The Dunk Tank at Carnival
It's been another busy week in the 12523, with Carnival, The Boys' NAT, a second Tribes day and Visiting Day all in the books. Visiting Day always marks a big milestone, serving as a reminder that the summer is moving way too fast. As exciting as it is to have a day to share all that's going on at Scatico with family and friends, there is still so much we can't quite articulate or explain. From the nervous jitters felt before your Tribal team is asked to perform at a campfire, to the easy jokes and chatter of a line of boys playing full camp knockout, there are so many minuscule moments that make up a camp day. While we can't squeeze it all in here, we can at least provide some highlights of the week, from our victorious chess tournament to pretzel making in cooking, and everything in between.
Crazy for Carnival
Carnival, an afternoon where all of camp (boys and girls) gets together to run a series of booths and play various games, is always a summer highlight. It was hard to imagine something that would top last years' stellar (pun intended) Hollywood theme, but this year's Olympics theme proved just as creative (and even more timely). It all started with a procession down the tree-lined path, with counselors representing their countries of origin (we have staff from India, Argentina, New Zealand and more!) holding the "torches" for our opening ceremony, and campers from each division dressed as a different sport (from the U.S. Swim Team, to archery, and even a few refs!). Once our torch lighting ceremony was over it was time to hit the booths! A few classics – like the Upper Seniors haunted house, Senior girls Marriage Booth, Senior boys dunk tank, and Deb Zap Mail (campers deliver messages to one another in balloons)– were back, but several new elements were added to the mix. One booth even involved a triathlon that incorporated a shot-put throw, standing broad jump, and high jump. As always the local ice cream truck was a smash hit, as was the DL horse race to close out the afternoon of celebration.
Lower hill at the bottle toss
Things getting intense with the Juniors
FEEL THE BURN
It was another week chock full of tournaments and sports events, starting with the girls second Tribes day on Friday! This week red, yellow, green and blue competed in a track meet, plus shared their Comic Songs, Fractured Fairy Tales (which use existing stories to tell the tale of how Scatico came to be.... this summer involved a very hilarious and clever "Hamilton"-inspired one), Rhythm bands (creating a scene using only noise), and counselor imitations. As of now the order is Thunderbolt in first, Racing Wind second, Flying Eagle third, and Blazing Arrow fourth, but we'll have to see what the third and final Tribes day has in store! The Soopers have been busy working on their plaques and teaching folk songs.... so anything could happen.
All of camp got back into their green last Thursday and headed to the A court for the boys NAT! Though the boys team did not make it to the finals, we still felt unlimited amounts of Scatico spirit.
Ready for the NAT!
Above: Henry Beck on the foul line
Right: Jared Simons goes up for a shot
And there were even more tournaments and events! From the boys: A wide range of ages headed to Timberlake for tennis and we came in a cumulative 1st place! Special shout outs to Brandon Rothenberg and Jonathan Fischgrund for making doubles finals, and Mark Perlman and Jonah Levine for coming in first in their age brackets' singles!... Our entering 6th soccer tournament nabbed 3rd place at Greylock.... And our entering fifth Pontiac Baskteball team made it to the finals with all-star player Oz Rubinson scoring "a million" points ... Plus Scatico hosted its annual chess tournament and we won an incredibly impressive 88 out of 100 matches to ultimately come in first place!
From the girls: Our Gymnastics team tumbled, jumped, and cartwheeled it up at a competition at Wah-Nee... The Upper and Lower hill Dance Team headed out to Timberlake, and the Upper Hill routine (set to the song "Hurricane" by Halsey) came in second place!... Girls side held their annual camper-counselor tennis tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
DIVISIONAL SNAPSHOTS
From the boys...
The Sophs played an intense game of human battleships (kids lie on either side of the squash court on towels and throw water balloons over the top at each other) and enjoyed an evening sunset while boating and fishing... The Sophs and Sub Seniors put their heads together for a "Shark Tank" competition, coming up with amazing inventions to wow the counselor judges (the winners invented the flex-comb that combs and gels hair simultaneously)...The Sub Juniors embarked on their hike to Monument Mountain followed by (you guessed it) ice cream... The Juniors played a high stakes game of "Nathin Golf" all across campus, needing to hit certain markers within "x" amount of shots along the way... they were also joined by The Inters for a bowling night on Monday... The Inters also had their hike to North Point in the Catskills and enjoyed a game of U.S. Gladiators on the tennis courts... The Sub Seniors hosted a "Yacht Party" bringing their kayaks and canoes out to the middle of the lake to be enjoyed with some ice cold sodas... The Seniors had their waterfront cookout (nothing like burgers and s'mores by the lake)... And the Upper Seniors were in for a pleasant surprise when they thought they were going down to the Canteen for a Ping Pong tournament, but actually were headed on a Mystery Ride to go Go Carting!
From the girls...
The Juniors and Jinters performed their short fairy tale plays that were written and directed by the Seniors in the campi-theatre... The Jinters are hosting a "So You Think You Can Dance" evening activity... The Inters headed down to the former stables for their overnight (s'mores, stargazing, and bedtime stories in abundance).... The Centers have been busy at Arts n Crafts painting murals on all of the benches... The Centers and Debs also went bowling with their boys' divisions... The Debs and Subs have been preparing for their own play, Marry Poppins, the last of the summer.... The Subs ran the Miss Ugly pageant, always a popular girls' side evening activity. Shoutout to Sooper Katie Corren for walking away with 1st place (competitors had to prepare a talent, their evening wear, everyday wear, and Halloween costume!)... The Subs also enjoyed an "Amazing Race" theme day complete with cupcake making and a series of obstacles... The Seniors took a break from all of their work sewing their tribal blankets to take a blind hike throughout camp... And the Soopers invented a new water sport! Creatively titled "The Battle of Yorktown" (after the Hamilton song... a true girls side obsession of the summer), it involves kayaking between boys and girls waterfronts all while stealing ball-pit balls from the opposing "army"
NEXT WEEK we will be taking a brief hiatus from Elizaville to share some highlights from our service trip to the Dominican Republic, where our 31 CITs will be leading a day camp for some 60 Dominican kids! By August we will be back in the 12523 to blog about Divisional Sing, Color War breaks and more...