by Sam Vitale
With the second week of camp firmly underway, the campers are getting back into the groove. Starting in the second week we typically have more — and more special — night-time activities that take the place of our usual evening routine, so we take advantage of every chance we have left to do Optionals. My fellow head counselor, Wade Vierheller, and I each take turns leading our own Optionals in order to get a chance to interact with the campers, and Monday night was my turn for the fun.
In my Optional (which was presented as more for the older campers but for which some younger campers also signed up), the campers were first given the opportunity to come up with their own unique ideas for an Optional and then in the second half of the time period a Survivor-style elimination vote took place until we were left with what the campers decided was the best Optional. There were so many awesome and hilarious ideas for these typically weird activities, ranging from X-Treme Stairing Contest to Childhood Nostalgia but the ultimate victor was a camp-themed scavenger hunt titled Sca-vengers for Life (meant to be pronounced like The Avengers per the campers’ directions). The prize for winning this vote was the opportunity for the idea to actually be used by me at my next turn for Optionals, so be on the lookout for a future blog post detailing a camper-run activity!
All in all, the campers have had a great time so far in week two, and both they and the counselors are eagerly anticipating the second half of camp ahead.