The Sari Diaries- Monday 6/17/19

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

The day that we have all been waiting for is here- #TheRanch2019 has officially begun and we are off to an amazing start. It has been a long ten months…most of us have been busy counting down to another summer on Dam Lake…to the start of another summer full of making new friends and strengthening existing friendships…to the start of screaming in the Adler Lodge at the top of our lungs…to the start of sitting around the Center Fire Circle as a camp family…and to the start of what will undoubtedly be the best summer of our lives. As I write to you tonight, I am full of excitement and optimism- as I told everyone this evening, my heart is full. Though this is just the beginning, that feeling is already in the air at CRC- you know what I’m talking about- that feeling that you can only experience during the eight weeks of summer at this place we call home.

Before we get to the details of our spectacular day one, I want to take a moment to thank the greatest staff on the planet…our staff this summer has thus far proven to hard working, thoughtful and fun. For the past month, staff have been arriving, jumping right into camp prep work and demonstrating their motivation for creating a magical summer for the Chippewa campers. A huge thank you to each and every member of our staff team- I am confident that the efforts of this group will absolutely be apparent all summer long!

And now, here are the details of our day…

Starting this morning at breakfast, you could feel the energy bursting out of each and every staff member…returners, new staff, literally everybody was buzzing! Campers began arriving as early as 11am and CRC truly began to feel alive. As the buses rolled in at about 3:17pm, the excitement was palpable. “We Welcome You To Chippewa” was sung loud and proud as the campers got off the buses and jumped into their counselors’ arms. We headed to the Center Fire Circle to announce cabins and each cabin headed off to begin their summer together. Throughout the afternoon, there was unpacking, bonding games and tours. For dinner, we had spaghetti and meatballs- the traditional first night dinner. Lakeview began their role as leaders of the camp by going around to each cabin’s table and singing their cabin song with them. I was lucky enough to be sitting with the campers from C-C when it was their turn to sing- I must say, we did a pretty good job…tune was decent and the volume was excellent :). Overall, the energy was high and the Adler Lodge was LOUD!

Tonight we had our Opening Friendship Fire. We sang “Walking” and “The Circle Game,” heard from Aliza Kipnis- a Ten Year Girl- about the significance of CRC in her life and enjoyed an incredible performance by our guitar instructor, Lauren Hill. There was an intense Picolomini competition in which Shira K was the champion! Lola S was selected by Samantha G as the winner of the Chippy Trivia Quiz, which means the entire cabin of Trailriders gets a trip to Cathy’s. The campfire concluded with Jen’s famous brownies…what could be better?!

After the campfire, food parties and cabin bonding ensued. I had the opportunity to check in with cabins across camp and I loved seeing the connections between cabinmates already forming. 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 I walked into was full of excitement. 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!

There you have it- day one is in the books. If today is any indication of how the rest of the summer will play out, we are in for a good one. I want to thank you all for taking the time to read about our first day…I am looking forward to updating you each night for the next eight weeks…Tuesday nights will be via podcasts, and as always, Soph-Aloaf will be the Thursday evening blogger :). Have a great night!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari

PS Be sure to check out the photos on Waldo (code crc19) from our day!