Family Camp 2008 – What a Week!

Family Camp… where do I start? There was so much packed into one week this year! Family camp started on Monday 18th August and ran until Sunday 24th August 2008.

Monday saw many of our “Old-Timer” families arrive and get settled into their cabins and activities straight away. Of course Sheila Gunter hit the Tennis courts with our own Tennis Pro, Alina, as soon as she could, while some of our newer families walked around camp speaking with the “CF” staff and “taking it all in”! “The Bums” (a group of teens who have been attending camp for 10+ years) reacquainted themselves with the high dive at the lake and headed to Arts and Crafts for some Friendship Bracelet supplies.

“Night 1″ saw all the families attend the “Get to know you” session at the Basketball Gym. Everyone played “Human Bingo” and the annual giant “Rock Off” was held to find the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” grand champion of 2008. After the frivolity of games, both staff and families proceeded to the Council Fire and took in the warming atmosphere of the “Camp Fire”; singing and watching new and old acts from both staff and families!

Throughout the week there were SO many activities that the families took part in… Tennis is popular every year; Riflery and Archery proved to be quite the hit this summer and during the latter stages of the week a competition was held in both to see who the true “Marksman” and “Robin Hood’s” were; Waterskiing and tubing on Lake Anna; lazing by the pool or the lake are always popular; pottery, in particular learning the tricks of the wheel; arts and crafts was open EVERY afternoon however the most popular activity by far… Friendship Bracelet making (and also candle-making and tie dying).

This year we were so lucky to have some specialized activities…a soccer clinic; glass jewelry making and chocolate decorating/candy making… both so popular in fact that a second class had to be held in both, and… an Artist in Residence! Dick Clarke, a professional potter travelled all the way from England (Dick and his lovely wife actually came to see their son Harry, one of most popular and our longest serving summer camp staff). Dick was so kind as to offer his services for Wednesday afternoon and lead several classes in techniques and pointers for improving skills on the Pottery Wheel… those classes really churned out some beautiful bowls, cups and vases… in particular a BEAUTIFUL fruit bowl which now takes pride of place in my very own house (thank you Dick and Harry)!

Well, Family Camp just wouldn’t be family camp without some good old competition and rivalry and this year was no different. The annual Basketball match was held between both staff and families and I am happy to say that the FAMILIES “white-washed” the staff! It was kind of embarrassing to see how badly “CF” lost this year. It was all in good fun and everyone enjoyed the refreshing dip in the pool after the match. Especially “The Bums” with their annual “Swimming in Socks” party (ahem… who would ever do that???

As the week drew to a close families enjoyed some typical traditions of camp… the Ping Pong tournament, Talent Show (won this year by Gage singing with his dad Mike, as Mike played his guitar), Ga Ga Ball, Casino Night closing “Camp Fire” and of course… ending it all with a “Bang” on Saturday evening with a Slide Show of the 2008 Families and the Fireworks extravaganza!

Such an amazing week was had by both staff and families, the only “downer” is that we have to wait another 365 days till we can do it all over again, so until then… have a great year, see you in August 2009!

SAM

Week 9 – Summer 2008 Comes To A Close.

Camp Friendship’s summer 2008 season has now come to a close. Our final week of summer camp was a super fun and exciting week for all. This week was not only our final week of camp for our campers but also for the majority of our counselors. Some are staying behind to help us with Family Camp but most will be going back home and back to school for some. We wish them all well and thank them for a great summer.

Just because this was our final week there was no slow down here at Camp Friendship.

As always we enjoyed great activities, high spirits, and fun all around. To top it all off we also had a special Color Wars Olympic themed event on Wednesday. The competition covered water and land events all over camp for our teams, Blue, Red, and Green. Once everyone had enjoyed breakfast the competitions began with lake events for Junior team members and land events for our Senior team members.

After lunch the all-camp relay begun which covered a variety of obstacles and activities. The relay was completed on the lower field with a giant campfire built by the respective team captains (counselors). See photos on bunk1.com of many of the events during our Color Wars event. Evening activity continued the Color Wars theme at the drama theatre. The teams performed their team songs as the final event of the competitions and presentation of the team float.

It was a great experience for our campers and as always great fun for everyone.

As we closed out camp for the week and the season we enjoyed a final Friday night dance with some great costumes but the highlight was our final CAMPFIRE. The campfire consisted of some unique performances from our counselors and campers.

Mini Camp started the evening off with a classic camp performance of “Jigga” and invited everyone to join in. Many special song performances and some classics to remember the campfires that have passed. I took quite a few photos during the show so go check them out. Now that the summer has closed I hope to have a bit more time to upload some videos of the summer.

I have said this before but hopefully this time I can keep my word. Please be on the look out for those on our YouTube page in the coming weeks.

This is the final post for the summer of 2008 but rest assure I will still be here keeping you updated on what’s happening at Camp Friendship. After all this is my home all year long.

See you next soon.

Cris

Week 5 – A Beautiful Week!

As our second 2-week session comes a close we are happy to look back on another great week. This past week we enjoyed some very beautiful weather. There’s not much more one can ask for at camp than great weather. Last week we enjoyed great activities, evening activities, challenge adventure trips, and more. Some of the great activities enjoyed by all this week were, fencing, fishing, kayaking, dance, canoeing, archery, wilderness survival, pottery, and more.

Our Junior Villages this past week enjoyed some great evening activities. Slip ‘n’ Slide was the activity to beat for Junior Boys and Mini Camp this week. This evening activity was wet, soapy and lots of fun. I got to take a few photos of the event and it looked like a blast. My son tells me it was all kinds of fun.

Later in the week our Senior Villagers enjoyed nice cook-out on the beach on Friendship Lake. The Senior Villagers seemed to have a great time and a great meal created by our Senior Village counselors. It was a special concoction I did not have time to try myself. It seemed like a nice mixture of cheese beans, vegetables and corn chips. Now that’s a well balanced dinner!

A Basketball Tournament for the Junior Boys and a Pool Party for Riding Camp, Mini Camp, and Junior Girls was the evening activity on Thursday evening.

Just another great close to the day’s activities. Some great photos of these activities are on our site. I can absolutely attest to our campers love for jumping of the diving board.

Now the really highlight of the week was all-day Friday. We enjoyed our usual great variety of activities but we also had our second Horse Show of the season. Some of our parents stopped by to visit and watch the show. Our riding campers performed wonderfully. The tennis courts were enjoying a little tournament to real test the skills they’d learned all week. Campers enjoyed some one on one matches as well as some doubles against the counselors.

The Friday Night Dance themed “Jail House Rock” was great fun for all who attended. I got to see some interesting takes on the theme from all who dressed up. I have to say the most , umm, interesting were the Prison Bars costume. Just check out some of the photos to see them in action. Later on we headed to the Council Fire to close out the week and the session with a Camp Fire. We enjoyed some songs, skits, and a great time together.

We’ll see you next week.

Cris