June 28, 2024 by Henley Shumadine
The few days if camp have flown by – seriously, where’d the time go? – so we’d like to reflect on some of our favorite moments from these past five and a half days.
Opening day was a bittersweet day for some campers and parents, but an exciting one too; campers reunited with friends that they hadn’t seen in over ten months! We started the week of evening activities off strong with a hilarious opening campfire featuring the counselors, who all gave performances to teach campers about all of the fun activities available at camp. Our wonderful, genius musical director, Hannah Bonbright, also revealed that CMS’s 2024 musical is not Cats, not Oklahoma!… but Frozen! Auditions were held and leading roles announced the following day, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what the cast and Hannah have in store for us. Congratulations to our leading roles… Caitlyn Kennedy as Anna, Brynne Hill as Elsa, Vera Pennington as Kristoff, Kiersten Ring as Hans, and Colleen Conway as Olaf.
From the archery range to the riding ring to the Beehive, camp was buzzing with activity as the first day of classes began on Monday. The day concluded with the annual initiation of new campers and staff, all of whom received handwritten forfeits crafted by our fabulous JCs. The forfeits were performed after lunch over the following two days, and while we technically aren’t supposed to pick favorites, we’d like to give a special shoutout to our wonderful new general manager, Katie, and her partner, Justin, who performed Getaway Car by Taylor Swift in front of the whole camp. They – and their dogs Millie and Junie – did a great job and got the whole camp singing along!
Tuesday and Wednesday were when everybody really started to settle in; campers and counselors alike began to get into the daily routines of flag raising, classes, and evening activities. Tuesday night was one of the most exciting nights of the summer, especially for the JCs – TEAM NIGHT! Congratulations to our new team leaders as well as all of the new team members. Team night marks the beginning of something greater than oneself, and we know that all of our new team members, whether Green or Buff, will take this new chapter in stride.
Indoor vespers on Wednesday night brought wise words and harmonizing voices to West Lodge; thank you to the 1 Up campers and counselors for sharing your moments of gratitude and friendship with us! The energy continued into the next evening as the summer’s first surprise evening activity, sign-ups, was revealed. Campers had the option to choose from zumba, athletics, spa night, arts and crafts, board games, and more, for roughly an hour, with all activities concluding in mini friendship circles. The next several nights will also feature surprise evening activities, so stay tuned on camp’s Instagram (@cms1927) to see what we’ll be up to.
Happy first week of CMS’s 98th camping season – it’s been a good one!
