Camp Echo Lake – Senior Village Boys: Week 1 Recap
The transition from Main Village to Senior Village can take some adjusting. We have made some subtle (but effective) changes over the last few years to make the transition as smooth as possible for our first-year Senior Villagers. The boys have already settled in to village life very quickly, and once the 4n4 campers depart on Friday, the village becomes a much calmer and quieter place. This always helps the LV Boys get fully acclimated to Senior Village life.
The UV Boys headed off camp for the first of their two movie “sign-outs” this past week, choosing between Transformers and How to Train you Dragon 2. Despite Transformer being a pretty disappointing movie, the boys still had a great night and enjoyed the opportunity to indulge in some candy, popcorn and soda.
Coming in to the summer, we wanted to make a few changes to the Senior Village schedule to make the afternoon more active. As a result, we shortened rest hour and added an extra activity called “Team Awesome,” which takes place three times a week. Campers sign up for a three-week session, and can choose from any number of activities including: lacrosse, baseball, futsal, drama, fitness and music to name a few. This gives the boys the opportunity to work as a team, in addition to receiving more specific and progressive coaching in their activity of choice. The boys have taken to the change in schedule very well, and the overall reception to Team Awesome has been, well…”awesome!”
With “Bringing the Juice” officially starting next week, the villagers will have some activity-packed afternoons to look forward to. This structured “free” play ensures that campers are active as they choose between 3-on-3 basketball, Shaun T’s 25-minute workout in the lodge, running club or dog walking.
Thursday trip days are one of the main privileges that our Senior Village campers get to experience. With trips ranging from the beach to The Great Escape, the Upper and Lower Villagers go on five trip days over the course of the summer. For the first trip day, the boys and girls (including 4n4 campers) were split up. The girls went to Veterans Beach in Bolton Landing, and the boys split the day between tubing and Lake George Village. The weather was beautiful, and the boys had a great time walking around Lake George and then eating pizza and Ice cream. Some of groups enjoyed playing mini golf as well.
One of the key differences between Senior Village and Main Camp is the added responsibility that we give to the campers. Overall, the boys did an excellent job representing Echo Lake!
This year, the Senior Village has three Special Days! In previous summers, they only received two of them. Our first Special Day took place this past Saturday. The theme was Harry Potter.
The Quad Fuzzy Tournament, split each group in to four different magical schools: Dumstrang (Lower Village Boys), Beauxbaton (Lower Village Girls), Mahoutokoro (Upper Village Boys) and Kawdleigh (Upper Village Girls). The 4n4 campers where divided between the houses as “school prefects,“ in charge of leading their respective schools in team spirit.
The day was a great success! It featured Muggle Quidditch, a scavenger hunt, a deatheater gauntlet, regatta and potions relay. The 4n4 campers did a fantastic job, showcasing great leadership throughout the day.
In a tightly contested battle, the LVG (Beauxbaton) won the “Quad Fuzzy Cup” by a slim, 50-point margin over the UVB (Mahoutokoro). A big shout-out to our Senior Village Program Coordinator, Stefano Antoniazzi, for his time and effort in planning this awesome first Special Day! Next up is Lazy Crazy day!
It’s been a busy week on the inter-camp front for the Senior Villagers. The boys have competed in soccer, basketball, tennis and hockey both at Echo Lake and at other camps. In basketball, the boys lost a 1-point heartbreaker against Baco. The boys traveled to Baco for a hockey game for the first time in a number of years, losing 5-1.
Throughout the summer, Senior Village groups can earn “Village Galleons” (previously known as “Village Bucks”) in a variety of ways including: bunk clean-up, group spirit and random acts of kindness. The currency has recently changed names to coincide with the Special Day theme. The first Senior Village auction took place this past Sunday with groups allowed to bid on the following prizes: bedtime stories with Brenda, afternoon tea with JOB & Stef, TV show with Kersti, basketball under the lights, movie in the lodge, cookout with Glenn & JP, soft toilet paper, doggy day care with Deacon & Reggie and a “mystery prize.”
Our recording-breaking 4n4 trip departs this coming Friday. We will be sad to see them go, but we wish them an incredible 28 days out west!! . Looking ahead to this coming week, there is a boys 16u basketball tournament at Baco, a boys 15u baseball game, boys 9u soccer games at Walden and an 8u boys soccer tournament.