July 4th is one my favorite days at camp! We stray from the regular camp schedule to have the BIGGEST birthday party for America! This July 4th is defintely the BEST July 4th we have ever had, or at least in my 17 years at Camp Highlander. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunshine all day and a cool breeze at night.

We started the day with Bryan sharing the history of how Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner at Reflect at the Rock. At assembly this morning, Karl, Colonel Star, and Gaynell, Colonel Stripe, debated about which part of the American Flag is the most important. Is it the stripes representing the 13 colonies that founded our country or the stars representing the 50 states who make up the land that we love? The cabins were divided into teams, the Stars and the Stripes to settle the debate.

The competition began with one of our favorite traditions, the Peanut Drop. As the plane flew over 42 Dalton Road, the campers and staff scattered the land sports field to catch the peanuts as they fell from the sky. The team with the most weight in peanuts won that competition. The Peanut Drop went to the Stripes.

After the Peanut Drop, everyone headed up to the quarter deck for the annual Freedom 5K. The runners lined up first to start the 5K, with the walking 5K participants following. Each camper had to complete 3 laps of the course to get a coveted Freedom 5K t-shirt.

After rest hour, the festivities continued. Cabins went through a rotation of activities to play and compete around camp. They played capture the flag, bombardment, pool volleyball, had blob and wet-willy wars and enjoyed some inflatable waterslides on the field. And of course, America’s birthday would not be complete without some watermelon to cool you off on a hot summer day.

After dinner, the final competition was a scavenger hunt to find the stolen flag. The cabin that came back with the solved riddle won the points for their team. The final clue led everyone to the campfire, where the flag was found. When we arrived at campfire, we enjoyed some music from our talented campfire musicians before heading to the field for the fabulous fireworks show.

As the campers and staff headed up to bed, there was a sweet satisfaction on each of their faces. It was a busy, fun-filled day and everyone agreed that this was defintely the BEST Party in the USA!

Favorite Details of the Day:

• Meals - Breakfast was cinnamon rolls, bacon,cheesy eggs and fruit bar, oatmeal and grits. Lunch was pizza and tomato and cucumber salad. Dinner was delicious North Carolina BBQ - pulled pork, smoked chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans and apple pie for dessert!
• Our Freedom 5K Winners - Freddy B. came in first for boys camp. Lily W. came in first for girls camp. Brandon N. came in first for the male staff. Lucia C. came in first for the female staff.
• The Inflatables - Who knew that these would be the best new addition to our July 4th celebration? Camper and staff of all ages had so much fun sliding on the 3 inflatable waterslides we rented. This is destined to be a new Camp Highlander tradition for July 4th!
• Check out the video below for a peek at the fun we had at camp today!