We are a little over a full week into camp and…what a week it’s been!!!! The days have been filled with so many amazing activities and the nights are non-stop fun! The weather has been a roller coaster of hot! hot! hot!, a little cool, and absolutely beautiful! It is such a gift to watch these smiling campers reunite with each other and form a connection with their summer home.
For those of you who are new to camp, this “Week in Review” email will hit your inbox every week with a recap of what has happened over the past week and what is on the horizon for the following week.
Wednesday was Opening Day and the transition into camp could not have been more smooth! We kicked off summer 2025 with a pizza picnic around the bunks, right into camp activities, age group orientations, scavenger hunts, getting-to-know you games and more. Saturday night was our traditional “Opening Campfire” in the Social Hall where we introduced our Group Leaders and Leadership Team, enjoyed some great acts from the Staff Talent Show from orientation, and sang “Friends” for the first time this season.
Thursday was filled with a whole lot of “checks!” Lice checks, swim checks, hobby selection, and activities in between! We got them all done and had the chance to enjoy some great activities. Sunday night was our first night of separate evening activities with the traditional Hi Guy and Hi Gal Night…a camp tradition of introducing your counselors to camp and the counselors introducing the campers.
We were so happy on Friday to have our first NORMAL day of scheduled activities. The campers found out their swim groups and met with their new instructors during their swim period. Horseback riding started at Camp Danbee and Friday night was a NEW WATITOH EVENING ACTIVITY. Outside entertainment group Holly Rock brought their awesome Brain Challenge Game Show to the Social Hall. Boys and Girls of each age group competed in trivia questions and in between rounds competed in hula hooping, scooter racing, tug-of-war, and Simon Says. Everyone had so much fun and have already asked for a repeat performance next summer. Simultaneously, we surprised our TICS and Waiters with their own spontaneous trip off camp for an evening snack to McDonalds!! They had a blast too!
Saturday was separate again, the girls doing Bunk Chase and the boys playing Hunger Games. Bunk Chase is an awesome ice breaker night for the girls. Each bunk gets to dress up and act out different ridiculous scenarios. What makes it the most fun is that they have to sprint back and forth from the gym to their cabin to change into crazy costumes and switch out people. The night ends in all of the bunks writing and performing a song all about their group! The Boys played Hunger Games. They were all divided into teams with the goal of scoring points while protecting their “region.” Congratulations to the purple team for winning!
On Sunday, we had our annual Photo Day in the afternoon followed by a long awaited Big Sister/Little Sister’s and Big Brother/Little Brother’s reveal!! They were all so happy to meet each other! Sunday night, this summer’s Sports-a-Rama teams were announced and we had our first night of our summer-long intramural league. The camp is split into four teams: The Pace Horned Frogs, The Stellenbosch Redhawks, The Flagstaff Ducks, and The Oxfordshire Axemen. The teams are named after the two universities of the head coaches. Every field on camp was busy with friendly competition and good sportsmanship! A huge shout out to our Head Coaches and Program Team, Kalib and Collin, for a strong opening night to the season. The Marquis game this week was a show stopping Waiter game of basketball. The Marquis game each week starts 15 minutes later than all of the other sports so that all of camp can watch the end after their games and matches are over.
Monday was our first late sleep and Special Events Day at Watitoh. The girls kicked it off with a Big Sister/Little Sister game of Capture the Flag and a General Swim and the boys did a rotation of paper airplane making, Oval Games, and Boys Court extravaganza! The afternoon was our Sports-a-Rama Apache Relay!! It was a true photo finish with the Oxfordshire Axemen beating the Stellenbosch Red Hawks by seconds! The day ended with our first Coed General Swim. Monday evening was socials on camp except for the Inters and Scouts who went off camp to play mini-golf.
Tuesday was our first round of the Townsend Cup! We played the game of Cranium in the Social Hall and the girls won the first of this “best out of three” game show night competition. Full disclosure, the boys did get unlucky at the end landing on a color that set them back. Better luck next time boys! Our next round is Cabin Feud in a few weeks!! We’ll see who takes home the trophy this summer!
Wednesday was a busy day of intercamps! Age groups travel to different camps playing in different competitions throughout the summer. The Inters won their kickball tournament, Chess took home first place in one of the age groups, and tennis doubles took home a trophy. Wednesday night was back to separates. The girls played REBUS, a scavenger hunt word puzzle game around camp followed by a bunk challenge. The boys had their annual Belly Flop Contest. Brody Cruz, took the crown, with a repeat win (after a few years off!) Congratulations to Brody!
Today kicked off phone calls for our new campers and on Saturday, phones will open to the whole community. Tonight was our Big/Little Hobby Night. The Little Brothers and Sisters chose two hobbies from a list of six that they wanted to do tonight: Life Size Twister, an Egg Drop Contest, World Cup Soccer, Wiffle Ball, Wato-Wear Design, and Sidewalk Chalk. They rotated throughout the night and were treated to Make Your Own Sundaes for Night Bite. It was so great to see all of the campers so sweetly traveling with their camp Bigs and Littles!
Today is a normal scheduled morning followed by Red, White, and Blue Day in the afternoon. There will be a 4th of July BBQ for dinner and a brand new evening activity tonight: The Free Daps. Saturday night will be our favorite Camper Talent Show and Sunday will be Sports-a-Rama night. Monday will be a late sleep and special event day…the all camp CARNIVAL in the afternoon. Tuesday is Birthday Banquet and camp favorite, Tom Carroll! Wednesday will be Hunt the Counselor for the Boys and Gladiator Night for the girls. Thursday is our highly anticipated Junior Camp Play: Sponge Bob the Musical and Friday will be our first official campfire of the summer.
Keep checking those photos on MyWatitoh and the Campanion app and enjoy those smiling faces!! We are so glad to all be back in our summer home!!
