Monday was the first full day of camp, and it allowed campers to get into the groove of the schedule and the way camp is structured. The staff started the day with the obligatory cup or two of coffee during the morning meeting, which was accompanied by the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof of the screened-in porch. After discussing our plans for the day and getting ourselves mentally into the role of counselor, we prepared ourselves spiritually by meeting the campers for morning prayers.
After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs (and cereal and fruit and toast and juice) we began our first teaching session led by Father Joseph Gibson, parish priest of St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Church.
He led the first and second teaching sessions, and featured the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol as a topic of discussion. All of the teachings are being digitally recorded and will be uploaded in the media extravaganza post after camp. They will be available for you to listen to directly from this blog, and possibly available to download.
Chicken sandwiches for lunch provided us the energy we would need for a hot afternoon of fun in the sun, or a cool afternoon of fun in the AC if you chose to participate in arts and crafts led by Carrie Hodges. Ahh, afternoon free time. The chance to get some much needed exercise, hang out with your friends, catch some ZZZs, brush up on your violin skills, or all of the above.
Not only was it a hot day, but it got a little dark in the late afternoon. It almost looks like dusk in this picture taken at evening prayers, but the sun came back out and did not relent until it set around 9:30.
For evening activities everyone enjoyed some healthy competition out on the sports fields. There were simultaneous games of Ultimate Frisbee and football going on right next to each other. There has never been more people participating in physically demanding activities while the sun sets at Camp Rivervale than there were last night.
There were so many people that Ultimate Frisbee was split up into four total teams organized into two pairs of allied teams. Each time a point was scored, the scoring team would sub out its first team with its alternate team, and rotate in the same fashion for each consecutive point. Thanks to Jon Beecham and Josh Clemens for figuring out how to maximize Frisbee fun for everyone.
Finally, the campers retreated to their cabins and prepared for another day of camp. The senior high boys played some last minute games of mafia in their cabin, and then it was off to bed.