The Sari Diaries- Monday 6/19/17

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

Wow- this place is amazing! It has been less than twelve hours since the first campers arrived at #TheRanch2017, and already the energy is palpable. June 19, 2017 feels like a day that should go down in Chippewa history…it was that good!

Before going into the details of all of the excitement on Dam Lake, I want to thank #TheRanchStaff2017. We have staff that have been here since May and as the crew has grown, it has become increasingly obvious that this is a special group of people who are going to put their hearts and souls into our campers this summer. Throughout the past month, they have demonstrated their work ethic, motivation, kindness and genuine care for the Chippewa community. Be it their first summer or fourteenth, each and every staff member has made it clear that they are committed to our campers. I have all the confidence in the world that this group is going to make this the BEST SUMMER EVER.

“So what happened today?” you may ask, and I am here to answer. Here it goes- my best attempt at a summary of this very important, extraordinary and fun day…

It all began this morning at breakfast. When I walked into the lodge, it was hard to ignore how excited the staff team was for the arrival of our campers. They were buzzing and it was easy to sense that we were ready for four buses full of campers to pull into CRC to begin the most epic summer yet. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, we worked to put the finishing touches on camp and I must say that this place WAS ready.

At 3:19pm, the buses rolled in, “We Welcome You To Chippewa” was being sung, screams of excitement were heard around camp and hugs were being given all around. We headed to the Center Fire Circle to announce cabins, and as always, Lakeview sang their song after being called to the center of the circle. Throughout the afternoon, cabins were playing games in the South Field, bonding in their cabins and checking out Hammock Village & Copper Stripes (the newest cabin at CRC). Wagon Ridge was playing Elbow Tag and having a blast while Copper Stripes was learning and loudly singing their cabin song. A-Frame was shooting hoops and Lucky-X was jumping on the tramps. Everywhere I walked, campers and their counselors were ecstatic to be at camp!

For dinner, we had the traditional first night spaghetti and meatballs. Lakeview walked around the messhall doing cabin cheers with each cabin group and we ended the meal with a crazy-loud rendition of a “Chippewa Girl.” Every camper and staff member stood on their chairs clapping and singing with huge smiles on their faces…it was perfect!

Tonight we had a Friendship Fire which was full of songs, introductions, entertainment and a Keylog Ceremony. Shayna G won the Chippy Trivia Quiz Raffle- yes, that means that Bowed Legs will be heading to Cathy’s for ice cream some time soon! The spirit at the campfire was fantastic- looking around the circle, it was very cool to see connections are already being made…new and returning campers were sharing chairs, campers were sitting on counselors laps and there was a general feeling of love and happiness all around. The campfire concluded with Jen’s famous brownies…needless to say, we ended on a high note.

Campers and counselors then headed back to their cabins for the night and Soph-A-Loaf and I began making our rounds. As if this day wasn’t good enough, walking into cabins tonight confirmed what a special place this is- we are truly lucky to be spending our summer at 8258 County O. Each cabin we walked into was full of excitement. We played jacks in Circle C and Wagon Ridge, enjoyed A-Frame’s food party with them, watched some serious fidget spinning talent in Boots and got to see so many older campers saying goodnight to their younger camper friends/family. I loved seeing campers acclimating so quickly to camp and cabin life…there was a level of comfort between cabinmates and counselors that surpassed day one expectations!

Just in case I haven’t been clear, #TheRanch2017 is off to fabulous start. I don’t even think I’m overplaying it here…this is going to be a summer to remember…mark my words :). I think that’s all for now but we have just posted pictures and will soon be sending an email to camper parents with a video attachment introducing you to your daughter’s cabin counselors. I hope you have enjoyed night number one of the Sari Diaries- thanks for reading!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari