The final day schedule is a little different. After a breakfast of gooey cinnamon rolls and the crunchiest bacon, everyone gathered in the Rec Lodge for an extended Rise and Shine. Beyond the typical singing and announcements, all the performing arts activities took the stage to strut their stuff for all of camp. Glee Club, Drama, Dance, and Gymnastics wowed us with beautiful harmonies, impressive flips, and a lovely rendition of songs from Hamilton.
After that, we returned to the dining hall to do an end-of-session tradition, making a plaque. One of the pieces of Illahee culture that Gardner and I inherited from Gordon and Laurie, and one that I truly love, is the lack of graffiti. We tell our girls not to write their names on their bunks, on the walls, or make a mess of the handcrafted buildings that we get to live in each summer. Instead, they leave their mark by working together with their cabinmates on a little piece of wood that gets hung up in their cabin for all to see. In some cabins, we have plaques going back to the 80s. I think this tradition was started under Frank and Elizabeth, but it could predate them. Some are funny, some are sweet, and some I really haven’t got a clue what they mean. Here are a few that I loved from today.
After plaques, the girls enjoyed a choice period where they had one last chance to enjoy their favorite camp activity. We ate lunch, rested for an hour and folks spent their last afternoon playing in their cabin, packing up, and watching a movie in the rec lodge. The JCs and kitchen staff put on a wonderful “Kung Fu Panda” themed final banquet complete with orange chicken, eggrolls, edamame, dumplings, and lo mein. Home brookies (brownies and cookies) were devoured for desert.
A little rain changed our plans and instead of Dohivi Noche we held our final campfire at our usual Sunday campfire ring. The place didn’t matter because the spirit was the same. We sang the classic songs that bring a tear to the eye, recognized our first year campers with banners, our ten year campers/counselors with rings, and heard the honored campers get up to give their “wish” for camp.
Claire, from cabin 2 was voted by the staff to give the wish. She spoke true and touched the heart strings of nearly ever counselor and director there. She spoke not about all the good things that counselors give campers. Rather, about the all the goodness that flows from campers to counselors. She reflected on all that she has learned in her time as a first year staff member; How kids taught her how to be silly, how to embrace the little joys, how to live in the moment, and how to show up for one another when you’re feeling sad.
As much as I write about all the good things your daughter will have learned in her time at camp, and how much she has probably grown and changed into a better version of herself, I’d be foolish to not recognize the countless ways that we, directors and counselors learn from them.
Like the plaques they put on the walls of these old cabins, our campers make their marks in minds and hearts of all those who have the pleasure of being with them. Kids can be difficult. Any parent knows this all too well. Yet, as with all things, it is the greatest challenges that produce the greatest rewards.
Thank you for trusting us with your daughters. If they come home and tell you how much fun they’ve had, how much they’ve grown, and how excited they are about next summer…
Just know, the feeling is mutual.
Day is done.
Lucas
In a letter, Peter calls the folks in the early church “living stones.”