Here at CTT, every Wednesday night is set aside for an evening of cabin bonding. Each cabin splits off from the rest of the camp and goes to a certain area of the camp for a night of activities, fun and friendship with the people we are closest with.
As I was in the gym playing dodgeball last night with cabin five, I heard some music coming from outside. I stepped out onto the gym mats to discover cabin B, who were making posters for their activity. That set off a chain of thoughts in my mind that made me realize the huge difference between cabin night activities on the girl’s side and the boy’s side.
I’ll start with the contrast between my evening with cabin five and what we saw of cabin B. The difference becomes apparent as soon as one walks into either area. One big contrast was the music, and each side tried to play theirs louder than the other. The boys were sweating profusely, dodging balls and beaming them at other kids. They were entranced with the battle/sport, and caught up in hard rocking tunes like “Freebird” and the entire AC/DC catalog. It was intense, manly, competitive and spirited.
Cabin B’s evening couldn’t have been more different. Compared to her brother Riley’s intense evening, Maddie St. Aubin (and the rest of her cabin) had a relatively stress-free night. The girls sprawled out on the gym mats, chatted lightly and made posters while listening to Miley Cyrus, Backstreet Boys, and any other bubblegum pop counselors Rachel and Kelly could find. They went back to their cabin relaxed and smiling, while cabin five went back with welts and bragging rights.
Regardless, I think both groups had a good time.
Every cabin on boy’s side played some kind of sport. The boys in the BV played basketball and hockey (and scored bunches of goals on Flip-Flop [the counselor] and CB). Cabin three went to riflery and played a game of shoot ‘em up poker, which is a game in which a deck of cards is taped to a piece of wood and players shoot the ones they want. Parker won with a full house.
Cabin four went to the upper fields and played Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee is such a staple around here it is hard to believe someone doesn’t know the rules, but camper Sam Greenberg had to learn them. He must have gotten the hang of it quickly because he made two fantastic diving catches during the game.
Boy’s tents did manly stuff as well. They went to the lake and went tubing before capping off the evening with a campfire.
Girl’s side cabin nights are much more chill. Cabin A went into the rec hall and played games all evening, cabin G went for a relaxing bike ride and cabin H spent the evening chilling and being creative in the art shack.
So you can see life on the boy’s side and the girl’s side differs greatly. From dodgeball and tubing to making posters and biking, each group at camp has some things they like to do that are completely different from the other side of camp.
All in all, cabin night is a great night of bonding that brings us closer to the people we live with, whether it be in a cabin or a tent. Last night was a good night for all of camp and we woke up looking forward to spending more time with our roomies.
All that being said, I still contend dodgeball is so much more fun than making posters…