Happy Fourth! Wherever you spent yours, I can’t imagine that you had half the fun that we did at camp. I felt a little like a one-armed paper hanger…there was so much to do, especially this evening. The day started with the “British Are Coming” wake-up call as the riding staff rode up and down the cabin lines yelling “Happy Fourth!” Excited girls came prepared for the red, white and blue with festive attire de rigeur. Our girls from other countries joined in the fun…patriotic songs at breakfast, Rise and Shine, and lunch. Today was also Capture the Flag, one of the most popular evening programs at camp…where teams square off for a good old fashioned all-out running game to see who can steal the most flags. As the day progressed, girls were losing the “white” and becoming monochromatic…either blue or red.
I know that the decline of these United States has been a popular topic in the press of late, but from where I sit, our future is pretty bright. It is impressive to see these girls with such love of country. I caught a segment on the internet news that I think aired on CBS Sunday Morning…it was Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain, echoing these same thoughts. Essentially, he talked about how great a nation ours is…and joked that he was sure that sounded funny coming from the former leader of the nation that we are celebrating our independence from.
The recession has been a hard one on many friends and neighbors and I don’t want to make light of the hardship it has caused many families…but frankly, I am glad that my own college-bound and late high school children have seen that there is “no such thing as a free lunch.” For a while there, we were competing for summer staff, many of whom thought that first job would be the corner office. We had one of our favorite long-time Illahee girls return to camp for a visit (which she does every year) and she spoke with the staff about how much her work at camp prepared her for her job on the staff of a Congressman in Washington. I think that camp does that all the way through…we call it the “grit factor” as in she has “grit.” Grit is something that camp gives a lot of girls as they work to achieve their goals.
Home made pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, homemade potato salad, slaw, bomb pops…all picnic style in beautiful cool weather compliments of a late afternoon rain shower provided by Mother Naure. Capture the Flag pitted Red against Blue…the purple referees made sure that the peace was kept and all was fair in the big playing field across the way…Cheerwine Floats greeted the hot and tired players after the game, and then everyone returned to the cabins to get in P.J.s before the bell rang to summon them back to the soccer field. I’m happy to say that Dave and I have all of our fingers and toes after a terrific fireworks show. Did you all know I am a licensed Pyrotechnic Operator in North Carolina? True Story. I had a great playlist picked out with Souza marches, the William Tell Overture, and one Katy Perry song…Firework. My ipod was left on repeat, so the Souza songs never made it to the queue. No one seemed to mind. Happy Independence Day!
Loved seeing the girls enjoying the 4th and appreciate all your efforts to encourage the patriotism and the fun! As an Illahee alum, I fully agree with the GRIT camp experiences provide for young women. Keep it up!
We opened a letter from Carter today that said the fireworks were awesome! She said they were even better than Disney World’s! I loved it…thought you would too. Sounds like she is having another great summer. Thank you for the blogs!