Camp Woodland Blog

Here we are! Today is the first performance of the annual CoEd Show. One of the most anticipated days of the entire summer. The CIT’s will move up the ladder of awesomeness in the eyes of the campers. Tomorrow every song and line will be replayed a hundred times over. This is THE story of the summer. Every cabin is mentioned in the script and every camper and staff member will be included in the slide show finale. Inside jokes are revealed. The unique personality of each cabin group is celebrated. We relive the memories of 2021 from beginning to end.  We laugh. We smile. We cry. We cherish. Only 2 more full days of camp to go.

This is the first summer we have had a title and a subtitle as the CoEd Show theme. It seems appropriate considering this has been a season just like the theme suggests. Modern Camper: Some Things Never Change. Operating in the midst of a pandemic, we have been forced to let modern times infiltrate into our camp community. We followed guidance to preserve the health of our two camps. We kept to cabin pods at the beginning. We altered the program schedule. We ate outside. We tested campers and staff. And more.

This will be the first CoEd Show that will be held at Camp Woodland (and outside). The CIT’s have taken the changes in stride because the alternative would be no show at all. As these long term veteran campers always do, they pour even more heart and soul into putting together an amazing performance. They embrace the challenge. They dig deep. They are resilient. They have grit. The show must go on!

The rest of the Woodland community is also doing their part to keep the element of surprise in tact. For cabin night, counselors kept their groups away from the Rec Hall where the CIT’s were rehearsing, and when it came time for evening snack, they came to the lodge and brought dance music to help drown out the sounds of the singing that was occurring on the other side of the volleyball court. Tuesday night had everyone down at the beach and to alert the CIT’s of their return “upstairs”, they paused at the top and sang a very loud rendition of “The Ship Titantic”. This really speaks to the community we have here. We look out for each other’s needs. All for one and one for all.

We have other logistics to puzzle out before we are ready for the two shows, but we are working together to figure out the best solutions for all involved. The kitchen crews at both camps will be part of the answer as we may need to eat early so that we can start the show ahead of the normal time. Daylight is now shorter than at the beginning of the summer, so we need to bump up curtain time to utilize the natural lighting we have available. We even had to order the shirts ahead of our usual schedule to ensure they were delivered on time.

We talked about the “elephant in the room” before the start of the summer. Many campers and staff wondered whether or not camp would be the “same” as in previous summers. And to be quite honest, the camp leadership had the very same question. Yes, there were some things we had to do differently this summer. And, for the vast majority of the season, there were things that were exactly the same as they had been in years past. The “core” of camp did not change as a result of the world within which we now live.

There are a lot of confident and happy kids at Woodland. They can do things they couldn’t do before. They know what genuine FaceTime is again. They know how to connect with others and build relationships without the need for a screen. They have been active from spending the majority of their days in the outdoors. They remember what it is like to navigate conflict and come out on the other side. They appreciate their own and each other’s strengths and celebrate those things that make us unique.

The days are long and the summer is short. How we got to the end so quickly, none of us quite know for sure. Some things never change…