So Much Good

What a day!! What a fabulous, fun-filled, fantastic day we have had on Old Forge! Days like today, I find myself overwhelmed by how great camp is and how blessed I am to be a part of it. At the end of every session, I always have parents thanking me for the amazing time and wonderful experience their child has had at Camp Highlander. On days like today, I am very aware that their gratitude has nothing to do with me!

As I watch the cabins on camp laughing, skipping, dancing and singing their way through their day, I am filled with appreciation for each and every camper and staff member who make Camp Highlander “A Place Like No Other.” I am fortunate to witness so many beautiful moments between campers and staff each day that take my breath away. Counselors selflessly serve their campers in too many ways to count, and they do so with joyful smiles and patient hearts that inspire me as a mother. I love watching as campers help their counselors clean the tables after meals, not because they were asked but because it is a job that needs to be done. And I will never get over the way that campers, who were strangers less than 48 hours ago, are skipping hand in hand to activities with their new camp friends. So many great moments and so many more to come. Today I am reminded that there is so much good in the world of Camp Highlander.

Favorite Details of the Day

• Reflect at the Rock: This morning at Reflect I talked about attitude being a choice. No matter what is happening around us, we always have the choice in how we respond to the people and challenges we face. Charles Swindoll said that “life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” I encouraged our campers and staff to “choose their attitude” in each and every situation this session. I challenged our Camp Highlander family to choose kindness,joy, gratitude and love, and guaranteed that this choice would spread happiness in their life and to others around them.
• Weather: We were blessed with another beautiful day of sunshine on Old Forge. The high today was 85 degrees and the low was 60. Without a cloud in the sky, it was warm but oh so wonderful. Summer in the mountains offers a gentle breeze throughout the day which is the sweetest reminder of how blessed we are to be here!
• Meals: Breakfast this morning was french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, sausage links and our fresh fruit and yogurt bar. Lunch was turkey and cheese ciabatta sandwiches with assorted Miss Vickie’s chips and a salad bar. For dinner we had my favorite, greek chicken, with roasted vegetables, hummus with warm pita bread and a salad bar.
• EP: Tonight’s EP was Cabin Challenge. The EP staff had the dining hall going crazy when they announced the theme for tonight…COLORS. First Amari popped out dressed in her favorite color - blue, then Virginia came out dressed in her favorite color - red and then Riley came out dressed in green! The campers started screaming…and they absolutely loved being teased by the EP staff!! In their cabin colors, campers competed against brother and sister cabins in games like tic-tac-toe relay, musical ice buckets, sponge pass, pictionary, rock-paper-scissors and more. The energy was through the roof!! Cabin 9 and Cabin 30 competed in the finale, and Cabin 30 won the event and the EP trophy!