How Sweet It Is to be at Camp Towanda (week 4)

b37017ed-6d2f-49be-9a72-d8e237927240How sweet it is to be at Camp Towanda! Our week kicked off with a trip to Bethel Woods, a local attraction and spectacular concert venue, for the James Taylor concert (nothing like going to a concert with 200 kids!).  Stephanie and I joined the campers, which was a real treat for us.

We had a beautiful week of weather with so much to do packed into so little time.  Activities, general swims, boating and canoe excursions, intercamp games, group photos, banana splits, trips to the Blueberry Farm (safari-style) and more! And that’s just during the day!

The excitement is building for everything leading up to Visiting Day on Saturday…canteen craziness, music happiness, sportsmanship “achievementness” and group togetherness!  It is Towanda Time here in Honesdale!

98d849fa-d418-4122-92d7-2abcbbaad7bdWe had our annual Venezuelan Pizza  & Dance Party in The Mess Hall where Jared presented the annual gift to the campers and staff (Towanda Duct Tape they will take home at the end of the summer)!

Girls Sing was simply an amazing display of emotion, spirit, sisterhood, healthy competition and creativity. Win or lose, it really didn’t matter; all the girls sang with the hearts and the boys were a respectful audience.

e477b548-1da3-4da3-b3cd-61b35716176dIn the end, the Inters and Nationals “Internats the Musical” took 1st Place! Thankfully I am not a judge as it was all too close– from the Despicable Debs & Dills, to the Tweens & Junior’s Namaste to The Senior Night Fever and the incredible Sesame Street Dorm…GREAT!  Even the boys’ audience had signs of encouragement for their corresponding groups.

447caa8a-ddf5-48f1-9ad2-fb750ccaddd1We ended the evening with a very special late night campfire with the Dorm Girls and Stephanie and I talked with them about their role, their responsibility and their growth.  As the flames started small and grew, under the twinkling night sky an awesome shooting star flew above.  The Dorm Girls began to reflect on what their final year as campers is all about…and with the loudest burst possible, they screamed their DORM cheer,  it resounded thru the night sky as they walked back in the shadows of the night silently.

2cbf5796-a661-4a54-90d7-0158be0f5bfdStephanie and I had lunch with the camp presidents this week (our white glove service was served by the 8 former presidents still at camp). Good fun!  We needed to postpone our carnival because of weather and went indoors for a Karaoke Night and games followed by a pre-Olympic psychout gathering in the mess hall and impromptu Beatles Vs Rolling Stones Dance party that concluded with McDonalds served to the entire camp.  Still one of my favorite things is driving up to the local Mc D’s and saying I’ll take 246 quarter pounders, 13 plain burgers, 197 cheeseburgers, 17 with no patty, and 1 big mac…to go…oh and can I get a toy with that and 26 extra ketchups.

6d2a5f0d-f283-47fd-920e-5a498a24e978On Trip Day Thursday, the entire camp headed to Dorney Park, Wildwater Kingdom for a gorgeous day of rides and slides! And now it’s time to get ready for the big day TOMORROW!!!! Don’t forget to check out our latest Visiting Day issue of the Towanda Times here and look out for the latest edition of Friday Nite Flix, posted this weekend.

And I have been told that we are sharing some of our highlight photos on Facebook…so follow us there too!

We’re ready…are you?!

 

 

The Heat is On!

sunTHE HEAT IS ON  (Glen Frey)
flyingI really think it is getting hotter everyday!!!  Most activities we are doing are just mellow..like volleyball, culinary, indoor basketball, rollerblading indoors, gymnastics indoors, general swims…plus Fusion Water (our alternative to Gatorade…staying hydrated, the healthy way.  Check out these recipes and make some at home!)

scubaWAITING FOR THE SUN (The Doors)
The LITS and CITS went to The Binghamton Mets game on Wednesday;  they left at the 5th inning and detoured into a movie theater…I don’t think they cared what they saw; it had a/c!

photo 1

SUNNY AFTERNOON (The Kinks)
Wednesday night dinner dress code was “college shirt night”.  So in an effort to help further keep the crowd cool…FROZEN Kit-Kats went to those in SYRACUSE ORANGE!

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE (Stevie Wonder)
The Lower Camp show of Dear Edwina was HOT in the amphitheater; they were very cute!
we gave out ice pops as the sun set in the Western Sky.

photoSOAK UP THE SUN (Sheryl Crow)
The entire camp went to Dorney Park Thursday; timing could NOT have been better; it is a water park and thats what we needed!  Our supervision is tops and our staff was ready with sunscreen. We arranged for the park to provide easy to get glasses of water at the concessions and gave the kids extra cash to buy drinks.  It was hot, but why not be hot in a water park!  Good times, everyone home safe!

girls poolWALKIN ON SUNSHINE (Katrina & The Waves)
Late reveille today; looks like one more scorcher; I think we will mellow down a bit and just sit in the lake and pool (the lake is warm!!!) for the better part of the day!

