The Sari Diaries- Tuesday 6/18/24

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

After the first full day of #TheRanch2024, there is a lot to report. Here is all of the excitement…

-Meals today included pancakes and bacon for breakfast, grilled cheese and French fries for lunch, and amazing tacos for dinner!

-This morning, age-groups walked around together to swimming, skiing, tennis, riding, wall/ropes and trampball. They learned the procedures of each activity, took a swim test and got to try their skills around camp. The weather was perfect…well maybe a little bit hot but everyone enjoyed being out in the sun!

-This afternoon, we signed up for activities for the first two weeks. Each age group was called down to the Adler Lodge where the tables were set up with different activities. There were staff members located all around to remind campers to sign-up for activities they love and/or want to try and to help them navigate the process. As I looked through the camper schedules, it became clear that we have a ton of well-rounded campers who just love a variety of activities.

-While sign-ups were happening, there was plenty of other action around camp. In the South Field, campers participated in Chippy Challenges. From trying to eat an Oreo placed on their forehead without using their hands to cup stacking, and from trying to shake a ping pong ball out of a Kleenex box attached to their waist to a baggo, the South Field was hype. Campers won raffle tickets for various achievements and the big Chippy gear raffle winners included Sienna K, Dylan B and Chloe A. Additionally, Alexa R guessed the exact number of Hershey Kisses that were in a jar (there were 237!).

-Throughout the afternoon, campers who were planning to run for Tan & White Sachem joined us in the office for a conversation about leadership, the meaning of being a leader at Chippewa and why they were considering running for Sachem. It was amazing to hear how much thought these campers put into this decision. We did a little speech writing and public speaking workshop to help prepare this group for the evening. I was so impressed at not only the number of campers who chose to put themselves out there by running for Sachem, but also by the unique perspectives each camper brought to this exercise.

-After dinner, we convened at the Center Fire Circle for the opening of Tan & White. The program began with our incredible Neutrals- Lindsay Adess, Abby Cyrluk and Chelsea Martin- explaining our summer long color war- its history, the associated spirit and their hopes for the Tan & White summer ahead. New campers then each bit into a cupcake to discover either red or white icing inside indicating their lifelong team affiliation. The Tans then headed to the South end of camp while the Whites headed to the North. Each team learned & practiced their slogan and cheers. Sachem speeches were read, and then votes were submitted. When we all met back at the Center Fire Circle, an incredible rendition of “Scarlett Snow” was performed by the Second Year JCs. This is the annual skit portraying the character Scarlett Snow who brought the competition and spirit of Tan & White to Chippewa many, many years ago. It was hysterical, and despite the fact that the actual story is the exact same as it has been for ages, the excitement of seeing a new group of performers acting as Scarlett Snow was entertaining for us all!

-And finally, to end the evening program, the Neutrals announced the 2024 Tan & White Sachems. A huge congratulations to Brave Sachems Sydney S (White Team) & Noa C (Tan Team), Hunter Sachems Sunny W (White Team) & Ava L (Tan Team), Warrior Sachems Jessie H (White Team) & Mila S (Tan Team), Chief Sachems Maddyn C (White Team) & Sadie S (Tan Team), and Grand Sachems Sydney L (White Team) & Scout K (Tan Team). We know that this crew of leaders will help bring an outstanding summerlong competition at CRC!

The night concluded with some cabin hangs. As I walked around to do “goodnights,” I was so happy to see cabins sitting in circles chit chatting, playing games and talking about their goals for the summer ahead. The Chippy sisterhood is very clearly continuing to strengthen- partially because it is the natural course of how things go, but mostly it’s because the CRC staff team is doing a truly unbelievable job of helping our campers find connection, challenge, structure and love…it is everywhere around here!

So yeah, today was AWESOME. I think it is safe to say that everyone is exhausted after this one, but I know that we are all excited for tomorrow- the first day of regular activities. Thanks for reading…have a great night!

Happy Camping and Love,

Sari