The Counselors are HERE!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Yikes! Where has the time gone? I know that there are hundreds of super-excited girls who can't wait until the June session starts on Sunday. I know because there are about 80 of us at camp raring to go, too! My apologies for lingering on this update. In addition to all of the orientation excitement going on, I have been fine-tuning our website for the nightly updates that will start on Sunday night.
Anyway, where to start? Our counselors all arrived Monday afternoon after several days of pre-orientation for riders, trip staff, waterfront staff, and arts and crafters. We all have had a week of workshops covering all sorts of topics that will make us all GREAT Illahee staffers. There are plenty of returning faces, complemented by some really fun new folks.
I am writing in the Suburban riding "shotgun" with a group of counselors. We are a caravan of 5 white Ford vans plus the Suburban, and are heading west toward the Nantahala river for a day of rafting. It’s always a hoot and a great bonding experience for our new "team."
We have a few new "key" folks on the team this summer. Dee(licious) Hooper has taken the reigns from Miss Nancy to keep us well fed this summer. I was hesitant to make a big deal of this on the website because we all love Nancy so much, and it is a BIG job to fill. Dee has a background in catering and has presented us with culinary treats all week! So, I think we are all in for a treat...continuing that Illahee tradition of food we all want to write home about! Nancy can't work full time this summer as she has taken a new year round job at a church, but she will be back in on weekends to help out.
We also have a GREAT new group of riders at the barn. Lauri Bothern is back to manage our barn and equestrian program. Tiffany Ehnes, whose mom has directed a neighboring camp program for close to thirty years, is our new riding director. There is a new and experienced group of folks to round out the program and to help us inaugurate our new facility there. The rest of the staff have commented on how "nice" these girls are!
We started workshops this morning with Dr. Wells, our camp pediatrician, "armed" with lots of syringes and some saline, who taught everyone about anaphylaxis and allergies...and then, after a practice injection, certified the bulk of the staff in epinephrine administration. So, that's one side of orientation that we prepare for, but hope we will never have to use. Yesterday was "Risk Management" day and covered topics like first aid and CPR, Security issues, waterfront procedures, environmental concerns, health center procedures, and more...we completed the day with a "Parent Panel" of camper parents who helped bring all the "theory" home with some "real-life" advice.
It's not all work, though. Besides rafting, there are plenty of other bonding times. We have ice cream socials, pizza parties, and movie nights. The most exciting event of the week for the counselors happened this morning when each cabin counselor received the names of the campers in their cabins. You should have seen how excited they were! This excitement won't compare to Sunday morning when we're all standing out on the camp road, waiting for you all to arrive!
