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Every day at Camp Merri-Mac is a wonderful day, but some days are just special. Today was one of those days, filled with moments of laughter, singing , and true friendships. After an amazing night walking the red carpet at the Merri-MACademy Awards where we celebrated some of our extremely talented campers, we began another day at Merri-Mac.

We awoke to the familiar sound of the bugle, signally us to begin our day and get an early start on cabin clean up. In the next few days, the girls will find out which cabin has the highest overall cabin clean up score, who will be rewarded with the highly coveted cabin cake. After blasting Taylor Swift music to make chores more fun, we headed down to enjoy a delicious meal of breakfast pizza, blueberry orange coffee cake, cereal, Fruit, and Yogurt. We continued our meal with some beloved morning songs to help begin our day with a smile, before heading to chapel.

For many, chapel is a favorite time of day because it gives both campers and staff the opportunity to sing chapel songs and reflect on what is truly important in our lives. This morning, we sang “Every Move I Make”, “As the Deer”, and “10,000 Reasons” in chapel, before ending with the beloved Camp Psalm. Rainbow counselor Elizabeth O. spoke on what God requires of us by talking about how we can trust God and his plan for our lives and future.

After chapel, girls enjoyed free time before the beginning of their activities. Tetherball games were held by the junior and intermediate campers as a number of different ages worked to practice their skills in this camp favorite. Gracie Rae H. and other Dreams Begin and Dreams End girls helped the Tweedle campers to paint their nails to reflect their tribal spirit.

While most girls were in activities, a small group of girls had the opportunity to venture on trips in both kayaking and waterskiing. This morning, Caroline C. Joelle S, Amelia L, Isabel R., Olivia W, Katherine H, and Maria B. went to Lake James to experience the excitement of waterskiing. In addition, Elizabeth W, Margaret P, and Alexandra W. spent the day kayaking the Pigeon River.

In Tennis, girls worked on practicing their forehand and backhand and played a game of worm, to improve their shuffling on the court. In Camp Craft, it was an exciting day for the girls: the opportunity to go on the high ropes course. In DIY Crafts, it was a free day, where campers were allowed to finish up any remaining projects or crafts they had been working on. Holland T. spent time working on decorating her book, while other campers worked on cross-stitching, handmade friendship bracelets, and other projects.

Lots of fun was to be had over at the waterfront of our beloved Lake Doris. Kayaking played a game of Kayak Water Polo, where girls were working to score goals through hitting a ball with their kayak paddles. Drake M. practiced her newly perfected roll, while diving and swimming played fun water games to improve their skills.

At the end of second activity, there was an excitement in the air and shouts of joy occurred as we realized that lunch was Taco in a Bag, a camp favorite. After this delicious lunch, the Sunnyside and Cloud 9 tribal leaders announced that it was Tribal Switch Day! The Iroquois tribe sang Seminole songs, the Choctaw Tribe sang Iroquois songs, while the Seminole Tribe sang Choctaw songs.

At the end of lunch, we made our way up to the hill with full stomachs and ready for another great part of the day: rest hour. The girls enjoyed getting to take a little bit of time to write home, read, or even take a nap, in order to recharge for the rest of the day. At exactly 2:30 PM, the bugle rang once more, signally that it was time for the daily stampede to Trading Post. The girls enjoyed getting to eat their snacks near the volleyball court or by the lake and make memories with their cabin mates who will become lifelong friends.

In PAWS, the Merri-Mac puppies were precious and ready to learn. The campers were instructed to practice the commands of “sit”, “shake”, and “down” with the eager to learn puppies. The girls also enjoyed getting to work on pages for the puppy scrapbook, which will be given to the puppies’ new owners. Our Merri-Mac girls have played a key role in helping train these puppies over the summer for their new homes and it’s amazing to see the progress that they have made over the past few weeks. In Riflery, Bailey S. chose to name her rifle “Hey Bails”, as a reward for getting her Gold bar recently in the activity.

In cooking, the girls learned how to make scones and learned about the history of this favorite baked good. The girls made three different batches of scones: chocolate chip walnut, pretzel chocolate chip, and cranberry white chocolate. Nearby in knitting, girls finished up knitting their headbands and practicing their knitting and pearling skills.

After the end of 4th period, we all changed into our tribal jerseys and tribe colors in preparation for the night’s evening activity: GOLD RUSH! Gold Rush is a classic evening activity, where gold is hidden all throughout camp and found by campers. If the campers are caught, they have to tell a story to the judge of why the gold is theirs and why it should go to their tribe.  

Tonight’s dinner was a delicious meal of tortellini, garlic bread, and vegetables, with cake with rainbow sprinkles for dessert. The girls all went to Gold Rush happy and ready to win points for their tribes.

Thank you for sharing your daughters with us and for giving us as counselors the incredible privilege of getting to know them and make camp memories together.

 

Lucy Dabney

Cloud 9 Counselor