The Sari Diaries- Tuesday 7/28/26

Dear Chippies, Parents, Family and Friends,

Wowzas, that was quite a ride. These last couple of days have been all the things- fun, hilarious, busy, exhausting, exhilarating, confusing and happy. In these last two days, it feels like we have lived months worth of action but I am confident that most campers here would do it all over again (and again, and again). Here’s how the final day of Realm X The Awakening went down…

This morning began with an all-camp meeting at the beach where the Dev Team shared that last night the Grand Sachems worked very hard to solve a puzzle that would prevent The Eye from destroying both Realms. That said, each team had to make a sacrifice. Shout-out to Noa G (Wagon Ridge) and Julia F (Trailriders) for stepping up to help their team through this unique challenge. Additionally, the Grand Sachem and Warden of each team needed to select a Visionary that would help the Hunter Spies to complete nine tasks (each one paying homage to a previous season of Realm). The team to complete the most tasks first would take hold of The Eye and have the opportunity to attack the other team’s castle before the end of the game.

Aside from the Hunters and Visionaries, typical game play continued- houses exchanged hands, spies got serious in the woods and braves did their best to turn their houses in manors. The game paused for lunch and then things got crazy- final attacks on houses were occurring and the Visionaries and their Spies were working hard. Evah R (Lakeview) led the White Hunters to victory and the entire camp met at the waterfront once again for Evah to be presented with The Eye and the we all learned just how powerful that ball can be in an attack. The crowd went nuts!

After a dinner pause, teams prepared for the Castle Attack and Defense. The attack ended up being uber successful- it began in the light and ended in the dark. There were five phases and between all of the phases, every single member of both teams participated. Evah R (Lakeview) and Kedzie Z (Trailriders) started strong for the White Team with their catapult skills. And Ruby F (C-C) was a real rock-star in the fourth phase- she was defending the castle solo. The night ended with the Whites attempting to “light fire” to the castle…it was amazing!

Tomorrow we will find out the winners. Both teams and each member of the Tan and White Teams killed it over the course of the last two days. We are excited to find out who ends up on top- which team will be crowned the winner of Realm X and also who the top individual scorers have been…stay tuned!

This Realm was the best…I mean this game is top tier but this season may have topped them all. I need to give a giant THANK YOU to the Development and Production Teams. The Dev Team is comprised of Mia Barnett, Julia Peltz, Olivia Shniderman, Ella Raff & Luke Bailey (yes, he flew in from the UK for the week to be a part of Realm X). And the Production Team includes Julia Nathanson, Leah Rosenthal, Avery Raff, Maya Fern and Jill Moyer. These two groups made this program happen and they made it interesting, fun and memorable. They were creative in their Season X additions, they planned meticulously and they implemented to perfection. They gave the Chippewa community the gift of Realm and we thank them for their effort, hard work and long hours!

One other little note that made this Realm extra special- Nancy & Fritz Hirsch (my parents) have been here. I obviously love when they come to visit…it is so nice to spend time with them and just have them around. But having them here during these couple of days was the icing on the cake of Realm…or Realm was the icing on the cake of their visit…I’m not totally sure. They were actually visiting leading up to the very first Realm in 2016. None of us really knew what Realm was back then but they were in the office cutting Twills and helping us blindly prepare. Little did we know back then what Realm would become- how significant it would end up being in the Chippewa world. For them to be here ten years later to see this has been incredibly cool. They claim they still don’t know what’s going on but they had the opportunity to witness attacks, chat with campers participating, ask questions about all of the nuances and experience this for themselves. So thanks, Mom & Dad for being here…two nights is a record for you and I am so very grateful to have shared these days with you…I LOVE YOU!

Okay friends, that’s it from #TheRanch2026. Realm rocked, the EMMs were flowing constantly, campers made this program whatever it was they needed- intense, silly or a combination of both. We will all sleep well tonight and we are looking forward to an outstanding final nine days here at Chippewa Ranch Camp!

Happy Camping and Love,
Sari