United Nations Day part two was a success! After the conclusion of the day, after our UN Day feast and ice cream, after our swim meet to cap off the events, we gathered back at our outdoor dining hall to announce the final scores of the day. And when it came time to announce the scores, the boys started cheering. They started chanting “It Just Doesn’t Matter!” They sang the UN Day song maybe 100 times. They sang all ten of Dan’s songs. They sang every song they could think of. The villages cheered their cheers and the night went dark as the boys filled the air with the sounds of pure joy and happiness. When they finally cheered themselves out, we announced that Argentina had emerged victorious on this very special UN Days.
This morning started out with back-to-back simultaneous competitions and ended with a tug-of-war on the ball field with every counselor and camper involved. Part of the fun of UN Day is cheering on your teammates in the various activities, which ran all day.
Dinner was a hodgepodge of some of the campers’ favorite foods. We served deviled eggs, vegetarian rolls, mac n’ cheese bites, onion rings, and pasta with meatballs with cupcakes for dessert. It was the right amount of carbs to fuel up the campers who participated in the last events of the day: swimming races and innertube races. Times were very close between the country teams! After the final competition, we all headed back to the lodge area for ice cream.
The Big Ten is a huge celebration for those who are here at camp for their tenth summer. We have four staff members who will be celebrating their Big Ten this year, and tonight, we played a little prank on those four to make them think their celebration would be tonight. A few of our staff put on funky costumes and hopped in a white van to jump out in the middle of the camp road and run around, blowing whistles. They all ran up to the J3 porch to unravel a scroll that said “It might be...it could be...it...dot dot dot...is not!” and ripped the scroll to shreds before running back into the van and driving off. Maybe next time will be the real thing!
By the time the prank was over, it was dark out but the boys certainly weren’t ready for bed. The villages each gathered up to cheer different songs and jump up and down as big groups. The sense of family created within these village pods makes camp really feel like camp. After everyone got back to their picnic benches, the UN Day points were announced. In 4th place was Kenya, in 3rd was Peru, in 2nd was Ireland, and Argentina took the crown for 1st place. Once each place was announced, the team got up to sing one final cheer that they wrote about their country and UN Day experience.
After a late night of Espionage, followed by two days of UN Day, the boys are well-deserving of a lazy day...they’ll be able to sleep in tomorrow! The first commitment of the day is at 10:30am, which gives everyone a little extra rest time. With so many exciting stories to share, the boys are looking forward to their quick phone calls with their parents in the next couple of days. Please encourage them to talk about their favorite moments at camp thus far and all the amazing friends they’re making!
Today’s Grace:
When the one great scorer comes,
To write against your name,
He marks not that you won or lost,
But how you played the game.
-Grantland Rice
Be seated.
