Campers have grown accustomed to the “sweatshirt weather” mornings we have here at camp as the sun rises over the mountains of Western North Carolina, and this morning was no different. The boys awoke with excitement and shuffled down to the Tuck, rejuvenated after a refreshing Sunday here at camp. Sundays are different here at camp, just as they should be, a wonderful mixture of excitement, play, and rest.

Today is Monday, and campers were ready to get back to their regular activities. For breakfast, we ate wonderful French Toast Sticks and sausage links prepared by our fabulous kitchen. After the morning yell, campers and counselors scurried up to the Mark for chapel.

Today, counselor Tom L. gave a True Story about who Jesus is. In the story, Tom discussed a time when a friend helped him when he was dared to complete a challenging task. Tom connected that to how Jesus stepped in for each and every one of us when He laid His life down on the cross. He takes our place for the sins we have done. That is pretty cool.

Of course, after another great chapel, campers ran down to their cabins to vie for the ever-so-competitive Golden Plunger. This session has been a toss-up for the Plunger, and the competition is getting intense. With half of Greybeard on the “Man Trip,” our 2-night overnight backpacking trip, that made their PERFECT TEN (10) even more special and surprising.

For lunch, campers enjoyed laughs and jambalaya, excitedly talking about which activities they were trying to get bars in and what snacks they were going to get at free time. After lunch, staff made announcements, campers sang to get their hats back (no one can wear their hat in the dining hall, and one must sing to get it back), and the Iroquois were announced victors of the game the night before. Next, of course, was the best time: rest time.

After rest time was free time. Campers participated in Teddy O.’s paintball tournament, which was won by Dylan C. and Jonathan H. For putting the tournament together, Teddy O. earned his silver in paintball. On top of that, Carson H. earned his bronze bar in paintball.

In our classes today, Sebastian P. and Freddy V. earned their bronze bar in climbing. Chris D. and Thomas M. earned their silver and Diego T. earned his bronze in fencing. We also had many campers on the Man Trip, including Henri F.P., Geoffrey M., and Daniel Y. On top of that trip, we took a climbing trip to Snake’s Den which included Christian S., Cole S., and JT H.

We had a great day at camp today, and after all of our activities, campers headed to the Tuck. For dinner, we had Mediterranean food, topped off with orange creamsicle jello for dessert. Campers were incredibly excited to hear the evening activity would be “Stealing Skins”, a camp classic. Currently, our campers are running around with an extra shirt hanging out of their shorts chasing Iroquois or Seminole or Counselor, having a tremendous time while doing it. For me, I hope the staff can pull off a victory tonight (the higher finish between tribes still counts towards the banner) and that all the campers have a wonderful time with their tribes.

Thank you so much for reading tonight! There will be more tomorrow, of special proportion, since tomorrow is Day Joe Boy Cow. We get to sleep in an extra hour and get donuts delivered to our beds. Oh, and we do everything IN REVERSE! Night great a have, blessings and peace.

Sincerely,

Connor Aycock

Proud Iroquois

The University of Alabama, Roll Tide