Monday, January 25, 2010

Snowblast...is a BLAST!


As you might have guessed from the title, we had a great time when the Southern Saratoga Adventure Princesses visited Chingachgook for a day not too long ago. We had fun tubing, sledding, playing ice hockey (or just sliding on the ice), there were crazy crafts, fun winter hikes, and of course a dutch auction. But the smashing hit? It was our egg drop of course. The picture below was how my egg did...not too well huh? That makes four consecutive years my egg hasn't survived the drop from the dining hall....maybe next year!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

You don't always see them

The number of staff on July 1 differs quite a bit from the number of staff on January 1 each year. Yesterday, we gathered the entire Chingachgook staff, 19 of us, for a group photo on the Veranda. To recap, January - 19 staff, July 180 staff. Quite a difference of numbers between the two months huh? For those of you wondering, it was a warm 11 degrees outside when we took this picture but we still managed to see smiles across the board from everyone. We're definitely counting down the days until we see some new faces and warmer weather at Camp!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Alumni Staff Reunion!

This past weekend, close to 100 of our past staff members met up together for a day of fun. It had been quite some time since many of us have seen each other, so it was a great day to catch up with old friends. Some older staff from years ago were in attendance as well as much of our current staff, which made for a nice mix of stories and memories!
Some went down our tubing hill, others played some broomball at the center green which was transformed into an ice rink, and still others gathered by the fire to chat and catch up.
At 3:00, the bravest of Chingachgook staff gathered for a polar bear plunge into icy Lake George! Of course, all participants had to recite the "We are the Polar Bears" song while they stood in the snow before they went for the dip. The rest of camp watched from the bay!


After the polar bear jump, everyone gathered for a great dinner up in the dining hall. We sang our dinnertime grace before digging in. The man of the hour, George Painter, addressed the exuberant staff in his annual "State of the Camp!" It was really a great gathering.

Thank you to all who attended this great reunion. It is always wonderful to see old friends. Remember to always keep in touch with your old camp friends and that you are truly always welcome back at camp! Take care!

A favorite skill class from last summer

New things don't often reach fast success at Camp, but our Guitar class quickly became a must-dp event at Camp. Armed with 14 brand new guitars, almost 100 campers learned to play guitars at Camp. The best part? The class was a roaming one. Sometimes the class was located right outside of Rotary Lodge, other times the class could be found near Rockewell, or perhaps down at the waterfront. For those of you who took part in Guitar class, what did you think? Is it a keeper?