We’ve completed three beautiful weeks of camp, and 2023 is shaping to be one of our best summers ever!
The week began with our annual Lake Swim. This challenge is a 3/4-mile swim from the far side of The Stockbridge Bowl all the way back to the Mah-Kee-Nac shoreline. For each swimmer that participates, we donate to SCOPE (Summer Camp Opportunities Promote Education) – an organization that provides children from financially disadvantaged families with access to attend nonprofit, ACA-accredited, overnight camps. This summer we had 34 participants – campers and staff – all willing to jump into a cold lake at 7 a.m. and swim for a great cause! Many campers cheered from land as the swimmers crossed the finish line. Thanks to our swimmers and the generous donations of parents, we’ve raised $6,368 for SCOPE so far! There is still time to make a donation using the link above.
We also hosted and attended many tournaments this week. Kids across all ages competed in sports like basketball, flag football, tennis, soccer, baseball, golf and hockey. As always, our campers played their hardest and, most importantly, were excellent sports. We won some, we lost some, but we know how to win or lose with grace – a lesson we think is much more important.
The main excitement of the week, though, was our annual color war – Green & White. The event “broke” on Tuesday afternoon with extreme excitement. During campus time, the boys were roused by music, yelling, and camp leaders – dressed in team colors – running through camp. The kids were quickly brought to the Field House, given their team color shirts, and introduced to our special guests – two professional rugby players from Major League Rugby, Andrew Quattrin from the New England FreeJacks and Michael Sheppard from the Toronto Arrows, Canadian National Team. Both have played in the World Cup.
The pros took the boys through basic rugby drills, then each team chose 7 players to “duke it out” for the official first G&W event. As a preview of things to come, the game went neck and neck before finally ending with a 15-15 tie. So, just like The World Cup, we went to penalty kicks, and Green took the big win.
The campers spend the next three days and nights battling on behalf of their team. Some of the events included:
- “All or Nothing” – A rotation of sports, whereby each team gets 20 minutes to give it everything they’ve got.
- “Sudden death”- A single point from every age group across a variety of sports.
- Royal Rumble – An all team dodgeball competition
- “The Program”- A STEM and arts competition with tasks like classical theatre, synchronized dance, and an MIT bridge challenge.
Every event was close, but White team amassed a collection of small wins, which put them ahead going into our famous final event, the Rope Burn. We began “the burn” on Thursday night, but rain put a damper on our plan. So, the next day, the Senecas brushed themselves off and started over. Strong fires were built on both sides, and the boys battled the wind by fanning their flames with Crazy Creek chairs. Meanwhile, the younger campers competed in challenges to earn more wood and water breaks for their Senecas.
In the end, Green team’s fire was simply more precise, and burned the rope first. With White’s lead, they had 2:40 to catch up, but their fire was too far behind, and Green Machine was the big winner of 2023. The team ran to paint the rock green, as the winners do every year, and the Senecas spoke to their teammates about working together and never giving up.
We ended the week with a lovely visit from our parents on visiting day. Beautiful weather, happy families, and proud campers made for a wonderful day! After the parents left, the boys were able to do what they always do – get messy with a full camp shaving cream fight!
That’s it for week three. Don’t forget, you can get daily updates with our newsletter MKN Today on MKNTotem.com. Be sure to create an account and read about all about the daily happenings at camp!