Staff Banquet

And that's it!

Put it in the books!

Summer of 2016 has occurred.

You can tell because the counselor staff (the folks most responsible for making this wonderful summer at Camp everything it was) have departed.

Yes, the summer begins when the show up, and you know for sure that it is over, and it has happened when they pack up their bags and leave the tiny center rooms of the cabins that have been their homes for the past two months.

But first!

We had one last,

Lovely,

Evening around the lake.

We enjoyed a deep, calm breath...

And some delicious food...

(Hey-OOO!)

But mostly...

We just reveled...

In the summer we had...

And...

The family we made.

We built one last Campfire...

...And how did we close it out!?

You know how we closed it out!

The same way we close everything out.

With A World-Famous Thank You Circle.

And then? And then what!?

Well, then...

We said good-night.

But not good-bye.

Yes, the counselors have left their cabins, but they left those cabins better than they found them, they left the Camp better than they found it, and they left all the rest of us better as well.

So.

Summer 2016 at Camp is officially over. 

But talking about Summer 2016 won't be over for a long, long, long time.

In fact, on this very blog we're going to have a ton of "Summer In Review" posts, we're going to have some of our campers' own favorite pictures, and just a lot of general reminiscing to carry us well past labor day, into September, the beginning of our Autumns, and all the way to Summer 2017. 


But first!

I'm going to take nap.

Session #7: According to Our Camp Reporters

One More Night At Summer Camp

We made it!

It's Friday night.

(Friday Night of our final session of 2016, none-the-less!)

(Talking the last Friday Night of the summer!)

And what does that mean?

Well, it means it's like all our other Friday nights.

Only a little more so.

And what do all our Friday nights mean!?

Friday nights are a celebration!

A celebration of what, you ask!?

(Okay, I'll stop with the rhetorical questions.)

(I've just got a lot of pictures to get through, is all.)

Friday nights are a celebration!

Of a whole...

Wild...

Wacky...

Fun-filled...

Week at Summer Camp.

Yes, a celebration...

Of all the friends we've made...

Fun we've had...

and food we've eaten.

A celebration of happy campers,

Crazy counselors...

And friendly,

Funny,

Full,

Dining Halls.

A celebration of...

Jokes made over,

Around, 

And about dessert.

A celebration that...

Brings us out of the Dining Hall...

And into that cool...

August...

Evening Air...

For...

One more...

Flag Lowering.

A celebration that brings us...

Down to the Lakeside Firering...

For our evening entertainment.

We start with,

Our very own,

Junkyard Band...

Jamming out to an original...

Camp composition. 

Then it's on to Dramatic Storytelling,

Followed by...

Our much anticipated...

Weeks in Review!

Where each of our groups...

Sums up...

The highlights of their week...

Through performance...

Rhymes...

And songs.

(Usually lots of songs...)

(Like, lots of songs...)

(Cause we love songs at Camp...if you haven't picked up on that...)

And then we call up our CIT IIs!

Our oldest campers, at their final Closing Campfire.

(Final Closing Campfire as campers anyway.)

Yes, these folks have been with us for summers and summers as they've grown up here at Camp...

So we only think it's fitting,

That each CIT II gets a tribute...

From one of their counselors...

Who know them best. 

Yeah. It gets emotional.

Especially when counselors decide...

A speech isn't enough...

So they'll play an original song instead.

See.

Told you we love songs.

As we reflect on the week...

And talk about all we've metaphorically added to the Camp Spirit during our time here...

We decide to literally add to the spirit as well.

So, as we sing a song...

(Cause...you know.)

Each camper files out of Lakeside...

And gets to throw their own...

Small piece of wood...

On to the fire.

With it they add all the fun they've had...

Friends they've made...

And good times they've each had...

Making our fire (much like our Camp week) something brand-new that's never existed before, because each and every camper here contributed to creating it.

 

With that,

All of Camp heads up...

To our Ceremonial Fire Ring.

Y'see, a Friday Night Camp Celebration...

Has several parts.

When our campers reach Ceremonial...

They are greeted with a Lantern...

Holding the very same flame from the campfire they all just contributed to.

The new Camp Spirit...

That will be used to light all future campfires...

Here at L.G. Cook 4-H Camp.

A Camp Spirit that now belongs to...

Each and every camper here...

Because each and every camper...

Helped create it.

And since that flame, that fire, that spirit...

Is the property of every camper here...

It doesn't seem quite right to keep it locked up in a Lantern quite yet.

It seems a bit more right...

To spread that light around.

This way we can see exactly how brightly a kind, caring community...

Where everyone belongs, everyone has a home, and everyone plays an important and vital part...

How a brightly a Camp community like that...

Can shine out, and light up the darkest corners of the darkest forests.

How a Camp community like that can accomplish anything...

And always be there for you when you need it...

And be waiting for you right where you left it...

When you return next summer.

It's a nice thing to be reminded of...

(Especially in such a lovely, dramatic, visual fashion...)

On a dark evening on what just happens to be our last night together of the week, and of the season, and of the Summer of 2016.