The Halfway Point

It really does fly by that quickly. It seems like just yesterday we were greeting all of our amazing campers, and just like that, we are at the halfway point of the summer. As always, we take time to reflect back on the awesome memories we’ve made, and look ahead in anticipation of all the great things to come!

Today is our 2nd “S” Day, and our talented Program Director, Brad, put on the 2nd Annual Resort Day! After a late wake up, our campers were delivered a wonderful continental breakfast with muffins, croissants, Danish and so much more! In the morning, our 2nd-5th Graders had the opportunity to take part in a Tough Moose race, participate in a fishing tournament and a wide range of other activities. While this was going on, the 6th-8th Graders had control of Crescent Lake, bumper tubing, taking pontoon boat rides, swimming and paddle boarding. In the Afternoon, the groups flip-flopped.  While this was all going on at camp, our CIT’s departed this morning for a Magical Mystery Tour of Maine, seeing some of the sites the area offers, while doing some activities they have asked about for years. We could tell you more about it, but it’s so secretive that even we don’t know. We’ll ask them when they return!

One Week Down…Plenty Left to Come!!!

We’ve just completed our first week of the 2017 summer, and it’s hard to believe how much we’ve already done. Our 8th Graders had an amazing time on their Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor Trip. The 9th Graders kicked off their CIT summer with an exciting White Water Rafting Trip on the Kennebec River. Saco and Kineo went to Splashtown; Baxter and Allagash had so much fun at Aquaboggan; and our 7th Graders enjoyed their day at Old Orchard Beach. Roger and Dagni had a wonderful dinner, full of great memories and lots of laughs with our 7 Year Club, and Saco and Kineo went berry picking with our fabulous CIT’s who wanted to relive some of their favorite early camp memories. Program Areas are humming along…Intercamps and Tournaments are in full swing…and the weather has been spectacular!!!

And while you may think we’re running out of activities to occupy our days and nights, don’t worry!  We’re still looking forward to: Spirit Days, Moose Bowl, Two Theater Shows, Canobie Lake, Carnival, 8th Grade North Conway Trip… and the list goes on!!!  We pack so many great events into each summer, and the fun never stops!

We’ll continue to update you in future blogs, but right now it’s time to go have some fun. What a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!!

In the Groove

We may still be in our first week of camp, but the action is already humming in Casco! After Arrival Day and Moose Stomp Day, our campers jumped right into their regular “A” and “B” Program Days.  From Crescent Lake to the Ball Fields, Equestrian to Culinary, Adventure to the Arts…camp is filled with the sounds of children at play!!! Our 6th Grade Boys just returned from their amazing camping trip, and the 8th and 9th Graders depart in the morning for their own trips to Acadia National Park and White Water Rafting on the Kennebec River!  We know they’ll have an amazing time, but we’ll miss them greatly and can’t wait to have the entire Laurel South family reunited soon. Meanwhile, Wednesday will be our first “S” Day of the session. Saco and Kineo will spend the day at Splashtown. Baxter and Allagash will head to Aquaboggan, and the 7thGraders will depart for Old Orchard Beach! Intercamp games and tournaments are beginning as well. As you can see, we don’t waste a single moment at camp. Our time may be brief, but we pack it full of fun, friendships and memories each day!

We have so much to look forward to: Spirit Days, Moose Bowl, Theater Shows, Carnival…the list goes on! As always, it’s a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!!

And So It Begins…

What an incredible Arrival Day we had yesterday!!! The sun shined brightly as cars, buses and planes arrived from near and far to deliver us the finest campers anywhere. All day long the anticipation grew and by late afternoon – we were all back as the Laurel South family!

We were all together at Evening Cove as Roger and Dagni welcomed us warmly to another magical Laurel South Summer. For Dinner, we had our famous cook-out with hamburgers, hotdogs, BBQ chicken, veggie patties, chili and cornbread. Then we headed to Evening Programs with each group playing games to burn some energy and start the summer bonding off right. Once back to the cabins, everyone met their cabinmates and counselors and drifted off to sleep.

Today is Moose Stomp Day. We’re busy creating schedules, bumpertubing, taking photos for the end-of-summer books and making s’mores at the Outpost. Tonight is our Opening Ceremony Council Fire to officially kick off the 2017 Summer!

By tomorrow, we’ll be into our first program day. Before you know it, trips will be heading out, Intercamps and Tournaments will be in full swing, and all the sights and sounds of the summer will echo throughout camp. There’s nowhere in the world we’d rather be! What a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!!

One Story Ends…Another Begins!

