A Hot Star to the Summer of 2022

The Summer of 2022 is off to a hot start at camp! The buses filed in together from Minneapolis and Chicago together to a welcome of very enthusiastic counselors and temperatures in the mid-90s and a perfect breeze. New and returning campers alike gawked at the new outdoor tennis and basketball courts, as well as the courts for North Star’s newest activity - pickleball!  We gathered around the flagpole to announce the cabins, and the campers and staff jumped for joy and even debuted some new dance moves, acrobatics and skits. The boys headed to their cabins to get unpacked and move in, and our amazing staff have started to get to know their campers as they help them settle in. The cabin list is attached. 

I know that today was not the easiest travel day for many, and some are still working their way to camp. Between flight issues and COVID testing, there were a lot of inconveniences. I promise that if you could have seen the joy on the campers’ faces when they arrived at camp, hugged their friends and the staff, and looked longingly at the fields and the lake, you would have seen that it was all immediately worthwhile. I am very grateful for what you have done to help get camp off to the smoothest start possible. 

As we’ve worked our way through pre-camp training, we’ve talked at length about two of our core tenets: culture and community. Among the staff, we have already built an incredibly strong community over the past few weeks, as folks have worked hard to get camp and themselves ready to be the best role models and counselors that they can be this summer. It has been clear that this group of 115 staff has embraced the North Star culture. The warmth, empathy, respect for each others’ differences and the importance of being true to one’s self have all shown through in the way this group works together, laughs together, sings and dances together, shares with one another, and takes care of each other. We have been so excited to welcome the campers into this community and culture.

And now it’s on to the fun and excitement of camp! The boys are now unpacking and new campers are receiving a tour of camp. By the time they go to sleep tonight, they'll have played games with their cabins and met some of the other guys in their age group age as well.

Dinner this evening will be burgers, fries and jello, plus the ever present salad bar and Sun Butter and jelly. There will be vegetarian burgers available for those that prefer, and Gluten free options for those that need it. And of course brownies for dessert. Immediately following dinner, the campers will choose their first week's activities. Wednesday activities will be by cabin, we’ll do our next round of COVID-19 testing Wednesday evening, and we plan to being elective instructional offerings on Thursday.

Tonight’s evening activities will be followed by the candlelight ceremonies, where each cabin will have a meeting led by their counselors. They will share their goals and expectations for the summer, while continuing to get to know one another. This will be the first of many cabin discussions that are an important part of the team-building goals that we have for each cabin group, and helps develop the strong sense of community that we strive for at camp. Our expectation is that every boy goes to bed tonight knowing that they have at least one counselor that they are already comfortable enough with to wake him up if they need something in the middle of the night and that they have made one new friend that they can play with in the morning. 

Tomorrow the kids will have a busy day as our amazing medical team checks in the boys. The campers will take a swim test, and we’ll find time to play several games of dodgeball. Evening program tomorrow will be our first game of All-Camp Capture the Flag, with a new twist there as well. Trips will begin on Thursday and we are excited for our oldest boys to return to Canada this year where they will spend 10 days in the Ontario wilderness in Quetico Provincial Park. Wednesday evening will be the staff show, where our very talented group will be on display.

FOLLOW CAMP ONLINE
From here on out, you can follow along with the summer of 2022 on our website at www.NorthStarCamp.com/blog. We will also be posting updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/northstarcampforboys, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/northstarcamp , and on Instagram @northstarcamp.
We post pictures online on a regular basis, and you can access those directly from your CampInTouch page. To access your CampInTouch page, go to www.northstarcamp.com and click "login" in the upper right hand corner. From there you can click on "Photos" to see those smiling faces. If you'd like to set up guest accounts for friends or family you can do that from your landing page by clicking on "Guest Accounts."

Thank you for trusting us with your boys!

Thanks,

-Andy