Weekly Log Home #2 2018
Dear Moosilauke Families, It is our pleasure to send this second weekly letter home during summer 2018 covering Sunday,…
Weekly Log Home #2 2018
Dear Moosilauke Families, It is our pleasure to send this second weekly letter home during summer 2018 covering Sunday,…
Dear Moosilauke Families,
It is our pleasure to send this second weekly letter home during summer 2018 covering Sunday, June 24th through Saturday, June 30th. Camp is off to an awesome start. For the most part, the boys have been able to be outdoors and engaged in all camp activities this first full week. Our activity classes have been humming; our initial canoe and hiking trips have been fun for all; our inter-camp competition is off and running and participation has been high; and the overall level of fun and camaraderie is exactly what you would expect. Fun with a purpose!
Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day. It was was our first “lazy Sunday” of the season, with a late buffet breakfast of omelets to order, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon buns, potatoes, and our usual breakfast bar of yogurt, assorted fruits, and granola. After breakfast, the campers enjoyed some free time that involved pickup basketball, ping pong, playing cards and reading on the beach, and assorted games like Spike Ball and Can Jam. We also had an open swim for all ages and a cabin check-in with the nurses. Lunch was chicken cutlets with rice, corn, and rolls, full salad bar, and fruit for dessert. After lunch, we had our first “trick of the day.” One was an oldie, but a goodie where you spin and blow a cup from one stack to another. The counselor succeeded in doing twice! The second “trick of the day” saw Charlotte (Waterfront Director and Head of Hills) name every camper and counselor in Camp. Quite the feat, considering there are about 200 names to learn! We also celebrated the birthday of one of our Junior Counselors. Sunday was our first “Letter Home Day.” The campers are required to write home twice a week – Sundays and Wednesdays. Mail is slow from our rural New Hampshire location, but you should be receiving letters from your boys at this point. (We know that the boys do not always provide the most detail in their letters, so we hope that our weekly newsletters help fill in the gaps. Of course, you can always reach out to Bill and Sabina should you have any questions.)
In the afternoon, there were sign-ups in the different activity areas. At the end of the afternoon, we convened our first weekly Moose Community Gathering. While we were together, we applauded and recognized those campers and counselors who went “B.T.C.O.D.” (“beyond the call of duty). We also discussed some golden rules for living together in a happy and healthy fashion. Our oldest campers, the Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds), introduced themselves and shared how long they have been at Moose and what makes Moose special to them. The gathering ended with a full camp rendition of “There was a Crazy Moose.” Sunday evening brought our traditional cabin cookout, with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato wedges, and carrot sticks. Following cabin cookout, the campers enjoyed open areas for their evening activities on land and in the water and gathered around campfires to make S’mores for dessert.
The same day our first group of Senior Bs (thirteen-year-olds) left for a two-day Presidential Range backpacking adventure. The group left Camp at 8 am, stopping at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, on their way to the trail. After an easy first mile, they hiked 2 miles of a steep uphill to the Liberty Springs Campsite. Following a lunch of bagels and cream cheese, they began their hike up Mt. Liberty. After a successful climb to the summit, they descended back to their campsite and enjoyed a delicious dinner of rice and beans. The next day, the group awoke at 7am, made oatmeal for breakfast, and started hiking around 9 am. The campers each did a mini “solo” hike for a mile or so. As a group, they summited Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette. On their way down, they stopped at the Greenleaf Hut and followed the Olde Bridle path to the parking lot. They also enjoyed a delicious pizza lunch at Enzo’s on their way back to Camp.
Monday also saw a group of Inter As (twelve-year-olds) venture out on an all-day mountain bike trip to the Wentworth Waterhole and the Juniors (nine and ten-year-olds) head out in the afternoon for some swimming fun at Baker Cliffs, followed by ice cream at Moose Scoops. Evening activities included Kick the Can, Rounders (a combo game of baseball and cricket), tubing, fishing, Ultimate Frisbee, wiffle ball, and flag football.
