One Meatball and No Spaghetti
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