last night at about 7PM, you saw the Club’s Fake out and at 7:15 you saw the Psych-Out!!! Red Olympus vs. Blue Atlantis…or not!  Oh what will the real teams be?!

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!yaD sdrawkcaB

BACKWARDS DAY was a hoot!

Dinner in the morning, breakfast at night. Taps in the morning, Reveille at night.

We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, mild, breezy day filled with great Inter-Camp games!

COUNSELOR HUNT was the evening activity (like hide and go seek….counselors hide, campers find them, each counselor is worth a certain number of points, but we don’t learn their value until the end!). Can you believe I was worth negative 100 points!?

Then at Under The Lights I challenged Lower Camp to a backwards shot from half court on the main basketball court.  I thought I was being cute and said if you give me 5 chances and I sink it, then we will have a late reveille, a breakfast on the lawn and you can come to breakfast in your PJs.  Well, I made the shot!

The Senior, Club and Dorm trips to Montreal, Niagara Falls and Boston trips have all checked in.  Inters are back from a great trip to Cooperstown; as are the National Girls from their Canoe Trip.

Today we have trip day to cool down and relax at the movies (there is lots of excitement coming in the next two weeks!).  And then Goldrush in the evening!

I had to share this wonderful letter we received from a first time parent, who actually suggested we share this with all of you!

Dear Mitch and Stephanie,

Wow! Wow! Wow!  Being a sleep away camp “First Year ” Mom, I really didn’t know what to expect this summer in general and especially on VISITING DAY!.

Well, when I saw my daughter on visiting day I broke down like a baby!  Crying and shaking I had missed her soooo much!  We had such a fabulous day and I was dreading the end of the day because so many of my friends who send their kids to other camps told me what a nightmare the departure could be.

I actually  found the departure to be a PIECE OF CAKE because I SAW WITH MY OWN EYES HOW HAPPY SHE WAS, THE LOOK ON HER FACE, THE HUGS SHE EXCHANGED WITH PASSING COUNSELORS AND CAMPERS!

I left feeling confident and thrilled for my child that she was having a once in a lifetime experience.  Her  “first”  (of many) years at Towanda! Did I mention she never looked better!?!   Thanks for truly caring about these kids and running a tight ship!

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F-A-K-E O-U-T

We are still in the after glow of Visiting Day!  The siblings that stayed over had a great time, our alumni that came for the Alumni Day BBQ were very nostalgic and it was another beautiful day.

Sunday night, our Staff All Star Basketball Game was a great evening activity; a capacity crowd filled the field house. The pre game show included Mitch & Stephanie dancing center court as the camp serenaded and kicked off their shoes (a la another scene for our new and improved American Pie lip dub… you know: “…. Can you teach me how to dance real slow?… You both kicked off your shoes- man I dig those rythym & blues…”)!

The game was the perfect setting for a Mitch vs. Jared Reiter half court backwards shot showdown contest (that the young Reiter foolishly thought he could win).  The two teams (Red Counselors vs. Blue Staff) entertained the audience with Globetrotter-like prowess, but the real excitement happened at halftime! Our gymnastics department put on an impressive show which was followed by the Club’s early FAKEOUT!!!! That first got the crowd excited, pumped and even more spirited as the Blue Gymnasts and the Red Acrobats faked out the crowd!  Try going to bed after that!

Monday was a thunderstorm day; major booms, claps and downpours.  But nothing could stop us from a jackpot Casino Night!

We said au revoir and bon voyage to the Club & Dorm and Seniors as they left for their trips to Montreal and Martha’s Vineyard today!

Another great week underway here at Towanda!!!

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S’more about our S’more Tour!

Many of you have been asking to hear S’more about our S’more tour!  So here’s a taste of what it was all about from two of our favorite former camper/counselors in the Towanda Family who were on hand to help make sure it was a great day!

We welcome you to Camp Towanda, we’re mighty glad you’re here!!

by Lauren Cohen and Hannah Lyons

The S’more Tour was this past Saturday and it gave us the chance to invite up future campers to spend the day with our Towanda family– and what a day we had! Aside from filling up on sun and blue skies (don’t worry, we didn’t forget our sunscreen!) we also filled up on Jonesy’s chocolate-chip cookies with milk, s’mores, and a BBQ lunch.

After all of the families arrived, we ditched the parents for some tye-dye Towanda Tees and started activities! (Rumor has it Mitch gave a great walking tour of camp for the parents!)

We really did it all– climbed the rock wall and cruised down the zipline, dodged the ball at Ghost and Gaga and had some downtime in Arts and Crafts just before jumping right into the foam pit in the brand new Gymnastics Pavilion! At the end of the day, we got a chance to cool down at the waterfront where we slid down the big slide in Sunset Lake, chilled out on the beach and swung off the Tarzan swing. The only thing missing from our day was the rookie campers at Square Dancing that night! We hope you’ll be there next year!

We want to send out a very special thank you to the Debs, Dillies, Jets, and Cadets who were every bit as welcoming, friendly, fun, and happy as they are everyday to the rookie campers. Our youngest age groups made the newcomers feel like old friends. That is the Towanda way!

All we have to say at the end of the day is– give us S’more of Camp Towanda!!

See you soon Rookies-

Hannah and Cohen

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Girls Sing/Oh We’re Half Way There!

Yesterday marked the halfway point of the summer; 95 degrees and it was Girls Sing!

If there was ever an evening that  could define the sprit, tradition, legacy, love and respect of everyone who is part of our 2012 Camp Towanda Family, it would be last night! Camp is electric! Camp is unified!

Girls Sing was quite the event. The pride, effort, support, time, energy and devotion from the campers and counselors as well as all of the hard work that went into sing was nothing less than magical for all of us here.  No staff went off duty; everyone was part of it..

And oh, the boys; I wish you all could be flies on the wall. Their decorum and appreciation flowed in a burst of love and incredible pride and respect of their camp sisters. The cheering and applause; as well as the hugs and the tears.

From scenery to songbooks to themes and costumes; what a night! We had the “Debs and Dillies Down the Red Carpet”, “Tweens & Juniors in Emergencies”, “International News Network”, “Seniors Hit Route 66” and “Dorm Cartoon” (after they faked us out with their “Pretty Little Dorm” scenery).  In the end, the Dorm Girls won but it was EXCEPTIONALLY close.  Only 10 points separated first and last place.

The support from one group to the others was overwhelming; Stephanie and I had tears while watching.

It exemplified what an incredible experience this summer is for all of us here. I realize that parents are often interested to hear about sports and activities, that is all great here; but the life skills and the inter-personal growth without a keyboard or an electronic device is priceless. I think this is what makes us unique. You should just see how polite, respectful and appreciative our kids are here!

We’re still smiling in the glow of last night.  Can’t wait to for you to see more of it on Friday Nite Flix later this week!

Until then…

-Humming Mitch and Singing Stephanie

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S’more Tour and Fun in the Sun!

Excitement; that is what is going on here at camp! So much so I haven’t had a chance to even blog!  Actually,  it has been sooooo hot and by the time I came into the office, I actually had to lie down!  I never thought I would say this, but we wouldn’t mind a day of rain! Can you imagine?

The Water Carnival was a blast; Smorgasbord Dinner was fun; comedy improv night was very entertaining;  late Yogurt Nite was yummy;  Friday Nite Flix was awesome as always! And our Inters made us proud, doing our Shabbos service at the Honesdale Temple.

Saturday was our Rookie Day S’More Tour with lots of new campers checking us out for next summer.  We loved seeing second and third generation kids as well as meeting lots of new faces and their families! Thank you for all of the amazing responses…it really was a terrific day!

Saturday night we had a Square Dancing hoedown; Sunday The Inters went bowling while the rest of camp had an extended indoor rainy day BBQ when we were teased with a thunderstorm that ended up missing us. Regardless, we all danced to the Woodstock  rain dance and Santana’s Oye Como Va in the mess hall!  We probably had only about 20 minutes of rain, but ended up having an all-camp ETB (early to bed) to catch up on some rest; as the humidity level has been hovering at 97% for a few days.  The Seniors-Dorm-Club and LITs ordered in Chinese Food !

Yesterday our activities and intercamp games continued while we ended the day with an all camp Dutch Auction and then surprised everyone with McDonald’s as a special treat on the main soccer field.

So that’s a little of what has been going on here in addition to regular activities, inter camp games and general swims!

Today  is Picture Day, Banana Splits, Haircuts and GIRLS SING; a very powerful day!  We hope to be giving some exclusive reporting from Girls’ Sing on Twitter @camptowanda…so stay tuned!  You never know with our internet connection, but we hope to pull it off.

As you can see, even I’m getting in on the water fun in this heat!

Mitch

P.S. Okay, I take it back. I do not want rain. Especially on Visiting Day!!!!!

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Healthy, Happy Campers!

By Stephanie Reiter

Several people have shared with us the recent article in the NYTimes about food at summer camp. Here at Camp Towanda we are all about kid-friendly, parent-approved healthy choices. Our nutritionist helps us create balanced menu so that kids actually eat, enjoy and try. We always serve fresh fruit throughout the day, and campers can find fresh vegetables, brown rice, pastas, and many other healthy choices at our extensive salad bar. We strongly believe that refreshing and nourishing snacks help keep our kids properly fueled for success here at camp (hey, just ask your kids about our Camp Towanda Fusion Water)!

At Camp Towanda our health and wellness initiatives go beyond the dining hall. When we came to camp in 1991, I decided to start a garden.  What started out as a passion project of mine has evolved over the years to become a haven in the center of Camp Towanda.

Fruits, vegetables and herbs aren’t the only things that grow in our garden. Our campers grow too!  The benefits of our garden program truly benefit the whole child, beyond just teaching healthy, natural eating:

“Gardening captures kids’ interest, teaches them nurturing skills, gives them a sense of pride in their accomplishments, introduces them to try healthful foods, and provides a way to improve and give back to the community. Working in a garden can be one of a child’s first experiences with care-taking.  Understanding that he is responsible for the growth or decline of the plants in the garden allows him to see the results of being responsible, protective, and gentle. Additionally, the delayed but inevitable gratification that comes with growing a garden teaches patience and self-confidence.”[1]

Beyond these universal benefits of gardening with children, our garden also serves another purpose here at Camp Towanda.  The garden is a safe, nurturing place during free time where campers can get a little extra TLC and a break from the day-to-day excitement.  It does for campers what a spa does for grown-ups!  The results are beautiful and campers feel confident, recharged and renewed to re-enter their daily routine.

I am also very excited about how we have been able to take some of our freshest ingredients (like romaine, corn and rosemary) and bring them to our Farmhouse where campers are whipping up delicious creations in our Camp Culinary program.

To learn more about our garden and other inspirational tips about gardening with children, visit our Pinterest board “Stephanie’s Garden”: http://pinterest.com/camptowanda/stephanie-s-garden.

[1] National Garden Association, “Why Youth Gardens”.