Today was a great day at camp. We had lots of fun activities take place today. In Fencing DJ A., Rawson B., Bobby D., and Elijah M. got their bronzes. This is their first step towards mastering a very difficult sport. At The Mark is Basketball. I’m told by Sean D. our Basketball instructor that Ted Q. did an amazing job on the drills. Sean D. said that he put in a lot of effort and excelled to get better. Down at the ranges Maxwell B. shot a grouping that will count towards his bronze bar in riflery. Across camp at the lake Josh D. caught two bass giving hope to many campers who want to fish in the lake. At backpacking they learned how to Leave No Trace when hiking, making sure to pick up what ever they leave behind to preserve the camp sites they will be at in days to come. Outside of camp we had lots campers on trips including a Kayaking trip to the Tuckasegee River. Sam H., David R., Charlie O., Max S., Drew S., and Jake T. all did very well and Max S. performed his combat roll earning him a mark towards Little Chief.

For the evening activity tonight we did El Presidente which is a decently complex game with lots of room for strategy and pre-planning. Both the Iroquois and Seminoles are given a sheet of paper with roles they have to fill with names of fellow campers in their tribe. The roles are President, 5 Star General, 4 Star General, 3 Star General, Sergeant, and Private. Each has to fill a certain number of each. They then start the game. To get someone out they must pull the flag of another camp. The flag is a shirt tucked into the side of their shorts so you can always keep a eye on your own flag. When their flag is pulled they must follow the person who got them out to a table where a counselor is set up with the names of all the differently ranked campers. The person tells their name to the counselor and the counselor searches for the name on the list and scores the points that are listed under. Points increase going smallest to largest starting at Private who is only 1 point and going to 5 Star Generals who are worth 25 points. But if you get the President you win the whole round. Campers have started playing mind games with their brothers in the opposite tribe. You might be running around thinking that they would make someone in the oldest cabin President but that would be to obvious… or maybe that’s what they hope you think. Also another good trick they use is to hide a decoy President somewhere not super visible so the other tribe thinks that they are the real President. When you think about how much effort these campers put into just a single point, you can tell they really want to win the Banner at the end of the session.

That’s all from me though. I hope you guys have a nice night.

Cooper Denning

Big Piney