The Sari Diaries- Thursday 6/18/26

Dearest Chippies,

Oh, what an absolute delight it is to be back with you all.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sophie (also known as Soph Aloaf) and I’ll be joining you right here every Thursday evening. At Chippewa, I wear many hats including camp orthodontist, bubble letter master, Chippewa Jibbit giver-outer, “spinny-thing” spin master, and so much more. I am a second-generation Chippy and have spent every summer at CRC since 2004. 11-year-old me would NEVER believe that I’m still here 22 years later—in part because I cried my way through summer number 1, and in part because I had no idea that a career in camping was even a possibility for my future. I’ll never take for granted that it’s now my job to provide the same meaningful, fun, joyful summer to all of your campers that I had as a kid. It’s a privilege to spend the summer at Chippewa—and while I’ll do my best to translate that to writing, just know that my words here will never do justice to the magic of a day at CRC!

ANYWAYS… who’s ready for some info on what happened at camp today?!

It was an INCREDIBLE day on County O. We had our first day of regular activities and camp was bustling with excitement as campers made the most of the sunshine. It probably comes as no surprise that even on day one, activity achievements were already happening… Aria H (Silverspurs) got up on two skis, Clara D (Blackfoot) was the first camper to make it to the top of the wall this summer, and tons of campers passed their swim tests. Cookie dough was made in cooking and LOTS of jumps were had on the trampoline. I also had the pleasure of swimming with Rafter^X as they completed their tests, and even though the water was on the colder side, they all approached the challenge with confidence, courage and determination. Overall, it was a wonderful day of activities and fun was had by all!

The excitement continued after lunch, when we had our first Coin Ceremony of the summer. With the entire camp gathered around the Center Fire Circle, all first-year campers were awarded with a Courage Coin to celebrate the courage it takes to come to camp for the first time. It’s a big deal to attend overnight camp, and it’s important to us to recognize the courage required to be here in the first place!

We rounded out the day with Big & Little Sister Night—a longtime CRC tradition and camper favorite. Tonight’s rendition was candy-themed, and Big & Little Sister pairs traveled around camp in groups, participating in several activities including a fruit roll up eating competition, a handshake making competition, an intense game of Lemonade and Trampball. Congrats to all big and little sister pairs, but especially to Olivia G (Circle C) and Sunny W (Trailriders) who earned themselves a well-deserved win AND a scoop of Cathy’s to celebrate! Special shoutout to the CITs, who planned and ran a flawless program. Their desire to put on an exciting and meaningful program for campers young and old shined through in every detail—from their thoughtful Big & Little Sister pairs to the organization of the activities to the enthusiasm they displayed while implementing the program itself. Thank you, CITs, for an incredible night. It is because of you that it was such a huge success!!

Something that always surprises me during the first week of staff training is how quickly new staff acclimate to our camp culture. In just days they begin to exude enthusiasm and have already forged the friendships that come to define their camp experience. The same is true with first-time campers—and it’s safe to say that 4 days into the summer of 2026, we have a camp full of Chippies. Our community is whole and I can’t wait to see the growth, connection, achievement and pride that comes as the summer progresses!

And one final note before I leave you for tonight… you might notice that my posts are typically a bit different than Sari’s (a little more fluff, a little less specific). I’ll do my best to get to all the important stuff, but I hope you enjoy a little format switcheroo every now and then.

Thanks for reading and talk to you next week!

Sincerely,
Soph Aloaf