There’s no place I’d rather be spending the longest day of the year than at Camp Highlander! The summer solstice offers more daylight to enjoy outdoor fun and soak up the sun, and we relished every single minute of the sunshine and adventure today on Old Forge Mountain.
We had a fun-filled day of activities with our cabin groups, and I was overcome with gratitude for the beauty of the day and the view as I watched our cabins singing, dancing and laughing together. They are so happy at camp, and though the sun was shining today, the true radiance was on the face of your children! Their smiles tell the beautiful story of camp and the magic that we are sharing this session.
The sunshine today gave us more than a beautiful backdrop for activities, it gave us Cookout on the field!! While this is a longstanding tradition at Highlander, holding Cookout outdoors is a gift I no longer take for granted. In the summer of 2023, not one of our cookout nights was on the field due to rain. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see our camp family gathering for dinner outside tonight. Campers were dancing, singing, playing frisbee, playing with our camp dog Lovey, throwing the football, reading in their crazy creeks, braiding hair and enjoying Bryan’s delicious burgers and hot dogs. This simple tradition of a casual dinner outside, relaxing with friends sparks so much joy for our camp community and truly, there is no place I’d rather be!
Favorite Details of the Day
- Reflect at the Rock: This morning Lyndsey, our Assistant Director, talked to us about teamwork. She reminded us the importance of working together as a cabin group, cheering each other on when you win and picking each other up when you fall.
- Weather: I honestly cannot believe how amazing our weather has been this session! Sunshine all day again today! High of 83, low of 59. The breeze tonight was so magical and made this long day even more perfect!
- Meals: For breakfast we had bagels and cream cheese, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, oatmeal, grits and a fruit and yogurt bar. For lunch we had baked ziti, breadsticks, a sandwich bar and a salad bar with fruit. Dinner was Cookout on the field- hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, pasta salad, potato chips, cold watermelon and chocolate chip cookies. YUM and SO MUCH FUN!
- EP: Tonight’s evening program was Jumanji. Our EP staff made this really cool Jumanji board and each cabin came down to roll the dice and start their first challenge. They moved along the board after completing their challenge in different locations on camp and would roll the dice again until the first cabin finished the board. Cabin 15 was the first cabin to complete all the challenges and win the game, taking home the EP trophy for tonight!
About Melissa Fitzgerald