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE (Beatles)
Tomorrow is Visiting Day! We are excited to welcome over 2000 people to camp and hope the weather cooperates! Sibling Sleepover is Saturday night (which includes a fun, funny and spirited all-camp evening activity–COUNSELOR TALENT SHOW!)

waterplumSUMMER OF ’69 (Bryan Adams)
On Sunday, we look forward to welcoming our Alumni for the annual BBQ! We have over 90 people (over 21 years old) registered for this special day!

A little rain, or a lot of shine, we know this weekend will be great! Safe travels to all our visitors and we’ll see you at the white rock!

BONUS TRACKS TO MITCH’S “CHART-TOPPING” TUNES

NEW RISING SUN (Jimi Hendrix)

SUMMER BREEZE (Seals & Crofts)

SUNSET GRILL (Don Henley)

SUMMER LOVIN  (Grease)

BEHIND THE SUN (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER (Alice Cooper)

LETTHE SUN SHINE (5th Dimension)

SUMMER LOVE SENSATION (Bay City Rollers)

AINT NO SUNSHINE (Bill Withers)

DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME (Elton John)

I WANNA GO TO THE SUN (Peter Frampton)

IN THE SUMMERTIME (Mungo Jerry)

The HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (Animals),

TOO HOT (Kool & The Gang)

SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE (Cream)

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

HELLO AGAIN*,

girls

A beautiful day at camp yesterday (of course, we have altered our standards to accept gray, humid, moist and drizzling as a beautiful day).  We dodged as many dark clouds as we could! YOU NEVER KNOW*!

Fortunately, we have lots of facilities so we can juggle and make things happen, despite the weather! It doesn’t stop much here! EVERYDAY*!

soccerOur program yesterday consisted of Gaga, gymnastics, Legos, Archery, swim instruction, boating, team handball, (senior boys went on canoe trip), ghost, kickball, Arts & Crafts, basketball , zumba, yoga, tennis, the zip line, the toboggan slide, bumper cars, dance, volleyball, play rehearsal, football, fitness, hockey, rollerblading, golf, and track!  NOT BAD for very soggy conditions! We GOT the facilities and know how to manage them! Camp is THE BEST OF WHAT’S AROUND*!

luau2Last night we had some lakeside FUN with a LUAU for Lower Camp, the Inters and Nationals; limbo, hula skirts, games, water ski show and even a hint of a the first sunset of the summer!

Then a little “UTL”Under The Lights with Brad The Hypnotist doing card tricks as a warm up to his magic classes tomorrow.

Screen Shot 2013-07-03 at 5.37.52 PMWhile the older kids (Seniors/Dorm/Club/LIT/CIT) went to Bethel Woods to see Dave Mathews Band (Nothing like going to the Woodstock site prepared for a heavy downpour to really get the “essence” of Woodstock)! But alas, it actually ONLY lightly drizzled during the latter part of the show!

Animal Update for no RHYME OR REASON*: One of our “goats” has a new name, you know, the mini-horses now known as Chipmunk & Donkey; the rabbits are doing fine and our chickens are just about ready to produce eggs and leave their coop. However, we have decided to hold off on getting Kosher The Pig* until we go to the Wayne County Fair!

This morning was Porch Breakfast, which meant breakfast kind of in bed, then Magic Classes, regular Activities, inter camp games of course throughout the day and then in the evening it is Square Dancing!

Thursday, the 4th of July we have lots of fun activities planned… from our ceremonial flag raising to our Camp-a-palooza concert  to our Guinness record breaking attempt of simultaneous leap frogging to coed activities (a July 4th tradition) that ends with the Upper Camp presentation of High School Musical (highlights will be on FNFlix).

Then THE SPACE BETWEEN*…., for our AMERICAN BABIES*,
The big fireworks display is traditionally on the 5th of July (which we plan to do at after services at Sunset Lake).

All in all, an exciting line-up as we hope the weather system gets our message….
We are all just longing to sit down on the grass !!! A GOOD GOOD TIME*!

Okay, the concert-goers are home safely,
SAY GOODBYE*,
From after the Luau,
Aloha Mitch

PS: Not sure if I need to explain (*)..but those are song titles from the Dave Mathews Band!

waterbball vball smile luau boys luau kayak bobandmitch