Somehow, here we are. All of our camper-only sessions finished today with the end of our E session. We still have two more Father Son camps to finish out our season, but it’s definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to the E session. The Water Campfire last night had to be held in the lodge because of the rain, but it was a deeply meaningful experience as always, and we will be posting it to Youtube sometime soon, so we can share the joy and emotions of this beautiful night.
This morning was our final awards breakfast of the summer. We passed out a ton of awards, including patches for stars earned and Most Improved in each activity. Rifle awards for high scores went to Caden Cook for juniors, Tate Saltarelli for intermediates, and Ethan Fitzgerald for seniors. The tennis tournament champions were Sam Schildkraut for 11 and under, and Jack Bradley for 12 and up.
The Deerhorn Spirit awards were given to Lorenzo Hinojosa for juniors, Leo Maneri for intermediates, and Mason Saltarelli for seniors. Outstanding Camper trophies were awarded to Decker Agnew for juniors, Aiden Cantwell for intermediates, and Zach Osborn for seniors. We also gave out our two biggest awards of the summer. The Derek Harms Memorial Kindness award is given in memory of our friend, Derek Harms, who passed away too young in 2018. The award is given to someone who embodies his spirit of kindness and inclusion. This year’s winner was Matthew Russell. The Deeley Lyons award is given to the outstanding staff member of the summer, who lives the Creed and who always helps out wherever he is needed. This year’s winner was Charlie Halpin.
The Eagles have come back to win the summer, narrowing edging out the Wolves! Full team comp totals can be found on our Team Competition page.
Videos of the speeches given this morning at breakfast will be posted to our Facebook page soon, as well as the Water Campfire to Youtube. Today was a very busy day, cleaning koogees and getting camp ready for all of the families who are arriving tomorrow for Father Son 3. Many thanks to all of the parents who shared their sons with us for the E session. It was a great one, bursting at the seams with energy and enthusiasm. It’s always such a sad goodbye, as our Leaders wrap up their final camper year, and many of our staff leave to go home. But as we always say, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” And how lucky we all are to have been a part of it. What a gift you have given your son.
