Author: Elissa

It was trip day today at Chenny and all our campers had the absolute best time as they ventured out of camp for their first adventurous fun day out of camp.

Before our day began it was Trivia with Brian Leahy. Todays questions was: Name four lions from Disney’s THE LION KING. Congratulations to Brady Bornstein for correctly naming Scar, Mufasa, Simba, Nala (we also would have accepted Sarabi!)

Freshman, Juniors & Middies had a ball at Leahy’s fun park playing in their giant arcade and mini golf course. After an afternoon winning prizes and having a great time, it was off to the movies to see this summers blockbuster. Some watched Secret Lives of Pets 2, other kids enjoyed Spider-Man Far From Home and some loved watching Toy Story 4.  Our kids munched on popcorn and goodies and had a great time being together doing what friends do best, having fun with friends. When they got back to camp after their fun day, it was a pizza party. What could be better? A full day of arcades, movies and ending with a pizza party. Life is Great for our youngest campers.

Inters & Collegiates  spent their day at Camel Beach for some fun in the water park. It was great day of wet and wild rides.  They swooshed down the toilet bowl, got lazy down the lazy river, slipped down the slip and slide and got bounced off the giant bungee blob. They had an absolute awesome day. They came off the bus exhausted and happy. They headed to their bunks for showers and sleep. Just an awesome time for our Mohican campers.

Navajo (Seniors, Supers & Gc’s) spent their day at the biggest waterpark in the entire country, Kalahari and LOVED it. Nothing is better than a giant waterpark in the summer with your best friends.  What could be better than that? The kids rolled into camp late tonight and got off the buses with huge smiles but were exhausted. There are some things that truly define our summers and experiencing the countries biggest indoor waterpark parks with your campies is one of them.

All the campers are safe and sound back in their bunks, all exhausted from an amazing day out. Sleeping peacefully and all excited that tomorrow is late wake up. When we announced it at this mornings line-up, we received a standing ovation. What a successful  trip day, full of memories that will last a lifetime. Your children were absolutely fantastic and every place our Chenny kids were today, we received praise on how well behaved and respectful our campers are.  Gotta love that. Life is Great when you are a Chenny Kid.

Chenny Out

Imagine for a moment a world where no electronics existed. There were no tears or heartbreak because you weren’t invited to that party you saw on someones snapchat story or because you weren’t tagged in a picture on Instagram. A world where group texts didn’t exist and that cold isolating screen was replaced with the warmth of your friend laughing at your jokes. You could see his face and feel her emotion when you have conversations together. There is empathy that develops when you see how your words and actions can effect those around you. It isn’t just keys you press to communicate. Camp is the ultimate environment that brings us together rather than keeps us apart. We eat 3 meals a day together and at each table there is conversations happening. No phones to keep us separate or occupied just a table full of human beings sharing a meal. These are the moments that we long for and these moments are why we stay so connected to one another. The freshman boys were not playing on their ipads to keep them busy but better yet, they were having a floss off – a full floss battle to be exact. It was cuteness overload and these kids can floss.

Congratulations again to this morning’s Trivia Winner Noah Kepke for his correct answer of 23 to the question: How many bugles occur on a typical day at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. Noah is our current champion with 2 wins!! This camper is on fire.

Good Players Inspire Themselves. Great Players Inspire Others… by anonymous

Freshman/Junior Girls Basketball – CAW 22 @ Wayne 7

Collegiate Girls Basketball – CAW 20 @ Lavi 28

GC/CIT Girls Soccer – CAW 5 @ Wayne 2

Middy Boys Baseball – CAW 1 @ Starlight 10

Senior/Super Bpys Softball CAW 15 @ Camp Perlman 1

Super Boys Basketball – CAW 59 vs. Starlight 60

Love was in the air as our evening activity was a camp favorite, The Dating Game. We had bachelors and bachelorettes and it was a great night. The laughter coming from Shields Hall was deafening. It is a night we all look forward to. Starting with the freshman all the way to the CIT’s – the questions were awesome and the answers were even better. It was a day full of love here at Chenny. Just doesn’t get better than this.

Chenny out.

Another incredible day and of course it all began with waking up to bugles and morning trivia presented by Brian Leahy. Todays questions was: What is the smallest state in the U.S.? Congratulations to Middie camper Jake Marin with the correct answer of Rhode Island. He earned himself a free canteen ticket and the pride of knowing he was todays trivia winner!

There is something prideful about each girl camper having a “camp wrist”.  That is where you have layers and layers  of friendship bracelets adorning your wrist. It is a badge of honor and right passage to wear that camp wrist as long you can. Even when the kids back from camp, they just cant part from their camp wrist. Each bracelet has their own meaning on who made it and it defines so many relationships here. Camp wrists aren’t limited to younger campers or older ones, as this is a girl side thing.  As I walked into Arts & Crafts today, I was amazed by the amount of campers in jewelry making. There wasn’t a seat open and each camper was making a friendship bracelet, not for themselves but for someone else. They each picked another camper to make this symbol of friendship for. It was so sweet to see these girls sit around a table intently making something beautiful for a friend.  The best part was listening to all of their conversations that was had during this group experience. They chatted and laughed and connected with one another as they spent their time creating something beautiful that had so much meaning. It was just string and beads but the beauty of this moment went way beyond that bracelet. As they finished each bracelet and put it on the wrist of their friend, it bonded them together as they experienced the act of giving something from their heart. With each new bracelet that went on each camp wrist, it told a story of friendship and love. What a great day of camp love, tradition and friendship. Meaningful moments happen very often here and today I was just in the right place at the right time to watch this story unfold.

