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Where did the summer go? Can we really be down to just two precious program days before it’s time to pack up and bid farewell to all of our friends who have become more like family? Our summer theme this year was to be “all in”, and our campers and staff have truly done their part!

Tuesday night, we witnessed another Moose Bowl for the ages, as the Rattle Snakes scored a late touchdown to edge out the Black Bears in a game of fantastic plays and even better sportsmanship! On Wednesday night, we were treated to our younger campers incredible performance of “Annie”.  The talent on the stage was just amazing! Thursday we all headed to Canobie Lake Park for a day of rides, games, fun, friendship and food.

Tonight our older campers take to the stage for their rendition of “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”. Tomorrow night is our Final Banquet, and we’ll dine on lobster, steak or vegetarian lasagna! After packing on Sunday, we’ll have our Closing Ceremonies, when the Spirit of Fun and Friendship will take the flame and keep it safe until we are all reunited on the shores of Crescent Lake next summer.

And while we’re sad to see another awesome summer come to a close, we’re excited the countdown to the 2018 Laurel South summer will begin.

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 are 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.The weather threatened to interfere with our afternoon Carnival, so we just changed it to the morning, and everyone had a blast!!! From the rides to the games, the food to the dunk tank, we all had a great time. Our 8^th graders are on their trip to North Conway, and our 6^th Grade girls are camping out for the night! 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: Monday night is our Council Fire; Tuesday Night is the 7^th Annual Moose Bowl; Wednesday and Friday are our theater shows (Annie and The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee); Thursday is our final “S” Day trip to Canobie Lake. 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…until we can all return again!

Tuesday morning started out like any other “A” Day.  We woke up excited for another day of programming, ate a delicious breakfast and headed back to cabins for clean-up. Suddenly the bell rang and rang and rang and rang. Oh, we were having our annual fire drill. Everyone headed to the Downeast Field, lined up by cabins. As Roger made his check that all were accounted for, each cabin had a brief skit to announce their presence. The very last cabin, Cedars, our CIT girls read a poem which ended with the announcement that Spirit Days 2017 was upon us. They were joined by the CIT boys, and everyone was ready for Spirit Days to commence!

For the next 2 days, the Green Army and Blue Navy took to the fields, displaying teamwork, effort and sportsmanship that makes us so proud. What transpired was the friendliest of competitions with everyone cheering for their own team, as well as the other, enjoying the contest, but never taking it too far. The closing ceremony was filled with awesome cheers, incredible plaques designed and made by the campers and unbelievable songs. In the end, when Adam read the final score, the winner was…Laurel South, because after 2 days we were reunited as one big team with memories that will last a lifetime!

Today, our Fly Fishing enthusiasts are enjoying a great clinic from an Orvis Fishing Guide. In the two years we’ve held these clinics, the number of Fly Fishing campers has increased, and their skill set is through the roof!!!  On Sunday, our 6^th Grade Girls will depart for their camping trip to Mount Blue, while our 8^thGraders will depart for their trip to North Conway!

We may be closing in on our final week, but we still have a ton to look forward to: Two Theater Shows, Moose Bowl, Final Banquet…the list goes on! We’ll fill every moment we have together with friends and memories that just can’t be beat!!!

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 2^nd “S” Day, and our talented Program Director, Brad, put on the 2^nd 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 2^nd-5^th 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 6^th-8^th 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!

We’ve just completed our first week of the 2017 summer, and it’s hard to believe how much we’ve already done. Our 8^th Graders had an amazing time on their Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor Trip. The 9^th 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 7^th 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, 8^th 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!!!

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 6^th Grade Boys just returned from their amazing camping trip, and the 8^th and 9^th 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 7^thGraders 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!!!

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!!!