Well this is it. The fact that first session ends doesn’t really hit me until the second session kids arrive and as excited as I am to have some new blood in camp, I still reminisce about some of the first session shenanigans that made these past three weeks special.
It is going to be hard to forget about Harrison Forest always challenging counselors to pickup basketball games even when the counselors are easily four times his height, or Sydney LaPorte, Taylor Kasoff, and Sami Zerwitz being the loudest girls in all of camp and making sure that everyone knew it. Let’s not forget about the night Max Penn dressed as a girl twice just to win a skit night, or the day Matthew Ziegelstein became Viking Ziggy, the cream of the crop. Who can forget Joe Balaban’s hilarious impression of Levi or Enrique Rodriguez singing “Call Me Maybe” (yea it stuck around after campfire) in the most haunting falsetto imaginable? A special shout-out to Michael Balaban and Tyler Costopoulos as they were stellar leaders of camp, and I cannot wait to see how they are as counselors.
There’s also a sense of joy throughout the summer watching campers do things they have never done before or progress in their activities. I cannot think of a day I did not hear about Ethan McCann doing something incredible in basketball or Ashley Stern driving a golf ball further than anyone else. Watching Justin Kagen ride his first big roller coaster put a smile on my face just as watching Reece Dennison catch her first football pass did. Marc Blitz helped pioneer a new game where you catch a Frisbee whilst mountain boarding and that will hopefully be at camp for a long time.
But, as nostalgic and sad these last few days are, they are also some of the best in camp. Campers have been learning lines for the past weeks in preparation for tonight’s musical, The Big Bad Musical, and the CTTFFL Super Bowl is today with the Red Bulls going against the Green Machine. Tomorrow is one of my favorite parts of camp, Color War, where the camp is divided in two teams (blue and white) and the competition is intense for the last two days. After color war, we get a relaxing pool party before we start cleaning and packing and working on our cabin plaques and eventually getting ready for banquet.
So with this final blog entry of First Session 2012 I say goodbye. I have the greatest job ever as every day I get to tell you all how great my second home is. I appreciate that people have read every day and the compliments about the daily Springsteen references renews my faith in society. Once again, thanks, farewell, and be prepared for hours of stories your kids have to tell.