Heating Up and Winding Down...

Hello Chippy Friends!

Please forgive my break in writing. This has been such an incredible and busy week. Time moves so remarkably fast here, and it really is hard to keep up. As directors, we are having to constantly and consciously stop time every now and again just to keep things on track. In the short span of four weeks we have to provide a plethora of programs, activities and experiences. Creating fun programming is the easy part as we can plan that all winter long. Chippewa’s strong and cherished history provides us with a solid program bag to pull from. The hard parts are the intangible parts. For example, the subtle (and not so subtle) life lessons learned; the building of friendships and the development of independence; the establishment of community and the distraction from technology. We want our girls to break from the detrimental habits that keep them away from nature and further away from imaginative play and creativity. These are the most essential facets of camping and it takes a program with all of the right ingredients to produce those outcomes. This is where the pause button comes in handy. So… PAUSE.

There were so many highlights from this past week, but the 4th of July program took the cake. Lisa and I were so pleased with the hard work of our eldest crew (Lakeview) in planning this special day. They spent countless hours painting murals, planning entertainment and keeping things on track. You know that a camp program is successful if the campers are laughing while they play, singing while they dance and smiling while they eat.

The weather has been just about perfect. Low to mid 80s has us in the water quite a bit! Nighttime typically brings a welcomed drop in temp. Tonight for example we are looking forward to a cool summer storm. These night rains push the heat away, freshen the flowers and wash the tennis and basketball courts of sap and pine needles. They also make for a great bedtime soundtrack!

Tonight we enjoyed a great performance by Tom Pease. Tom has been singing at Chippewa since 1984 and he is just awesome. Even on a hot night like tonight, Tom had campers dancing on campfire benches and singing at the tops of their lungs! Tomorrow is our famous United Nations Day program. The camp will be split into four countries and will compete in all sorts of activities from sports to crafts. Be sure to check out photos tomorrow night.

There is so much more to come, but the culmination is of course visiting weekend and we are so excited to see many of you. Please stay tuned to our emails and updates as the weekend nears. We want to make sure that you are well informed about the weekend’s logistics. Have a wonderful week and we look forward to talking soon!
All best,
Cliff