The last week of camp for 2009… My how the time flew by. The week started with a little bit of politics, Cali-Camp style. Two campers from each group were given the opportunity to run for Director’s for the Day on Wednesday. They worked with their counselors to put together speeches which were delivered at lunch to the whole camp. Then they campaigned all afternoon and the entire camp voted at snack time. The Cardinals, Elle Solovy and Lili Sheen won by an overwhelming margin. Their screams and the screams of their fellow Cardinals filled the air with excitement and we all looked forward to Wednesday when they would run the camp! Whoopee a day off for the real Directors! Elle and Lili had some work to do because they promised the campers a talent show on Wednesday. They made a signup sheet and a suggestion box.
Wednesday morning, Backwards Day, Switch-a-Roo came with Elle and Lili putting on Pam’s “Red Shirts”. They looked like they were wearing “Red Dresses”. The day started a bit confusing, but they got into it quickly. We started with snack time and popsicles were served. The campers thought this was great! Elle and Lili then told all of the counselors to be junior counselors and the junior counselors to become the counselors for the day and 6th period began. They had fun with the microphone and kind of enjoyed the power they felt when they asked the campers to quiet down and they did! The day ran backwards with lunch, as usual, in the middle. The only thing unusual was the fact that Elle and Lili had the Talent Show planned and many, many campers and staff signed up. It was so fun. We took videos of all of the talent and loaded them onto utube. Check them out. They had so many acts that we had to hold a few to the end of the day, which ended with “Circle Time”. The Girl’s did a fabulous job and got the annual “soaking” to end their day. I think we have some super future staff members here with Elle and Lili. Thanks for a job well done girls!
On Thursday we held our annual “Camp wide Free Choice Activity” Day. Campers were given the opportunity to go to every activity in camp throughout the day. They got to choose their favorite activities and even got in an hour of swimming. Taylor, one of our counselors, had the camera all day and took hundreds of pictures of all of the activities. Photos were added to both our Cali-Camp Facebook Group Page and Flickr.
Thursday also brought our Staff Appreciation Day in which we had a special lunch and long staff break for all of the staff and ended with our staff awards. Staff members of the year, both Senior and Junior, were nominated and voted by the entire staff. Lauren Tyni – Palominos Counselor / Driver and Calvin Cristales – Wolves Counselor and Bus Counselor received Sr. Staff Member of the Year. Junior Staff Members of the Year were Kathy Herrera and Jordan Diamond-Fuller. The Transportation Department choose two very deserving staff members – Luciana Duren – Driver of the Year and Caitlin Hoey-Klick as Bus Counselor of the Year for the great job they both did in Transportation all summer. Our Administrative Team chooses the Director’s Award each year and this year we awarded Director’s Award to Jesse Behr – Coyotes Counselor and Rachel Bereny – Cardinals Counselor. We had 16 Five Year Staff Members who received a plaque for their dedicated service to Cali-Camp. We are very proud of all of our staff for they gave 110% to their campers this summer.
Friday, the last day of camp, Farewell Day brought Camper Awards throughout the day. Each Specialist in camp chooses a boy and a girl to receive Specialist of the Year in their Activity Area from the campers who received Specialist of the Week. Many parents came to see their children receive the awards and we videoed the speeches (will soon be posted on utube, as they are large files and we are working on getting them condensed).
The following 2009 Camper Awards were presented at Morning Round-up:
Creative Dramatics: Raleigh DeGraw – Eagles Elle Solovy – Cardinals
Tennis: Ethan Farrelly – Raccoons Jordan Cleary – Fawns
Gymnastics: Ronny Tal – Ravens Etta Friedman – Cardinals
Adventure: Christopher Ferrarin–Grizzlies Salma Cruz – Cardinals
Golf: Max Levy – Grizzlies Alegra Callas – Mustangs
The following Awards were presented at Lunch:
Nature: Teddy Silverman – Roadrunners Kyra Philipp – Doves
Backyard Games &
Sports: Taylor Randerson – Wolves Allegra Fuller – Doves
Target Sports: Nicholas Smergian – Coyotes Alyssa Jaffe – Fawns
Arts & Crafts: Zeke Shapiro – Wolves Isabella Doolin – Bunnies
Motorized: Charles Kleinman – Eagles Gina Levine – Cardinals
And at Snacks at the end of the day:
Swimming: Luc Fabre – Ravens Jennifer Moraly – Bunnies
Wrangler: Nico James Cheyenne Bell
Campers of the Year: Benjamin Fuller – Ravens Danielle Posin – Doves
Junior Camper
of the Year: Luke James – Ducklings Ella Goldberg – Ducklings
Congratulations to all of the Award Recipients of 2009. This was a fantastic summer and you campers all helped make it so! We hope to see you all again next summer.
The end of the final day was filled with tears and promises of re-kindled friendships in the future. Pictures were taken and the staff sang our final good-bye song to the campers. We look forward to next year when we can see you all again.
Yours for quality camping, until next summer,
Pam Hawley - Director