Today we said goodbye to all of our incredible First Session campers.  We watched many depart in buses for destinations near and far, and we had many families spend Family Day with us at camp.  It was such a pleasure getting to see many of our returning families and to finally meet our newest summer family members.  The weather was great, and we had a blast!

Camp seems so empty now without the sounds of children laughing and playing, but our staff is hard at work getting camp for our Second Session campers! The anticipation for Second Session Arrival Day is already off the charts!

To our First Session campers…thank you for spending your summer with us.  We’ll miss you and can’t wait to see you next year.  For our Second Session Campers —  we’re so excited to see you Thursday.  Get ready for the summer of your lives!!!

Down the Stretch We Come

We’re down to our final Program Days of the session:  “A” Day today, “B” Day tomorrow.

Tuesday night was another incredible Moose Bowl! It was an amazing night: tailgate cookout, singing of the National Anthem, rocket launches, halftime dance show, the game itself and the dance party on the field after the game. We all had a great time! Wednesday night, we watched an amazing performance of Annie by our younger campers! The talent on stage left us speechless. Yesterday, the entire camp ventured to Canobie Lake Park for a day of rides, games, food and fun!!!

We can’t wait to see the older camper’s theater show tonight: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Tomorrow will be our awesome banquet with lobster, steak, or veggie lasagna followed by our Final Social. Sunday night is our Closing Ceremony, as we say goodbye to what was truly an incredible session!

We can’t wait to see many of our families on Monday, and, whether you’ll be here or not, we want to let you know how much we appreciate the trust you have placed in us, sending your children to us for a month. While we’re sad to see the session come to an end, as we tell the campers, we won’t be sad that it’s ending, we’ll be excited that the countdown to summer 2018 begins!!

One Week to Go

How quickly a camp session can fly by! It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming everybody for the start of the summer, and yet, in what seems like the blink of an eye, we’re down to our final week.

We’ve had so many wonderful experiences so far. The campers and staff had an amazing time at the Laurel South Carnival. From the rides to the games, the food to the dunk tank, we all had a blast!!! Our 8th graders has so much fun on the trip to North Conway! Intercamp games and tournaments are still in full gear and program areas are building toward their culminating activities.

And while a week seems like a short period of time, we have so much to look forward to: Tonight is the 7th Annual Moose Bowl, tomorrow and Friday are our incredible theater shows, Thursday is our final “S” Day trip to Funtown USA. Of course, we have our Final Banquet and Closing Ceremonies coming up, as well.

While the session seems to fly by, the friendships we’ve forged and the memories we’ve made will last us the entire year!!

We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do…

The 4th of July is an American camping tradition. For over a century, campers have enjoyed a special day at camp, filled with cookouts and fireworks shows. As if the day couldn’t get any more spirited, our CIT’s chose that very day to break Spirit Days 2017!!! To top it off, the break occurred before breakfast, leaving the entire camp in awe. Suffice to say: no one saw this break coming! For two days, the Green Army and Blue Navy took part in the friendliest of competitions, playing hard, cheering harder and demonstrating the kind of sportsmanship that makes Roger and Dagni so proud. In the end, we all won because everyone had an amazing time! The CIT’s displayed the kind of leadership that makes us beam. We were thrilled with the 2017 Spirit Days, but we were excited to be reunited as one big camp family!

We’ve crossed the halfway mark of the summer, and we still have so much to look forward to.  Intercamp games and tournaments are going on every day. Today is our awesome Fly Fishing clinic, and tomorrow is our incredible Carnival Day!

We’re making the most of each and every moment we have together in Maine and look forward to all the wonderful events still to come!

So Many Memories Made… So Much Fun to be Had!

Crazy to think that we’re nearing the halfway point of the summer. We’ve created some wonderful memories, built some amazing friendships and had some incredibly fun times!

Our 7th Graders ventured out to Camden State Park and had a wonderful day seeing the sights of one of Maine’s most visited tourist destinations. They had a blast!  Today is an “S” day and the campers are taking part in the Second Annual Resort Day! A continental breakfast was delivered to the cabin areas, and the campers are spending their morning and afternoon sailing, bumper tubing, playing games all over camp, and participating in a Tough Mudder run!!! The day’s meals are tailored to the resort theme. Our CIT’s are exploring parts of Maine and checking off items on their CIT Bucket List. We just heard from them, and they are having the time of their lives!!!

Looking ahead, everyone is pumped for the awesome Laurel South Fourth of July festivities tomorrow, which culminates with the best fireworks show in all of Maine!

With two weeks left, we are so thankful for the great times we have shared, and we know that the time we have left will create a treasure trove of memories to last a lifetime!!!