Sundays at Highlander are simple and restful. Sundays are intentionally a slower pace with less structure, which offers wonderful opportunities for great conversations and creative play. We start our day sleeping in and enjoying a late breakfast. Following breakfast, we gather at the benches at reflect for our chapel. After chapel, we work together as a camp family to clean up our beautiful mountain by picking up trash and cleaning our common spaces. One of the best lessons from camp clean up is that everything is more fun with a friend and some good tunes! We turn on the music in different areas of camp and sing along as we clean with our friends.
Speaking of music…honestly, Sunday is the day we just dance our way to bed. On Sundays we enjoy music at lunch and just get up and dance when we hear our favorite song. I just love it! After lunch, we enjoy a longer rest hour which allows our bodies and our minds to recharge for the week ahead. When the snack bell rang today after rest hour, campers were surprised to see the Dolly’s Trolley waiting for them instead of their regular afternoon snack options. They were SO excited, and the cool, delicious treat was exactly what we all needed on this hot summer day!
The head counselors planned a fun-filled afternoon for our campers. Boys camp competed in a giant game of capture the flag and a bombardment match on the athletic field. The girls got creative at the Fashion Institute of Highlander and walked the runway in Highlander’s Project Runway. Each cabin designed two outfits, an evening wear outfit and a superhero outfit for the runway walk. They used items such as aluminum foil, plastic tablecloths, duct tape and tissue paper to make some amazing outfits. At the end, we had a good old-fashioned dance party in the gym! It was a blast!
Favorite Details of the Day
- Chapel: Today in Chapel we read the book “Say Something” by Peter H. Reynolds. We were reminded that we all say things, even when we are quiet. We say things with our actions or lack thereof; the way we live our lives speaks volumes to others around us. So what are we saying with our lives? Are we speaking love, truth and respect to others? Are we spreading kindness and goodness with our actions? Are we including others or causing division?
- Meals: After enjoying a little extra sleep today, Our day began with homemade blueberry muffins, crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, grits, oatmeal and a fresh fruit bar. For lunch we had grilled cheese, tomato soup and salad bar. For dinner, we all enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, haricot verts, homemade rolls and a mixed green salad.
- Weather: It was another beautiful day on Old Forge. We have been so blessed with sunshine and cool breezes. It’s been absolutely perfect!
- EP: Tonight we closed one week and started a new one with our Sunday night campfire. I love gathering each week at campfire to reflect on the week past and look forward to the week ahead. We enjoyed wonderful camp songs, singing and dancing without a care in the world. We celebrated our honor cabins, Cabin 15 and Cabin 21, who have been modeling the campology, working together as a team and embracing the Camp Highlander spirit! We also recognized our honor campers, Khloe P. from Cabin 10, Sydney R. from Cabin 17, Kash T. from Cabin 22 and Kyle S. from Cabin 25. These campers have all been leaders in their cabins through their kindness and respect and love for camp! Congrats to all of our honor campers and cabins! After campfire tonight, we all enjoyed one of my favorite camp traditions, cookies and milk!
Sunday campfire was the perfect way to slow down our bodies and our minds as we enjoyed some great music with great friends. We danced to BLT, Sweet Caroline and even She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain. I can hardly believe that it was a week ago that we all gathered at our opening campfire to kickoff this session. This week has flown by, and all I kept thinking was I wish that this Sunday would just slow down. Sunday came too fast, and closing day is around the corner. Tonight at campfire, I reminded our campers and staff that there is only one chance to experience Kickoff Camp 2022. This is it, and the days are flying by! I challenged them to make the most of every activity, embrace every opportunity and cherish all the laughter and joy that this next week will hold!
About Melissa Fitzgerald
