North Star Camp for Boys







Monday, July 10, 2017

United Nations Day


Rain did not stop us from having an amazing U.N. Day! Almost all of the events ran normally, with the exception of tennis which we modified into a serving competition and staff speedball, which became basketball in the fieldhouse. It was a spirited day and many campers reported that the rain was a fun new wrinkle to U.N. Day. The nations of Ireland, Iceland, Jamaica and India competed with great effort and sportsmanship and were lead by fantastic captains and advisors.



The teams gave their morning cheers after breakfast and then we had our opening ceremonies. After we moved into the First Series of Events, which featured riveting games of softball, ultimate frisbee and football for the juniors. Campers also played best-disc team disc golf, table tennis and line soccer. Line soccer is a variation of steal the bacon where a soccer ball is placed in the middle of a field. Each player has a number, and when a number is called each player runs from their side to try to kick the ball past the opposing team's line. We also had the modified serving competition on account of the wet tennis courts. The competition was incredibly close after first period, and only four points separated the fourth place team and the first place team.

During the Second Series of Events we had basketball in the fieldhouse, kickball, team climbing and speedball. Speedball is a combination of soccer, football and ultimate frisbee that is very fast paced. Also taking place were baggo, gaga, riflery, archery, curtainball and tushball. Tushball is one of the more popular games to play before announcements at camp and is played on the roof of the canoe racks, the goal is to not let the ball touch the ground.



After lunch we had the staff basketball games, which would decide eating order for dinner. The games had a buzzing atmosphere in a packed fieldhouse, and many campers were on hand to witness their counselor's skills. Ireland won and as a result got to eat first. Typically we have run-offs and tug of war immediately after the staff game, but we moved them to before dinner on account of rain.

We once again utilized the fieldhouse during the Third Series of Events and moved the soccer event inside. We also moved field hockey into Mike Hall. Other events during the third series were steal the bacon, dodgeball, golf, a distance run, four square and volleyball. We then moved to swim point for a series of swim events.

After swimming all of camp returned to the athletic fields for run-offs and tug of war. The fastest camper in each village for each nation competed in a relay race before the three fastest staff members per team did the same. Then we had camper and staff tug of war before heading into our traditional U.N. Day buffet dinner. Each U.N. Day we have spaghetti and meatballs with a variety of appetizers. After dinner we went back down to swim point to finish up the last few swimming events and the inner tube relay. We then returned to the lodge for a desert of ice cream cones. While waiting for everyone to get their ice cream, we played music, leading to a lot of singing and dancing from campers and staff.

We then announced the finals scores from the day around the flag pole. Congratulations to the team of India who won the day, and congratulations to all of camp for keeping their energy and morale up all day despite the rain and clouds. Instead of allowing less than ideal weather to ruin their U.N. Day, our campers and staff decided to make the rain a fun addition to the mix.