The Sari Diaries- Friday 6/17/16

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

I am very excited to be writing to you all tonight in the very first Sari Diaries of #TheRanch2016. Precamp is off to a great start and at this point, I am very confident that this group of staff is the absolute best in the history of CRC. The new staff and returners alike are incredibly kind, fun, spirited and already cohesive. The CITs are enjoying their first precamp experience and are transitioning onto the staff very well! We have had a number of highlights thus far…keep reading if you want to hear all about them!

It all began in late May…Luke and Callam arrived on May 22nd to begin prepping for the summer of 2016. Slowly, others joined us on Dam Lake and before we knew it, June 3rd arrived and we welcomed two vans full of staff ready to be lifeguard, climbing wall and high ropes course trained. The energy was high right from the start and we had a ton of fun while working hard. We even made it to laser tag in Eagle River which was quite intense.

The next big crew arrived on Monday of this week and that pretty much rounded out the entire staff. Since then, we have been busy training, learning and planning for an amazing summer ahead. On Wednesday, Chris Thurber joined us for the morning and we discussed healthy competition and how to work with our campers in our relatively non-competitive environment. That night we opened staff Tan & White. New staff learned their teams, some of their cheers and we played TV Games. It got crazy and fun was had by all. The White Team won but it was extremely close!

Last night we had our Staff Fellowship which was fantastic…seriously one of the best I can remember. We ate lots of good food and danced the night away- including a great rendition of “Friends in Low Places.” The fellowship is always a good opportunity to unite the staff, and last night was no exception!

Today was our Health and Safety Day. We focused in on our safety procedures and risk management among other extremely important topics which helped the entire staff recognize the significance of our responsibility throughout the summer. This evening was our annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament. The competition was fierce and the talent was impressive. Delf, Kellie and Monica won the tourney and were very excited to be crowned champions.

We are looking forward to another wonderful day tomorrow. It is hard to believe that we are only three days away from the official start of what is sure to be the very best summer ever. We cannot wait for these next eight weeks…we are ready!

Okay that’s all for now…check back tomorrow and every day going forward for the rest of the summer for updates and highlights. Thanks for reading- have a good night!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari