Greetings from Upper Mountain Thyme!
For those of you I haven’t had the chance to meet yet, my name is Diana Huff, and I’m the Associate Director here at Four Winds. This is my second full summer after joining the team in October 2024. After many years of working in the summer camp industry, I have absolutely loved becoming part of the Four Winds community. Paul has given me the opportunity to write this week’s blog post, and while those are big shoes to fill, I’m excited to share a little glimpse into what has made this week so special.
This second week of camp has been full of fun, flexibility, and plenty of memorable moments. We’ve had rainy days, sunshine, and some of our biggest camp traditions, all packed into one week.
My inspiration for this blog post comes from today’s Sunday Assembly on Helm Lawn led by Clipper, senior Westward Ho campers. Each Sunday, a cabin leads a discussion for the entire camp, inviting campers to share their own thoughts along the way. Today’s topic was BEING IN THE MOMENT.
I loved it!
It’s something we all need to be reminded of. Life makes it easy to think about what already happened or worry about what’s coming next and when we do that, we can miss what’s happening right in front of us.
I think that’s one of the greatest gifts camp gives our campers … the space to be fully present. To be with friends, learning new skills, trying things they may have never done before, laughing, cheering each other on, and building memories that become part of who they are. Those are the moments that stick.
As I look back on this week, so many of those moments come to mind.
This week was Cardinal Week, one of my favorite additions to camp. Cardinal Week is built around our Polaris Pals mentoring program, where our senior campers are paired with a group of campers from the intermediate and junior age groups. This week, the Polaris Pals are placed on teams together and spend the week celebrating one camp value each day: leadership, sportsmanship, service, mentorship, and craftsmanship. Throughout the week, staff recognize campers who are living out those values in our camp activities and award points to the team.
It’s been incredible to watch.
We kicked off the week with our own Four Winds World Cup. Senior campers immediately stepped into leadership roles, encouraging younger campers, helping them feel included, painting faces to match their Cardinal Week group, creating team spirit, and celebrating every run, steal, and goal together. Even after teams were eliminated, campers stayed to cheer one another on.
One of my favorite moments this week has been hearing campers yell, “That’s my Polaris Pal!” as they watched someone score a goal or accomplish something they were proud of.
That same spirit carried into Capture the Chicken, Moonraker, and our new Super Mario Bros. evening activity. Everywhere you looked, campers were laughing, encouraging one another, celebrating victories, and simply enjoying being together. It was exactly what Cardinal Week was designed to create.
In the middle of the week, we celebrated Ruth Brown Day, one of Four Winds’ most beloved traditions. Campers are woken up by singing as the entire camp makes its way from cabin to cabin before gathering for a morning of games on the sports field. The rest of the day is spent in creative theme groups designed entirely by counselors.
Everywhere you looked, there was something wonderfully ridiculous.
One group transformed the Boat Barn into an airport complete with TSA security, luggage checks, and plenty of unexpected surprises. Another celebrated Christmas all day long. Another became dinosaurs trying to escape an asteroid. It was silly, creative, and completely unforgettable.
Yesterday brought sunshine just in time for the Fourth of July. Between regular program activities, the July 4th cookout on the GABLAP (Grassy Area Between Lodge and Pickleball, for the uninitiated), the parade into Deer Harbor, and the Garden Concert, it was one of those picture-perfect camp days.
At the close of the Garden Concert, as campers stood arm in arm, swaying, singing “Wagon Wheel” at the top of their lungs, laughing, clutching a friend … I found myself feeling so present and so appreciative to be in this space with all of these campers and staff.
It struck me that many of them won’t remember every activity they did today.
But they will remember this.
They will remember standing shoulder to shoulder with their friends, singing at the top of their lungs on a summer evening at Four Winds.
That’s a core memory.
Tonight we are wrapping up Cardinal Week as Polaris Pal groups build small boats from driftwood and natural materials. Then after Evening Fire, we will launch those boats into the Sound with candles glowing inside, bringing the week to a close.
As I think back to this morning’s discussion about being in the moment, I can’t help but think that’s exactly what camp offers. A place where kids can put away the distractions of everyday life, be fully present, and create memories that will stay with them long after summer ends.
Thank you for sharing your campers with us! It is a privilege to watch these moments unfold each day, and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the session brings.