Traditions are a wonderful part of what makes camp special and memorable. They beautifully connect the past, present, and future, and there’s something sacred about the traditions we share each summer at camp. Some traditions happen by accident, adding to the unique tapestry that makes the Highlander experience special. Others are intentional, designed to teach lessons or build connection and comfort for our camp family.
Over the past week, we’ve enjoyed sharing many Highlander traditions with our campers, such as campfire, raising the flag each day at assembly, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance each morning, the rhythmic ringing of the bell on the same schedule each day and savoring the delicious apple cart every afternoon. We’ve square danced with new friends, been wowed by spectacular fireworks and danced the moment our eyes opened for rock n’ roll wake up Wednesday. Tonight, we enjoyed one of the oldest traditions at Camp Highlander…Talent Show!
I love the Talent Show so much! It is such a precious thing to watch your children brave the stage to bring endless laughter, big smiles and loud cheers! We enjoyed beautiful solos, shared musical numbers, hilarious skits, creative dance routines, impressive gymnasts, talented rappers, clever comedians, and so much more. While I enjoyed every performance tonight, my favorite part of the talent show is always the crowd. Their love and support was amazing tonight!!! With every dance, every song, and every joke, the crowd rose to their feet, cheering and clapping wholeheartedly for their camp family and friends. The KINDness of the crowd melted away each performer’s nervousness and fueled them with confidence from their enthusiastic response. It was a magical evening that I feel so blessed to have share with your TALENTED and KIND kids!
Favorite Details of the Day
- Reflect at the Rock: This morning Alicia, our Senior Girls Division Head, talked to us about going after your dreams. She reminded us that dreams only come true with hard work and perseverance. While trying to achieve a dream, you will experience failures along the way. Don’t stop dreaming! Don’t give up! The only person who can really tell you no is you!
- Weather: We woke up this morning to blue skies and sunshine. We had a beautiful morning at camp. Just as we all reached the cabin for rest hour, the rain started to fall and set the backdrop for a perfect summer’s nap! The rain continued through 4th period and stopped just in time for 5th period activities. All of our activities continue through the rain, and sometimes they are more fun! I loved seeing a brother/sister cabin playing ultimate frisbee while laughing and singing in the rain today. Only at camp is getting dirty this much fun!
- Meals: For breakfast we had cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, sausage links, oatmeal, grits and a fruit bar. For lunch we had walking tacos (bag of Fritos, ground turkey taco meat, sour cream, homemade guacamole, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cheese)and a salad and sandwich bar with whole fruit. This is such a fun meal, and we love teaching campers how to make their walking taco…take a frito bag, add meat and all the fixings, grab a fork and enjoy! For dinner we had everyone’s favorite….Papa John’s pizza and a salad and sandwich bar. Campers erupted in the Gus’ chant after dinner and we all enjoyed our candy before Camper’s Choice sign-ups.
- EP: Tonight’s evening program was Talent Show. AMAZING!
- Random Acts of Kindness: Speaking of KIND…this is too precious not to share my very favorite detail of the day. This afternoon at the camp store, an intermediate boy brought a water bottle up to the counter. When checking out, the young man said, “I’m buying this for someone who needs a water bottle, but I don’t know where she went.” He went on to explain that he watched a girl in the store before him come to the counter to buy a water bottle because she lost hers, but she was told that there wasn’t enough money in her account. She walked away sadly and the young man decided he would buy her the water bottle. When questioned to make sure he wanted to use his money for that he said with a smile, “Absolutley. After all, the Highlander Campology says we should participate in random acts of kindness!” My heart absolutely melted when I heard this, and so did the heart of little girl from our youngest cabin when he handed her the bottle! This is KINDness that is all around me each and every day at camp, and I only wish the rest of the world could know this kind of KIND!
About Melissa Fitzgerald
