Dear Moosilauke Families,

The following is a recap of the final week of First Session 2015, Sunday, July 19th through Saturday, July 24th.

Sunday morning, July 19, after a hearty brunch, the vast majority of campers twelve-and-under rushed down the hill to play in our intramural Coke league baseball games. The teams were coached by the oldest campers, the Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds), and managed by members of the baseball staff. The rest of the camp had free play until a camp wide swim before lunch. After lunch, Todd presented a new “Trick of the Day,” that involved mind reading. He asked someone to pick a random page in a book and proceeded to identify a word in a specific section of the book. Very mysterious indeed! Sunday afternoon, the boys participated in wacky activities with our neighboring girls’ camp. Old school favorite activities included the three-legged race, hula hoop relays, a dizzy bat obstacle course, and a water balloon toss. In the evening, the boys were guests at the girls’ camp for a cookout and dance. As always, the Moose boys were a class act.

Monday’s breakfast was French Toast, a camp-wide favorite. After breakfast, Todd had a few of our international campers and counselors (from France, Wales, the Netherlands, to name a few) share with the Camp the name of their country’s equivalent to French Toast. Very interesting! All activity areas were open on Monday for the last opportunity for boys to earn achievements. The Junior Bs (eight- and nine-year-olds) went on a trip to Cascade Park and a tour through the caves at Lost River. The Junior As (ten-year-olds) played mini-golf and also ventured to Cascade Park for a swim. The Inter As (twelve-year-olds) spent the afternoon at Baker Cliffs and then were treated with ice cream at Moose Scoops. The trip of the day consisted of a volunteer canoe expedition to the class II whitewater on the Androscoggin River in Errol, NH. The Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) spent the afternoon competing in a dodgeball tournament at a neighboring camp. Popular evening activities included fishing, tubing, and another round of Coke League baseball games.

Monday evening saw the “break” of our traditional Red and Grey activities. The highlight of the evening was when Ingrid (in for Dudley Do Right) saved Bill and Sabina from a cabin full of TNT just in the nick of time. Even though it was more comedy than drama the boys loved the production that took them from solving puzzles on the fields to watching the release of the directors on senior hill.

The two Red and Grey days are filled with friendly competition across camp activity areas. The campers are divided into two teams and they compete in a multitude of activities, including: baseball, basketball, track, a canoe regatta, fishing, rope pulls, and fire building. The boys also write and perform an original song as part of the festivities. After the final events on Wednesday evening, the boys were treated with candy and soda.

All the campers’ hard work during Red and Grey was rewarded with a late breakfast on Thursday that included our once a summer sugar cereal fest. Lots of energy at Camp post breakfast! Our final trips of the session were held Thursday, including a kayaking excursion on the Hartland Rapids, a golf trip, and an afternoon swimming at Baker Cliffs for our two oldest age groups. Those in Camp for the day enjoyed special area activities, including a canoe adventure across the lake, a sailing regatta, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a home run derby, and Moose Open Tennis matches. The morning also included another round of Coke League games. The highlight of the evening was a final tall tale around our campfire from Port. The topic was the “Orford Butcher” and was a recount of Port’s “real life” experience of deciding what happened to Brad Fancy’s lost ear. Hmmmn.

Friday started with a very special Moose Bears session that included hot chocolate and Dunkin Donuts. The morning was filled with packing and then free play. Afternoon activities included the final Moose Open matches, the final Coke League games, and open areas. At the end of the afternoon, there was a presentation of “Sherlock Moose” (a Camp tradition from summers past). In this homemade production, the lead character Sherlock Moose is called to Camp to investigate a fictitious crime that had occurred – the demise of one of the windsurfing counselors due to excessive Moose burger consumption. Unfortunately, rain cut the production a bit short, but not before many laughs were shared among the group.

Friday evening began with our traditional end of session banquet. Dinner included shrimp cocktail, steak, homemade mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, and whoopie pies for dessert. Boys dressed up in their camp finest and were seated with their cabin and age groups. Following the banquet, we showed a special slide presentation that highlighted the activities of the summer. This year’s presentation included photos of our oldest campers when they were much younger at Camp. At the banquet the campers who brought a friend or have been at Camp 3, 5, 6 or 8 years were presented with specially designed Moosilauke t-shirts, jackets, and towels. The Moose Bears and area achievement winners were also presented with t-shirts. Over 40% of our campers earned achievements in five or more areas. Amazing! Check out the photo gallery for pictures of all of this new Moose “swag.” The evening ended with the Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) leading the camp in a torchlight processional that ended with the lighting of our massive bonfire. It was a beautiful capstone event for our oldest campers–and the Camp as a whole. Many hugs, laughs, and some tears (goodbyes are never easy) were shared by all.

Once again, thank you so much for sharing your amazing boys with us this summer!

Bill, Sabina, Port, Heide, Ken, and Ingrid