Greetings from Hilltop. After a few days of quiet, this corner of Westsound is full of life once again. Campers arrived today as they always do, some being dropped off by their families at Camp, but most arriving by boat at the Four Winds Dock, running up Greenie Hill to meet their counselors. It’s always an exciting scene, and today was no different. It’s so much fun to see the campers starting their experience, returners seeing old friends, but knowing that this year will be different than any other, and new campers setting off on this adventure for the first time. Our summer staff is just wonderful this year, and it’s great to see them jumping right back into this work of giving kids such a rewarding experience.
After arrival, we settled in cabins and tents for just a bit before each cabin and tent introduced itself at flags, and we had a wonderful spaghetti dinner. We met on the stairs to sing some songs, and celebrate the diversity of this community, with campers and staff from all over the world, people in their first summer and their nineteenth.
As I write this, campers are nesting in their cabins, getting to know each other, and getting settled. Soon, they’ll head to bed. It’s been a very long travel day for many of them. Tomorrow, we’ll learn about all the activities offered at camp, sign up for the second half of campers’ schedules, take care of beginning of session business, and have a great Evening Activity (Biffer Medic – an elaborate game of tag that somehow, it’s hard to explain, caps off the first full day perfectly.)
These campers are about to have a wonderful experience, striking off on their own, making a space that is theirs, sharing it with others, having a huge amount of fun along the way, and being a part of something bigger than themselves. It’s something that every child should have, but our job this summer is to make sure that these Second Session campers have it. It’s going to be a ball.
I’m sure you’re wondering how you can follow along with your camper’s experience. There are several ways. The first, and most important, is the good old-fashioned letter. It may be a dying art in the rest of the world, but at Four Winds, it is alive and well. So, please do write your camper. Some campers have a hard time writing back. Some parents are okay with that. For those that aren’t, the best advice is to ask questions. Kids aren’t used to letter writing, and often don’t know what to say. If you ask them questions, they know what to write about. Some ingenious parents have even taken to sending a fill-in-the-blank style worksheet/letter for their campers to fill in. Do what feels best. The second way you can keep up is weekly blogs here on Sundays (though not tomorrow), and daily microblogs on Twitter and Threads. (We’ve added Threads this year because Twitter took away a feature we always appreciated, the ability for families to access posts without creating an account. Threads does have that ability, simply by clicking the link above. That should get us through the summer, and then we can think about what we’d like to do in 2024.) Finally, feel free to call us in the office. We’re happy to check in on your camper and get back to you.
Thank you for sharing your children with us this month. We’re thrilled to have them. The new four weeks will unfold in a beautiful way, and we can’t wait to see it.