First Friends

When you become a Chenny camper, you get a First Friend or a Big and this connection pairs a new camper with a seasoned veteran who is in essence a first friend. We love this program so much and today showed all of us that were watching the Bigs and Littles, juust how important of a program this is for both new and returning campers. When you send your first time camper away to Chenny, your world gets bigger. You share connections and build bonds with an entire community who loves to share their love of this camp with the kids just starting out. Girls side met in Shields hall while the boys were at the Canteen hangout. Bigs and Littles sat together, got to know each other better and created a handshake together. Then in front of everyone, performed their special handshake that only belongs to them. As I looked around the Hall, all you could see were little kids creating bonds and friendships with our older kids and the older kids felt a sense of pride and purpose. They remember their first few weeks of camp too and now they are part of someones journey who is just starting theirs. It’s the connection that makes this place feel like a home. On Girls Side, you didn’t see a Big without her Little in her lap or holding her hand. Boys side were busy making the coolest hand shakes and more importantly, making connections. That is where the magic happens, when our circles get bigger and we bring more people into our lives. Today was just so incredible for every one of our Bigs and Littles. We are in the midst of creating this unique, fun loving, supportive community that is connected, spirited and built on trust. That is truly the secret sauce of this experience – the place is amazing but the people make it family.

We all get wet, wacky and wild with Powerhouse Studios for our evening activity. We did crazy silly races, got pied in the face and some got slimed by the giant booger blaster.  It was just over the top hilarity. Everyone had a ball with the rubber chicken toss and hobby horse races. What a fun night we all had. It was Road Rally for our GC’s and they took over camp. The spirit was alive tonight. There were campfires and S’mores everything campy. Just a great ending to an incredible day.