Author: Elissa

It was anything but a typical day today at Camp Chen-A-Wanda as the Corn Man came to Chenny and he hit it out of the park with his delicious sweet roasted corn on the cob. He started roasting the corn early in the morning and that yummy sweet smell covered every corner of camp all day long. Mid afternoon came, it was time and the campers were ready. You have no idea how much your kids LOVED the roasted corn. It was the sweetest most yummy corn you can imagine and it was delicious. We’re all hooked. A Middy boy, in between bites said to me “I had no idea that I liked corn.” It was just a delicious day and Corn Man was again a huge hit with everyone here. A true camp favorite!!!!

Everybody loves Minute To Win It and Chenny kids had a ball as each division had a boy and girl player represent their division.. The crowd cheered on their campers as they were playing for some fabulous and fun prizes. There were 12 players to start the game and after several rounds of incredible challenges, it was narrowed down to 2 finalist who battled it out.  The last event was incredible as each contestant had a cup full of mentos mints and both stood on a platform overlooking a large bottle of soda. The task needed them to successfully drop a mentos into the soda where it would cause a reaction for the soda to crate a volcano and shoot up. It was neck and neck and anyone’s game but with only seconds on the clock, Junior camper Mason Kohen won!!!! Shields Hall went crazy and the kids had an absolute ball. Another amazing night here at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. Life is just so great at Camp CHEN-A-WANDA.

If you were to bring out a deck of cards and told your kids that is what he/she and their friends will play with for hours on end day after day, would you ever think they would go for it? Not in my house either, but there is something about a deck of cards in this house that can entertain your children. I was sitting with a group of  boys who were teaching me a card game I never played before. They were so excited to teach me the game of palace and each took pride listing any and all of the rules. They each new this game inside and out and took pride in conveying their strategy on how to get to the end. We all sat under the apple tree, with a deck of cards playing a game that used our minds and gave us over an hour of capturing our attention. So as the time flew by and we all laughed, played, told stories and had a ball I was just so struck by the fact that all we had were those 52 cards. When life is simplified, life becomes simple. It’s not always about the latest and greatest technology or video game that make us the most happy. Sometimes all you need is just a deck of cards. I am so grateful for these moments I get to share with your kids.

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan

Tonight was by far the best and most fun evening activity we have at camp Chen-A-Wanda, said EVERYONE. They absolutely loved the silent disco party we had. From the littlest freshman to our CIT’s, they all  had the BEST TIME tonight. If you know silent disco, then you know how much fun it is and your kids could not have loved it more.  Every camper had their headphones on and danced and sang (loudly) with everyone who was listening to the same song. They had the greatest night ever. It was so much fun. Tonight was a home run!!!

It was our Virtual Visiting Day and it was a success. It was joyful getting to watch your campers face when they got to go through their visiting day box with you at home. The candy and gifts and a piece from home made today that more special. Kids were bringing their goodie box back to their bunk to share with their friends and every bunk was stacked with yummy food and awesome gifts.  It was a different kind of Visiting Day and yes we are all so excited to have camp full again with our visiting families but for today, it was just great. From inside camp, your kids were so excited to see you at home and share all their adventures and experiences with you. They loved their goodie boxes  full of candy and other fun things you put in their but seeing your faces was all they needed. We wanted you to have those moments with your kids that allowed you enough time to hear all the incredible things they are doing this summer and all the amazing people who have entered their life. There is an entire group of people here who adore your kids and though this summer, you wont have the opportunity to meet them and hear all about how much they care for your children but believe us when we say, they do! We want nothing more than to return a normal visiting day next summer but grateful to be able to provide your kids with the experience you had today.  We also hope you enjoyed the bunk videos we created for you to get a glimpse of your kids counselors and their bunks too. We know how important  it is for you to see who is caring for your kids and where they sleep.

Tonight was as incredible as the day was. It was an ideal perfect summer night for a camp favorite event, Chenny Jam.. The excitement around Chenny Jam is undeniable. It is Boys Side vs. Girls Side – It is Pink vs. Black – It is energy and it is a camp favorite. It is everything the NBA ALl-Star offers but just here in our backyard. And our halftime show was insane. Our very talented School of Rock staff gave us an entertaining halftime show that got everyone up on their feet. After rocking out to their incredible show, Middy camper Morgan Fischer took the mic led the band with a performance that was just incredible. She may be a little thing but she sure does have one giant voice. It is a night that stands out as a summer favorite and not a camper at tonight’s game had anything but an INCREDIBLE time. One of those nights that you can’t sit down because standing and dancing makes way more sense. The fun was over the top and then of course there was the game. It was all staff playing and all camp cheering. Tonight’s Win went to BOYS SIDE!!! Everyone dressed in black went nuts as they celebrated boys side officially winning Chenny Jam ’22. A great day and then a great night.. It doesn’t get better than that 🙂

It was a brunch wake up today and we all LOVED the extra sleep. After our lazy sleep-in morning and delicious brunch bonanza, it was off to the Carnival for one amazingly fun day. There were dunk tanks, carnival games, water slides, foam pits, inflatable obstacle courses, snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn and so much more. The OOTD was designed by our very own new camper, Dylan Leport. He won the T-shirt design contest he submitted in the off-season and saw his artwork on every camper and staff today. His take on the Air Jordan Chenny style, was a HUGE HIT today with absolutely everyone. Dylan not only won the contest and got to see his design all over camp today, he will soon be getting his very own custom Air Jordans we had made for him that replicates the shirt design her created. We are so proud of him and his cutting edge version of or carnival shirt of the summer. The weather was perfect, the carnival was epic and campers just had the greatest day. It was party time at Camp CHEN-A-WANDA and after our day was over, it was off to the canteen to get some fun prizes from all those tickets we won at the game booths. Who needs Disneyland when we have carnival coming to camp? It was just a great fun day here and one that will stick out as our favorites.

We wanted to keep the fun going with our wacky and wild games from Powerhouse. We played awesome games, chucked rubber chickens, got pie’d in the face and was just had a blast being silly. There were so many laughs coming from Shields Hall that our fun during the day just rolled into the night. It was just a blast of a day we all had together. Happy and content campers is what we have and today was an all around ideal day. Fun, fun and more fun.  We’re all exhausted but ready to do it all again tomorrow.