Howdy, partners! Happy Orientation Day! Olive Oyl here with all of your first day of camp news!

It’s been a sunny and clear morning so far here in Maine, as we enjoyed our bagels for breakfast and listened to the sweet sounds of the dulcimer to usher in our very first morning meeting. We had our usual cabin staples, like Taj’s Thought du Jour and we’ll be hearing from the Gurus of Uselessness this evening.

Cabins have been traveling all around camp this morning, making five different stops– the Foothills for a waterfront safety chat, the Lake for swim evaluations, the Health Lodge for lice checks and photographs (which will be sent home shortly!), camp tours, and finally, class sign-ups! It’s a busy day, but there’s plenty of down time for unpacking, get-to-know-you games, and preparing for opening Pine Grove this evening. Cabins will be sharing music, poetry, and old HVC traditions. We’re hoping that the schvitz holds out so that we can share in this beautiful ceremony outdoors.

Soon we’ll break for lunch and have a relaxing rest period where we have the chance to settle in, write letters home, and get to know our new bunkmates or reconnect with old camp friends. It’s going to be an amazing summer and we’re so excited to start our very first day of classes tomorrow!

Until we meet again,
Olive

Hello, one and all! Olive Oyl here with your final Arrival Day update!

Well, first off, we’ve all arrived safe and sound and just in time for a delicious dinner of fried chicken, green beans, potatoes, salad, and carrot cake! Yum! Once the New York buses rolled in we gathered for evening meeting where the Program Directorss introduced themselves, as they were all pulled from their summer vacations to go through PD bootcamp! I’m happy to report that they made it through and are ready for another amazing session here at HVC!

We then gathered in the Rec Hall for opening night skits, where two detectives and a femme fatale led us through the variety of classes that HVC has to offer in a film noire style, with monologues and cued music included. We learned all about the animal, arts, music, sports, and cooking classes…plus so many more that are too creative to fit into categories! Tomorrow we’ll have a chance to sign up for all of these awesome activities, plus go for a dip in lake for our swim evals, get our heads checked at the health lodge, and get a tour of camp. It will be a busy day, but also full of plenty of time to unpack, settle in, and get to know our cabin mates for the next month.

It’s time to introduce our daily segment called “Staying Alive,” where we update you on all the Alive happenings. The Alive Program is a teen arts programs for fourteen to sixteen year olds that offers advanced classes in studio art, creative writing, music, and theater. For their first evening program tonight the group did Big Circle Night, where each person answered a few quirky, yet revealing questions (like Where’s Waldo? and What’s your favorite piece of art?) that they then anonymously folded up and were read out loud by another person. It’s an really cool way to get to know one another and bond as a group.

Stay tuned for Adventure Tuesdays, which will be our HVA updates on that marvelous day of the week.

That’s all for now…more to come tomorrow with Orientation Day fun!

Au revoir,

Olive

Hey all you folks!

The day is upon us! It’s finally arrival day! Campers are filtering in and it’s fantastic to see camp so full of energy once more.

Yesterday, all the counselors joined together for a post-lunch meeting to officially commence the second session. They read the letters we had written to ourselves at the beginning of the summer and began getting pumped for the upcoming weeks. They were even given an engraved superior skunk avoidance device (a flashlight)!

After that glorious beginning, all counselors (who were not chaperoning, of course) met with their co-counselors and began getting to know each other. They also started learning about the new campers in their cabins. In preparation for their arrival, they went over the schedules for the first few days of camp, planned cabin nights, and made bunk assignments.

Then, those counselors in the younger half learned who their AWACs were and got them all moved in! A friendly reminder for any folks who are new to camp… AWAC stands for “Awaiting Work As Counselor.” They are 14-15 year olds who serve as counselors-in-training in some of the younger half cabins. At meeting, the AWACs were introduced to the rest of the counselors. The intersessioners also rejoined the cabins!

Next, everyone had an incredible dinner early yesterday evening! Since the Dining Hall staff had the day off, three of our counselors spent the afternoon preparing our delicious feast of chicken, eggplant parm, rice pilaf, mac-n-cheese, and a scrumptious fudge dessert.

That left one major thing for everyone to do: get ready for today! Everyone made bunk tags, cubby tags, chore wheels, welcome signs, and more. Each cabin decided their theme and ran with it! Campers and counselors alike helped craft the signs and tags. Later in the evening, campers headed off to bed while some counselors remained to put the finishing touches on all the artwork. With all of it finished, counselors decorated the cabins and headed to bed.

This morning, our first risers were a lifeguard crew that was up to refresh their skills. After eating the perfect breakfast to start off the day – the classic eggs and potatoes – the lifeguards headed to the pool to go over CPR techniques and run through some drills. It was a lovely day to be in the water, since the weather is picture perfect.

Meanwhile, campers and their families started trickling in! The front yard is abuzz with excitement as campers reunite, meet new cabin-mates, and get introduced to their new counselors. The friendship bracelet string is out, and many a folk is hard at work on a bracelet. Some counselors and campers are playing a rousing game of frisbee. It’s finally camp again, and we couldn’t be happier!

There’ll be transportation updates on Facebook, so be sure to check in there!

Until later,

Lady of the Lake