"I Am the Best Me at Camp Chen-A-Wanda"

What an incredible day we had today. The sun couldn’t have been brighter and everyone was feeling the rays of sunshine that covered us all from head to toe. Faces were painted, hair was sprayed, tutus were on in full force. The spirit on this camp was off the charts and our campers were in it to win it. It was a full day of Olympic games and activities and the competition was fierce, fair and fun. Every camper pushed themselves and pushed their friends to be the best they can be today. Just when you thought you gave it your all and you may have felt you were running out of steam, your entire team was cheering you on from the sidelines letting you know , YOU CAN DO IT!!!! That is what happened on every field and every court today. You CAN do it – That made all the difference. Our campers and staff dug down deep today and pushed harder then ever before.You saw it on their faces and in the grit of their effort.  To see the encouragement we give one another can move mountains. It’s the best part of our Olympic games. To watch a camper who thinks they can’t go one more step and see them get lifted up and encouraged by their team and that is where they soar higher than they ever thought they could. We become champions for one another and we learned how powerful we are together.

The night belonged to the Apache Relay and everyone had a part in the ultimate goal. Regardless if you leaped frogged from the lake to Chenny Central, threw 5 cards into a hat or had to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame, we all mattered and everyone counted.  The Apache Relay is an incredible race of teamwork, endurance and an enormous amount of fun. The entire camp is used from top to bottom and everything in between. To participate in Apache is something that you will never forget and is a constant reminder that every single person on this campus, is important and an integral member of the team. Tonight, Blue Fiji crossed the finish line first followed by Red Cuba with Gold Egypt just behind. After the first full day of competition it’s too close to call. There is another full day games tomorrow and as we all know it all comes down to SING!!!!!!!

We are fortunate enough to have incredible alumni that will forever have Chenny in their hearts and today we had a big group of them visit. As they walked around camp on this Olympic day, most, if not all cried happy tears as they were witnessing a page in their youth. Seeing young campers run the same race they did years ago. Watching with envy to be able to that again and wanting to start their Chenny experience over. A very special alum who has been away from camp for a handful of years and is now in the real world with big girl job, looked at me with all sincerity and said, “I am the best me at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. I would do anything to be back in this world.” Her words resonated with me as I knew exactly what she meant. She walked around camp reliving the years spent here. I was watching her look at our young campers starting their journey here at Chenny, with a smile on her face as if she knew the road they were on and where it will take them.

Chenny out.