Week 5: Living the Dream 2023

Week 5 went by like a bolt of lightning! The week may be over and done with, but the memories remain! We have had THE MOST incredible fun here in Becket, with our final week of inter-camps, some amazing special events and welcoming 4 new campers from China for the last three weeks.

Monday morning was a very busy day at Camp Watitoh! We learned all about Project Morry, a year-round youth development program for under-resourced kids with a summer camp experience. In the morning, the girls participated in a water carnival where they gained “laps” to raise money: swimming laps, slides down the slide, basketball shots, sink or swim, ninja and much more… In the morning, the boys ran an all-boys camp game of the most-magical sport – Quidditch. Our lower ball field was transformed into a Hogwarts playground, a new fan favorite at Watitoh. In the afternoon, the boys ran half water, half land events to raise their “laps” for Project Morry, including swim lengths in red tag, 1 v 1 basketball with Jared, bullseyes at Archery and more… At the same time, the girls became master detectives in a scavenger hunt planned and lead by our TICs. We’re very thankful for both our Waiters and TICs for leading the entire Special Event day! Stay tuned for more information about donating to Project Morry by sponsoring your camper’s laps – to learn more, please visit: https://projectmorry.org/.

Monday night was our annual Costume Social for Upper Camp! The Leadership team dressed up as Barbie’s and Ken’s from the ever-popular Barbie movie. The campers were very creative in their homemade costumes and had a great night in the Social Hall. Lower camp attended a trick or treat social, where they were wrapped in toilet paper, pinned the spider on the web, searched through spaghetti for creepy friends, and much more.

Tuesday was a great “Watitoh Day!” Our Waiters spent the morning at a basketball competition at Lenox, while our TICs and Upper Seniors had a blast playing soccer at Danbee and our Inters playing soccer at Romacca! Tuesday night was Watitoh Derby in the Social Hall with the newest extension of 6 horses! Campers and counselors had the opportunity to act like horses and race one another, while the whole of camp could “bet on the horses” they thought had the best odds. It was a very exciting and interactive night, hosted by 2 of our awesome counselors Lauren and Colin. Yeehaw!

Wednesday was a gorgeous day at camp and a great regular schedule of activities. The 7th grade girls played soccer at Taconic and a mixture of grade girls played in a doubles tournament at Lenox and placed 1st! A very exciting day of inter-camps!
Wednesday night was our traditional separates. Girls danced their hearts out for a MTV Night dance party and all of the performances were incredible! Niantic placed first, Narragansett second and Onondaga third. At the same time, boys had Hunt the Counselor. Dressed in all black, the counselors hid around camp and the boys tried to find them with their Waiter! Each counselor is a different points value… some are positive points and some worth negative! Michael, one of our waterfront specialists won the whole thing! It was EPIC!

Thursday was our popular trip to Boston. Upper Senior boys and girls and the TICs had a touristy lunch at Quincy Market, followed by a few hours at the Boston Aquarium and enjoyed a historic Boat Cruise around the harbour.  The day ended on Newberry Street, eating some great food and squeezing in some last-minute shopping. All campers had a great time exploring the city! Back at camp, we enjoyed a day full of normal activities, followed by a relaxing movie night. Upper camp watched National Treasure while the younger ones enjoyed the Disney favourite Rio.

Friday, was another typical day at camp, filled with anticipation and excitement for the final round of The Townsend Cup. Friday night, boys and girls entered the Social Hall, prepped and ready to play Bezzerwizzer. The Social Hall was electric, with chants and cheers from both sides, hosted by the amazing Chelsee Spencer and Seaward. The game was neck and neck up until a tie-breaking round between the TICs and Waiters. The TICs stole the cup, claiming the Townsend Cup for another year on Girls Camp. Maybe next year the boys will bring it home!

Saturday, we welcomed 20 prospective families for a very successful Dream Day! The weather held out for the majority of the day and the whole camp got to show off how awesome Watitoh is to our future campers. The spirit was at an all- time high in the mess hall as Color War is starting to be in the air!! Our Senior boys spent the day in Cooperstown visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame and Senior girls spent the day in Lenox watching the Boston Pops Orchestra at Tanglewood, both groups had a blast! Saturday night was also a very special evening as we got to watch many of our awesome staff perform in the Staff Talen Show: Irish jig, singing, dancing, magic tricks, musical performances, and even a fake Color War break from our Adventure staff…  we are so lucky to have so many talented staff, major kudos to them!

Yesterday was an awesome end to Week 5! The Waiters got to enjoy a day off, where they spent some time in Pittsfield and at the movies whilethe rest of camp had a normal day of activities scheduled. We had a big group of alumni visit in the morning which was great for so many of our campers and staff. Sunday evening, we had another successful all camp Sports-a-Rama ready to kick off another awesome week at Watitoh!

We couldn’t be more excited of what’s to come in Week 6! Starting with the Carnival, the highly anticipated Watitoh Gardens, the Descendants Musical, and so much more… Who knows? Color War might break sometime too!! It’s going to be an awesome ride!