EMAILS & PHOTOS

Our 5-week session is off and running! Between new campers, returning faces, and all our favorite traditions, Camp already feels full of energy as everyone settles in under Old Bald. We are so fortunate to have 24 Junior Counselors this session! With a group that size, they’re split into two groups and rotate between learning JC curriculum and helping teach activities. They also each have buddy cabins! When a counselor is on her day off, a JC steps in to spend time with the cabin. It is always so much fun to watch the campers learn who their JC is!  With a group this big, no amount of team bonding is ever enough! One of the best (and funniest) ways we’ve found to connect as a cabin is through the low ropes course. Over the past few days, both JC groups have had the chance to take on the course, practicing teamwork, building trust, and sharing plenty of laughs along the way.

Main Session is here! We had an amazing Opening Day yesterday, and these campers jumped right into everything at Camp with so much enthusiasm. It has been so fun to see everyone settling in and already embracing Camp life. It is always so special to watch reunions of old friends and the forming of new friendships. Opening Day was full of unpacking, activity sign-ups, and our Opening Campfire, when the whole camp gathers to sing our favorite camp songs together to kick off the session. We had our first full day of activities today, with campers diving into their day-to-day Camp schedule, and we ended the night with one of our favorite evening programs: Deck the Counselor! Each cabin creates a skit, dance, or performance, and putting it together on this first full day of Camp serves as a great early bonding opportunity. It’s always amazing to see creativity come to life so quickly and to watch cabins begin to find their personalities. Our lovely JCs (all 24 this session!) hosted the evening, bringing great energy (and jokes) as they introduced and cheered on every cabin while we watched them perform from youngest to oldest.

Our first session of the summer is wrapping up! While we are so sad to see these campers go, they certainly go out with a bang! The last day of Camp looks a little different from our usual routine. After breakfast, campers spend some time packing before heading to Castle in Chapel (which we’ve lovingly coined “Chastle”). The youngest three cabins finally get their turn as Castle hosts, and after leading us in a song, we move into one of the most meaningful parts of the morning: awards!! Here at camp, we offer levels and certificates across a variety of activities, and our final day is our chance to celebrate the hard work and progress these campers made over the past three weeks. This year, awards were given for passing levels in Kayaking, Archery, Tennis, Tumbling, Riding, and Mountaineering. We also celebrated a record number of new inductees into the Bullseye Club and Dam Swimmers (see the campers reciting the Dam Swimmers' pledge below!).

With the end of the session getting closer, there are a ton of special traditions that happen in the last week of camp! This morning was the Bum’s Prank. The oldest cabin, Bum’s Rest, plans a prank for one of the last breakfasts of camp, complete with a theme, costumes, music, and more! This year, the theme was America, more specifically “God Bless Bum’s Rest,” in celebration of the upcoming 250th Fourth of July. They focused on the Hamilton/Founding Fathers/1776 aspect of American history, complete with powdered wigs for all involved! Instead of the wake-up bell, we were awoken by Reveille, followed by “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Party in the USA.” Bum’s decked out the Dining Hall, complete with the “Declaration of Bum's Rest” (with Dammie’s signature bigger than John Hancock’s), the infamous fake horse, and a canoe right in the middle of everything.

Spirituality: Camp Merrie-Woode is a place of reverence and is based in the Christian faith. As we wrap up this first session of the summer, we are especially grateful for our time at Merrie-Woode, the Place of Rarest Beauty, and for the way that it reveals God’s presence in our daily lives. Merrie-Woode's natural beauty evokes a sense of awe and appreciation for our Creator in those who have the opportunity to observe it, especially the campers and counselors who spend their summers beneath Old Bald. Recognizing the importance of Camp as a sacred place, the first line of Merrie-Woode’s Mission Statement speaks of “a sanctuary of rarest beauty which inspires a lasting awareness of God’s presence.” Admiration of nature is often the basis of spirituality at Camp. Campers instinctively acknowledge that the many wonders of the outdoors are God’s handiwork. Some of our favorite reflections about Merrie-Woode are found in the pages of The Lake Fairfield Ripple , a collection of camper and staff writings and drawings published annually since 1923. In one early edition of The Ripple , a camper expressed the connection between God and nature in poetic verse:

Sundays at camp are very special! The rest of the week, our campers have eight activities; four they attend on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and four on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. But Sundays have a totally different schedule. Campers get to sleep in an extra 30 minutes (always a win!), and breakfast is a treat: quiche, cinnamon rolls, and even Lucky Charms! Afterward, the girls have some time to clean their cabins before we all gather in Chapel. We sing, listen to a few readings, and enjoy a skit or performance. Today, one of our ukulele classes performed “I’ll Fly Away,” with everyone singing along. We also had a camper skit acting out a Bible story, complete with sheep costumes and two designated campers playing the part of trees!

Nearly every day at Camp, campers have the opportunity to head out on one of our many out-of-Camp trips. These adventures are a chance to explore the incredible rivers, mountains, and caves that surround us while building confidence, teamwork, and a deeper connection with the outdoors. We offer trips ranging from paddling and climbing adventures to full-day hikes and overnight expeditions. Our paddling and boating trips take campers out onto some of the best rivers and lakes in our area, including rivers like the Tuckasegee and Nantahala. Campers get to bring the skills they've learned on the lake to the whitewater and build new skills on the river. Whether they’re paddling through rapids or working together to navigate the river, every river trip offers something new! One of our most sought-after trips is Lake Jocassee, a three-day, two-night adventure with paddling, camping, and more! Campers paddle across crystal-clear waters to an island campsite. They spend their days exploring the lake, swimming, and soaking up the great outdoors before cooking dinner over an open fire.

Every year on the Fourth of July, we host a Carnival for our Main Session campers, and it’s always one of the highlights of the summer. Last year, we decided it wasn’t quite fair for our June campers to miss out on all the fun, so we brought the tradition to them as well. Now in its second year at June Session, Carnival has quickly become a favorite!

We have been having the best time under Old Bald! It’s hard to believe the first week of the session has already come and gone. Every Monday and Thursday at lunch, table assignments change in the Dining Hall. On the first night of camp, both campers and counselors fill out a survey with categories like birth month, favorite color, and hometown. Twice a week, we use those answers to reorganize the tables so that everyone has the chance to meet new people and spend time with campers of all ages. We don’t tell them the category when they switch tables, which makes it even more fun! Each table has to ask questions and gets to know one another while trying to figure out what they all have in common. For this past rotation, we grouped everyone by their hometowns! In a more recent tradition, we play songs in the Dining Hall for each state represented. When your state’s song comes on, your whole table jumps up and runs around the Dining Hall. With songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Sweet Caroline” for the Carolinas, and even “International Love” for our international campers and staff, it makes lunch that day very eventful!