One Meatball and No Spaghetti may not mean a thing to you but say it to a camper and we all know what that means, Nancy is coming. When you say Nancy Tucker to any camper anywhere, they start to smile, jump up and down and say, “I Love Nancy Tucker”. Everyone loves Nancy Tucker. Nancy is an old school folk music singer that entertains us with her FAMOUS songs like, One Meatball, Jellyfish, Buttons Buttons and her most popular Habitat.. Each one comes with its own hand movements that everyone knows and if they didn’t know it, they do now. I truly can’t explain what Shields Hall looked like tonight with every camper singing along with the very famous Nancy Tucker Live at Camp Chen-A-Wanda! Such a fun night and one that wont be forgotten. No matter how old our campers get, no matter where their lives take them, they will always remember those nights that they sang along with Nancy Tucker.

Chenny out

At 7:45am, your kids were woken up to the bugles playing throughout camp and for the next 49 days they will hear Director Brian Leahy call out, “Goooooooood Mooooooooorning Camp Chen-A-Wanda. There is truly no better way to wake up than to hear that announcement. Brian always follows his morning greeting  with a trivia question and the kids who know the answer run to headquarters and whoever gets to Brian first with the correct answer wins a free canteen ticket. Todays question was “name the current #1 Top 100 Billboard song”. Middie camper Noah Kepke was the first to make it to headquarters with the correct answer of Old Town Road. Congratulations to Noah. As soon as Brian announces the question, the race to headquarters is on. What an amazing way to start your day.

The afternoon was spent in activities as Arts & Crafts was full of campers working on their bunk plaques, the fields were packed with campers playing games, the Cookhouse had campers making fresh salsa and nachos, Chenny Tech blew our kids minds as they are learning a program to build just about anything in our 3D printer.  Dinner was a blast with a sing-a-long session that could blow the roof off the building. Singing in unison all together in the Lodge is one of the greatest experiences we all have together. From Build Me Up Buttercup to Don’t Stop Believin’ followed by Sweet Caroline, we sang our hearts out tonight. Throughout the day, we are all doing different activities and having different experiences but when all eat together and sing the same songs, it unites us and creates connections that just feel so good inside. The Lodge has a personality of its own and we are so lucky to get to experience this three times a day.

This year marks the 80th birthday of Camp Chen-A-Wanda and we partied hard tonight. There were cupcakes to be decorated, and giant twister to be played. We played old time trivia and had a dance party that had everyone on the dance floor. The evening ended with each division making a wish with a Chinese lantern and sending it up in the air. It was so beautiful to watch all the lanterns light up the sky and fly so high they could reach the stars. It was a spectacular night and a birthday party nobody will forget. 80 has never looked this good!!

Chenny out.

Another beautiful day in Paradise. The sun was beaming today and felt as if it was shining down on just us. Our little space in the world, secluded and insulated from everything outside our gates. There is no difference between how a Monday feels or a Saturday does up here at Chenny. No concept of time other than hearing the bugles and announcements that direct us where we need to be. I often say how “free” we are up here but it is a word that truly depicts what it feels like to live here all summer long. There is no time to feel bored, no opportunities to sit an watch Netflix or stare at a screen for hours on end. Our days a packed with things to do and relationships to build. I am a fly on the wall that watches it unfold right in front of my eyes and it isn’t just the campers who inhale this experience. A first year counselor approached me after dinner with tears in her eyes and asked me “how does this place make me feel this way?” She explained that dancing in front anyone was something she would never do. She relayed how she is painfully shy and would never in a million years dance or sing in front of anyone, even her family. She said how free she feels here and couldn’t believe this piece existed inside of her. She danced with co-counselors and sang with her campers at the top of her lungs during dinner tonight – I know this because I was watching her transform into someone who was so very different when she arrived at camp. She was guarded and quiet and kept to herself. It was like watching a flower blossom. She felt free and let go of those insecurities. I explained to her that this is what happens here – you are truly allowed to be exactly who you are here without judgement. She left the Lodge with her campers surrounding her, holding her hands and feeling just as limitless she she did. That is the power of this place. We let go, we trust and then we fly.

We are as good as our team and our team is beyond incredible. They have blown our minds with their contagious energy and  insane amounts of camp spirit. Even just meeting our newest kids just 2 days ago, they have fallen for every kid on this camp. They are vested in your children and the experience they want to provide. To watch a 20 year old counselor walk though camp holding hands with an 8 year old camper they just met 2 days ago, is witnessing the joy of this experience we call sleep-away camp . I am always so amazed at how quick the bonds are formed but when our hearts are open to new people coming into our lives, the results are meaningful and impacts us all. It was our Staff Talent show tonight and we have some incredibly talented staff here with us this summer. Campers watched and cheered on their counselors as they sang, danced, told jokes and even played the ukulele. Shields Hall was going crazy tonight with cheers and standing ovations as your kids totally and completely supported their counselors on stage.  It was a night to remember and your children made me proud. They sang along and cheered to all the acts that entertained us tonight. It’s hard to describe the energy in the Hall tonight but us lucky ones who experienced it first hand will never forget it!

It was another day living well, happy and free at Camp Chen-A-Wanda!

Chenny out