Woody’s Word (June 19, 2018) – The CM Spirit

Posted: June 19 2018

“Enjoyment is an incredible energizer of human spirit.”

Good evening everybody! I bring you the word today before 11:00pm central time, a personal best. What a day at the friendly confines, our first full day from start to finish of the summer. It is a bit strange to type that sentence, as it seems like we have been together for weeks. We were graced with a cloudless day in the high 70s/low 80s…the perfect Northwoods day! The boys woke up to a breakfast of french toast, steel cut oatmeal and a fresh fruit salad. They used the energy gained from breakfast to do a great job on the first cabin cleanup of the summer. For cleanup, they must work as a cabin to tidy up, sweep and mop the floors, clean the bathrooms and pick up the trash outside the cabin. Our medical sta

ff will then walk through each cabin and award a score out of 100 points. If a cabin does well enough each day, they earn points which can eventually be cashed in for a trip to Cathy’s Ice Cream…I’m not sure what we put in the water today, but even the older cabins excelled on cleanup.

We then took our cabin pictures, finished our swim tests and participated in Cabin Activities. We like the cabins to spend a lot of time together at the beginning of camp so they can bond as a group. We had cabins challenging one another to sand volleyball games, joining each other at the gaga pit and trampball courts and going on boat rides. The morning flew by and we were quickly into lunch followed by a real rest period.

In the afternoon, we got into our regular programming with Big Ten Activities. These are instructional periods that your boys signed up for on the first day of camp. Our boys were out at over 20 activities today working with counselors and coaches on skill development and fundamentals. I saw our golfers working on the appropriate technique for mid-iron shots, our baseball and softball players drilling base running and proper sliding form, our water-skiers behind the boat trying to progress to the next level or get up for the first time, and so much more. We had a couple new skiiers today and some boys who caught their first fish! Menominee firsts are so important. If our campers can overcome a fear, conquer a challenge or achieve a goal, we will be sure to recognize this achievement in front of the whole camp by presenting them with a trophy at lunch or dinner.

After our 2 Big Ten periods we had a nice long “general” (unstructured time) to round out the afternoon. The waterfront was the most popular place during general as every sailboat, paddle board and kayak was on the water. It is always nice to spend some time in beautiful Sand Lake after a long day of running around in the sun!

We then broke for dinner, but this wasn’t just a normal meal. We were treated with a surprise staff musical and dance number, leading to the announcement of the start of Twilight League!!! The boys were chanting and cheering for one of their favorite camp activities, softball. We announced the teams, the slate of action and released the campers to their fields to play the first game. Our Juniors were incredible tonight. Some boys were experienced while others had never put on a baseball glove, but they were all cheering each other on, teaching others how to play and supporting one another.

Mandatory showers followed Twilight League because, as we say at camp “Ya gotta be clean, to get canteen.” Once our boys were showered up we opened up our canteen for evening snacks and lowered the flag as a camp. If you think that was enough for one day at camp…THINK AGAIN! We all gathered in Wasserman Hall where our Waterfront Director Jeremy, along with our Senior Cabin, lead us in a rousing Song and Cheer Night. It is never too early to learn “Menominee, Menominee”, “Alvevo” and “Bright as a Sunburst.” Despite the nonsensical verses in our cheers, our new campers jumped right in with the spirit and joy of a 10 year camp veteran. We have an amazing group of campers and staff with us right now.

 

With that, we can now all get some rest. Brevity is not my strength and I promise to be more succinct going forward…I’m just so excited and I want to tell you everything! Have a great evening – all is well – safely rest – goodnight everybody.

For the Love of Camp – Jason

P.S – our first edition of the Megaphone is posted! You can find it (and every other edition for the summer) on our 2018 Megaphone Archive page.

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