The Sari Diaries- Friday 6/24/16

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

It was a beautiful day in the northwoods from beginning to end. I am talking about both the weather and and the day of fun we had at CRC. I know it’s early in the summer to be getting sappy but I just love Friday nights- our campfires are really something to talk about! Read below to learn all about the campfire and the rest of our amazing day…

The weather provided us with the opportunity to have another full day of regular activities. From the stables to the waterfront, campers were having a blast participating in their favorite activities, with their best friends at the most amazing place on Earth. How lucky are we?! Our swim program is thriving this summer under the leadership of Ashley Cicurel (our Swim Director). Campers are enjoying while they learn and are eager to get in the water…yay!

The real highlight for me was tonight’s campfire. We began at the flagpole with the staff from England sharing a bit about their culture. Taylor S and Sarah S lowered the American flag and hung the international flag for the night. From there, Reese S sang the National Anthem and Sadie G led us in the Pledge. We then headed to the Center Fire Circle for the first campfire of the camp season. The theme was Breaking Barriers and it was the perfect way to open the summer at #TheRanch2016. Lauren S from Lakeview led the campfire and Maddy K, Jordan H, Jordyn S, Carly H, Marni S, Julianna G, Lauren F, Ryan S and Noa F all participated by getting up in and sharing a reading with us. The readings really resonated with me (and hopefully the entire camp)- they focused on acceptance, compassion and taking positive risks to form bonds and relationships.

While there are many reasons that I love our campfire program, one of the top reasons is that it gives our campers and staff an opportunity to get up in front if 300 people and speak. In some settings, that might be scary, or make a camper uncomfortable. Not here…we have a community of trust and acceptance which allows our campers a safe place to try something they might never attempt outside of these confines. The goal is to help them practice and hone these skills so that they feel confident to use them outside of CRC.

Towards the end of the campfire, we had a Keylog Ceremony. This is a time for campers and staff to throw in a keylog for someone who they would like to thank…someone who has done something kind for them this week…someone they appreciate…really anything they would like to share with the camp. I have to say that one of the sweetest keylogs of the night came from two Silverspurs campers who congratulated their counselor Ally S on becoming a Chippy Bat today. It is a huge deal and it is awesome that her campers wanted to recognize her in front of the whole camp. As a side note, this cabin also held a surprise party for Ally to celebrate her hard work and success!

As always, we ended the campfire with the Chippewa Creed. As we came together in a circle, hand-in-hand, I was reminded just how lucky we all are to spend our summer together. Listening to the Creed and reflecting on all of the readings from the campfire, it became even clearer to me how special this place is. Each day at Chippewa is better than the last but I truly appreciate Friday nights. They are a time to reset, recenter and truly learn something.

Okay, that’s all I got for now :). Thanks for reading and have a good night!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari