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#thenewawesome

From the bottom of our hearts, thanks to all of you for a summer that couldn’t have been more rewarding!

To our wonderful camp families: Thank you for your support and the faith you placed in us.

To our incredible staff: Thank you for doing more than ever. Your dedication to your campers and ability to find the fun was amazing.

And to the best campers anywhere: Thank you for bringing the fun! We watched you have fun, make friends and laugh again…all without technology! You’re the reason we do what we do, and we hope the summer was exactly what you had dreamed it would be. We can’t wait to see you in 2022!

Laurel South 2021: The New Awesome!

What a Ride!

What an amazing session we’ve had! As we spend today packing up and preparing for Departure Day tomorrow, it’s important for us to reflect on all the fun we had, the memories we created, and the friendships we formed.

The past week alone was amazing: Moose Bowl, Katahdin Cup, two incredible Theater Shows (Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz), a Final Banquet, Final Social, Rocket Launches, Gymnastics Shows…the list goes on and on.

And while we’re always sad to see the session come to an end, our enthusiasm for Summer 2022 has begun! Everyone stay safe, study hard and start counting down the days until we hear those famous words again:

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE STATE OF MAINE TODAY!”

Down the Stretch We Come…

Here we are…getting ready for our final week of the 2021 camp season. Before you know it, we’ll all be back at school or work, staring out of the window and dreaming about the 04015!

But for now we’ll keep relishing every moment of this journey we’re sharing! Our incredible CITs/LITs had the most amazing White Water Rafting experience, followed by a Super-Secret “S” Day which knocked out many of their Bucket List requests! Today the 5-Year Club headed out for their movie celebration. Saco and Kineo had a blast going berry picking. And our Drive-In Movie was epic, as always!

Practices for Moose Bowl and Katahdin Cup are rocking, as are Theater rehearsals. Tomorrow, we journey to our private Funtown-Splashtown USA excursion where we’ll have the whole park to ourselves…no lines or crowds!!

Camp may be winding down, but the fun certainly isn’t…not by a long shot!

Having Fun in the Summer Sun

The good times never seem to end at our summer home! From the Ballfields to the Waterfront, Arts to Equestrian, Adventure to Nature…the sounds of campers having a blast can be heard all over camp!  Saturday was our annual Carnival Day. The rides and games, the food and the photos…we had an incredible time!

Our CITs and LITs will head out today to North Country Rivers for their whitewater rafting trip!  For the rest of camp, tonight will be our annual Drive-In Movie Night! We’ve got our private excursion to Funtown/Splashtown USA coming up as well. Not to mention, the excitement is building for such favorites as: Spirit Days, Theater shows, Moose Bowl & Katahdin Cup…the list goes on and on.

 We’re making the most of every second we have together at this magical place in Casco, Maine.

Nearing the Halfway Point…

It’s hard to believe how quickly a summer can fly by…it seems like just yesterday we were reuniting as a camp family, and here we are nearing the halfway point of what has been an awesome summer!

After an incredible 5 days of Pod Camp, we were thrilled to receive individual schedules and head out on our first “A” Day of the summer. Today is our first “B” Day and the campers are loving it! To make it even better, tomorrow is an “S” Day, and it’s a LoSo favorite – CARNIVAL DAY!

We have much more fun coming up: Beauty and The Beast & Wizard of Oz, Moose Bowl & Katahdin Cup, Funtown, Banquet, CIT/LIT White Water Rafting, Socials…so much fun to pack in, but don’t worry, we’ll get it all in! It’s all part of what we refer to as The New Awesome!

We’ll keep you updated in future blogs, and remember that it’s always a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!

A Fantastic Beginning to an Awesome Summer

Things are off to a wonderful start in Casco this session! We’re almost a week in now, and having a ton of fun! From the Dining Hall to Cove, the Stables to the Waterfront, the Ballfields to the Arts Studios, the sounds of campers laughing and cheering fills the air!

Pod Programming has been amazing – as campers and staff have enjoyed activities as a grade, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Some of our favorite traditional Laurel South activities are coming up soon including Counselor Hunt tonight and Drive-In Movie tomorrow! We all have so much to look forward to moving ahead: CIT/LIT White Water Rafting, Katahdin Cup and Moose Bowl, Beauty and the Beast and Wizard of Oz…the list goes on and on!

We’ll keep you updated throughout the coming weeks of all the goings on at Laurel South. Until then, just know that it is and always will be a beautiful day in the state of Maine!!

One Door Closes as Another Opens

How quickly a summer flies by! On Sunday, we bid farewell to our incredible First Session campers. We had such an amazing summer together and can’t wait to see them next year!

But life moves pretty quickly around here, and before we knew it, we were gearing up for our awesome Second Session arrival! What a great day we had…greeting friends (old and new), bonding with counselors, and getting to know each other. We’re off to another incredible start!

Yesterday was Moose Stomp Day, and we loved the S’mores and snow cones and (of course) Bumper Tubing on Crescent Lake…followed in the evening by our Opening Ceremonies Council Fire. Today we began our pod schedule where we travel to all of our programs and activities in grade pods, getting to know everyone in our age group, not just in our cabin. We hope to successfully resume our regular, guided-choice scheduling in the near future.

We’ll keep you updated on all of the goings-on in Casco in future blogs. Until then, please know that it is a beautiful day in the state of Maine today…and every day!

Down the Stretch We Come!!!

Time really does fly when you’re having fun! It seems like just yesterday we gathered on the shores of Crescent Lake, not fully knowing what was in store for the 2021 season. But thanks to the cooperation of our wonderful camp families before camp and from our incredible staff and amazing campers after arrival, we were able to stay safe AND have an amazing summer!

We’ve had so much going on this week. Our Rangeley men played in the 10th Annual Moose Bowl, and the game did not disappoint, a back and forth contest that came down to the final minutes! The entire camp loved the games and the tailgate cookout, the campers’ rendition of the National Anthem, the concessions and s’mores, and the halftime dance show. It was, as always, a magical evening! Not to be outdone, our ladies of Katahdin took to the soccer pitch in front of the entire camp, and played (and bested) an All-Star team made up of our staff! Both the Moose Bowl and Katahdin Cup teams truly demonstrated the Laurel South philosophy or play hard, play clean and have fun!

Tuesday night was our camper’s spectacular performance of Beauty and the Beast. The campers worked so hard and put on a performance to remember! And we can’t wait for this evening’s performance of The Wizard of Oz! We may be winding the summer down, but the fun will not let up until Departure Day. It’s been a magical summer so far…and 2nd Session is just around the corner!

It is a beautiful day in the state of Maine today!

Days of Spirit and So Much More…

So there we all were – eating our delicious evening meal, laughing with friends, talking about the day. All of a sudden a ruckus broke out. Not sure what was going on, we all congregated in the middle of the Dining Hall, where we were surprised to learn that Spirit Days 2021 was upon us!

For the next two days, the Green Dragons and Blue Knights competed on the fields and in the water, through plaques and cheers, silent dinner and closing ceremonies. Everyone competed hard and showed exemplary sportsmanship. In the end, we had one of our most closely contested Spirit Days ever! And at the conclusion, we all gathered as one camp…excited for the fond memories we created but also thrilled to unite once again as one big Laurel South family. As we say every year, “Blue and Green are one big team!”

But wait…there’s more! Just after Spirit Days’ Closing Ceremony, we all hopped on charter buses and spent the evening at Funtown-Splashtown USA! We rented out the entire park to make for a safe trip. With no lines in sight, we were able to ride and eat and play games and laugh and spend time together!

We may be less than a week away from Departure Day, but the fun times won’t let up! Still on the horizon: Moose Bowl, Beauty and the Beast, an amazing new “S” Day, Wizard of Oz, Final Banquet…and so much more! The good times never let up in Casco!

The New Awesome!

It’s been an amazing session so far in Casco! And as with most incredible summers…we blink, and before we know it, we’re more than halfway through.

Programming is running full steam ahead. Our CITs and LITs return from their awesome white water rafting trip tonight. Today is our first Fly Fishing program of the summer, and our participating campers LOVE their Laurel South Fly Fishing Club hats and shirts. “All Around Camp” campers and staff have been showing a new level of enthusiasm…and there’s so much more to come in the next two weeks!

Spirit Days are just around the corner (or are they??). Our 10th Anniversary Moose Bowl game is coming soon. Rehearsals for both Theater shows (Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz) are ramping up to two sure-to-be-epic performances.

Here’s to another day at Laurel South – The New Awesome!