REVIVAL 2008 and Re-enrollment Deadline!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
REVIVAL!! There was a lot of conjecture and excitement as Gordon announced the off-season theme for our year 'round folks right after camp. What could it mean?! Each year, we come up with a focus and a theme, much like our summer theme to help us define our time between camp. I always liken camp to having a baby...nine months getting ready, and then the party starts! But, the nine months between camp is filled with activity, especially when it comes to hiring that terrific Illahee staff that is a hallmark of great summers here. One of the reasons that Illahee is so successful is that we are constantly looking for ways to improve.
Revival can be reminiscent of tent revivals of travelling preachers (one of my favorite Steve Martin flicks is Leap of Faith). But, it can mean other things as well. According to Websters, it can be 1 : an act or instance of reviving : the state of being revived : as a : renewed attention to or interest in something b : a new presentation or publication of something old. Illahee is certainly old...89 years and counting!
This past week, we held a day-long retreat revival to debrief the summer and set our goals for the coming year. Nothing was sacred and we looked at everything. How can we breathe new life into activities?! What about food? What can we do to make sure that campers don't have to stand in line? (That's for school, not camp!) How can we help make even the mundane and necessary tasks like exchanging sheets fun? Do we really need showers to happen after swim periods? Since swimming is required, can that time be used for Splash instead? What about Final Night? Olympics and County Fair? We have some exciting ideas already, and 2008 is going to be an exciting summer at camp! REVIVAL! If you have any ideas, let us know.
Yesterday was the last day to postmark your application to insure that you have a return spot in the same session for 2008. We emailed, we sent postcards, we called...so we will spend next week processing those applications that are re-enrolling, and then start to enroll excited new girls for the summer of 2008. We have had a record number of applications and look forward to sending out notices in early October!
Laurie and Gretchen have been busy looking through fun footage from this past summer, and Gordon is busy capturing it onto disk, and will start to edit the 07 DVD to hit the road. Be sure and check back often for our fall reunion schedule. It's a great time to bring friends to meet us, see the movies, and to get excited about next summer.
Our entire year round crew went to Nancy's house for a farewell dinner for our three friends from Russia who were such a big help in the kitchen this summer. Nancy has been hosting them since camp and even took them to an Auburn football game!
The guys have been busy tucking camp away for the winter. One recent rainy day, they decided to fix something that we all love. Email me if you think you know what they are doing! Next post, I'll let you know! Study hard! We wouldn't want summer school to get in the way of the BEST SUMMER EVER!