Food Tuesday in Camp included scrambled eggs for breakfast, sloppy joe’s, grilled potatoes and homemade soup for lunch, and the traditional “Taco Tuesday” for dinner with carnitas (pulled pork), corn and black bean salad, rice, tortillas, and churros for dessert. Another group of Inter As ventured out on a mountain biking trip to the Waterhole. A focus for the day at Moose was the first inter-camp competition of the season. There are three scoreboards at Moosilauke. The first is the actual score of the game. The second measures effort and sportsmanship, and being a “class act.” The third is all about having the best hair! There are also no “cuts” at Moose so any boy can play on any age appropriate team regardless of their prior experience or skill-level in that sport and each camper gets ample playing time. We hosted a thirteen-and-under soccer tournament and our ten-year-olds participated in a street hockey tournament at a neighboring camp. Evening activities included handball, stand-up paddle boarding, canoeing, tubing, fishing, rugby, flag football, and basketball.
Thursday we had our first rainy day. Fortunately, it was a bit on and off in the morning so we were able to spend an hour down the hill in activities on land and in the water before lunch. Due the inclement weather, a second group of Senior A2s (fourteen-year-olds) departed a bit later than originally planned on Thursday for their Lake Umbagog/Androscoggin River canoe expedition. After a lunch stop at Burger King, they were on their way to Errol, NH. On route, the group spotted a very large moose alongside the road! Upon arrival, they unloaded their gear at their riverside cabins and then quickly went fishing in the Androscoggin. Following their successful fishing outing, it was time to head back to their campsite for a dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs, with S’mores for dessert, all cooked over a charcoal and wood fire. In the evening, the group played trivia games for candy prizes and enjoyed a tall-tale by Preston. The next day, the boys eagerly awoke for the much-anticipated day of rapids. They started early, packing up their campsite, eating cinnamon buns, and then setting off for a day at the rapids. It was an exciting canoe down the rapids – canoes flipping on occasion, but fun and laughs were had by all. After canoeing down the rapids, the Northern Waters guides taught the boys a type of canoe rescue called a z-line, how to rescue canoes solo in rushing water with hundreds of pounds of water inside. On their way back to Camp, the boys stopped at the jumping bridge for a fishing, swimming, and reading break. The final stop before returning to Moose was an all-you-can-eat pizza extravaganza at Enzo’s. An exciting trip overall!
Friday, there were several groups up and out early for various activities before breakfast – our Moose Bears were in the lake for their daily morning dip, a group of Senior A1s were waterskiing, and a group of campers of mixed ages were fishing. In the afternoon, the Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) enjoyed an afternoon at Baker Cliffs, followed by an ice cream cone at Moose Scoops. A group of campers headed to the “links” at the Bradford Country Club for a round of golf. And, half of our Inter Bs (eleven-year-olds) enjoyed a morning mountain biking adventure to the Waterhole. Competition on Friday included a tens tennis tournament and a twelves basketball tournament at neighboring camps. Breakfast was bagels, fried eggs, and the yogurt/fruit bar. Lunch was meatball subs, with chips, and a full salad bar. Dinner was the traditional Friday night “Kenny Cookout” with chicken, sausage, veggie burgers, pasta salad, corn bread, soda, and popsicles for dessert. In the evening, campers participated in a ping pong tournament, stand-up paddle boarding and canoe extravaganza, dodgeball, and basketball.
Saturday started warm and sunny. The focus of the morning was the Baker Valley Athletic Tournament that involved Moose and three other camps competing in soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, and Ultimate Frisbee. Approximately half of our campers participated in some sort of competition on Saturday morning. Those not involved in the games had their choice of open areas – including Archery, tennis, mountain biking, Arts & Crafts, woodworking, and the waterfront. It was a particularly warm day, so most campers opted for the waterfront – stand-up paddle boarding, canoeing, sailing, swimming, waterskiing and wakeboarding, and fishing. Meals on Saturday included fried egg, sausage, cheese sandwiches on English muffins, assorted sandwich meats, cheese, salad, potato chips, and homemade soup for lunch, and the traditional Saturday night pizza for dinner. After dinner, campers had the opportunity of activities on the waterfront – a treat, especially given what a hot day it had been – and, of course, many opted to relax and enjoy our traditional Saturday night movies with popcorn courtesy of the CITs.
What a week! We had twenty individual inter-camp competitions, 4 bike trips, 2 overnight backpacking trips (5 days of backpacking!), two overnight canoe trips, a whitewater kayaking trip, 3 age groups venturing to Baker Cliffs for a swim and ice cream treat at Moose Scoops, and all of our normally scheduled area activities!
That’s it for the second week.
Happy Summer!
Bill, Sabina, Port, Heide, Ken, and Ingrid