LIVE…FROM BECKET, MASSACHUSETTS!!
We are so happy to report that we have been “living the dream” everyday since last Saturday. The weather has been beautiful, the smiles have been big, the high fives and hugs have been plentiful, and we couldn’t be happier!
For those of you who are new to camp, this “Week in Review” email will hit your inbox every week with a recap of what has happened over the past week and what is on the horizon for the following week.
Saturday was Opening Day and the transition into camp could not have been more smooth! We kicked off summer 2024 with a pizza picnic around the bunks, right into camp activities, age group orientations, scavenger hunts, getting-to-know you games and more. Saturday night was our traditional “Opening Campfire” in the Social Hall where we introduced our Group Leaders and Leadership Team, sang about our favorite frog, and enjoyed some great acts from the Staff Talent Show from orientation. The night ended by singing our traditional “Friends” as one camp for the first time of the season.
Sunday was filled with a whole lot of “checks!” Lice checks, swim checks, hobby selection, and activities in between! We got them all done and had the chance to enjoy some great activities. Sunday night was our first night of separate evening activities with the traditional Hi Guy and Hi Gal Night…a camp tradition of introducing your counselors to camp and the counselors introducing the campers.
We were so happy on Monday to have our first NORMAL day of scheduled activities. The campers found out their swim groups and played get-to-know you games with their new instructors during their swim period. NEW FOR SUMMER 2024: Upper Senior Boys and Girls have optional swim instruction!! They were pretty excited to hear that news! Monday night was separate again, the girls doing Bunk Chase and the boys playing Hunger Games. Bunk Chase is an awesome ice breaker night for the girls. Each bunk gets to dress up and act out different ridiculous scenarios. What makes it the most fun is that they have to sprint back and forth from the gym to their cabin to change into crazy costumes and switch out people. The night ends in all of the bunks writing and performing a song all about their group! The Boys played Hunger Games. They were all divided into 12 teams with the goal of scoring points while protecting their “region.” Congrats to the Grey Team for winning this year!
Tuesday was a beautiful day in Becket and the campers really got into their routine! Tuesday night we had our first Sports-a-Rama, a summer-long intramural league. The camp is split into four teams: the Tenafly Rams, the Newcastle Mules, the Lancaster Sun Devils, and the St. Benedicts Mighty Banyans. The teams are named after the two universities of the head coaches. Every field on camp was busy with friendly competition and good sportsmanship! A huge shout out to our Head Coaches and Andrew, our Athletic Director, for a strong opening night to the season. The Marquis game this week was a show stopping Waiter game of hockey. The Marquis game each week starts 15 minutes later than all of the other sports so that all of camp can watch the end after their games and matches are over. Tuesday night after Sports-a-Rama the Big Sister/Little Sister’s and Big Brother/Little Brother’s were revealed!! They were all so happy to meet each other!
Wednesday night was Auction Night! Each bunk was given $100,000 in Watitoh money and had the chance to bid on some great prizes. Staff members, Rebecca and Diego, were our auctioneer hosts dressed as a wizard and a fairy! Some of the highlights were: a seat on Shawnee Porch for Watitoh Gardens, renaming an area of camp, a boat ride on Center Lake, creating your own schedule, designing the menu for camp, and so much more. We can’t wait to fulfill their winnings!
Thursday officially kicked off the Intercamp tournament schedule. Age groups travel to different camps playing in different competitions throughout the summer. We also launched our first day of Tennis Plus!! Campers are loving their small group instruction during Rest Hour and some General Swim periods with Adrian on the Lake Courts! Thursday night was the annual Boys had Camp Belly Flop Contest. A huge congrats to Ari for the big win! Fun fact…Ari’s dad was a two-time belly flop winner back in the 1980’s! The girls played a big game of REBUS, a puzzle type-scavenger hunt where you run around camp looking for clues to solve the game! Congratulations to the bunk of Niantic!
Today, we started our riding program at Camp Danbee and tonight was our first Shabbat as a camp family. The week ended with our first official camp fire of the summer! There were some great performances, funny skits, repeat-after-me songs, and ended with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as the bedtime story! We loved those yummy s’mores as our Night Bite! The TICS and Waiters headed off camp for a special adventure to the Route 8 Pub while the Upper Seniors had their first late night hang out (*new for this summer: when the TICS and Waiters go out, the Upper Seniors get to have their own version of after hours social time!)
Saturday and Sunday will kick off phone calls for our new campers and then on Monday, the phones will open to the whole camp community. Saturday night will be our favorite Camper Talent Show and Sunday will be Sports-a-Rama night. Monday will be a late sleep and special event day! The morning will be separates and the afternoon will be our Sports-a-Rama Apache Relay. Tuesday is Cranium, the first night of the Townsend Cup. Wednesday will be Hunt the TIC for the girls and Superstar Night for the boys. Thursday is the 4th of July!! It will be a normal morning of activities followed by Red, White, and Blue day!
Keep checking those photos on MyWatitoh and the Campanion app and enjoy those smiling faces!! We are so glad to all be back in our summer home!!
