We’ve been having many memorable moments and fun times these last two weeks, too many to count, really. But last night is worth re-living today because of the sheer joy on stage, and thunderous support campers showered on the cast of the end of summer musical production.

The Little Mermaid had a talented, enthusiastic cast who put on a fantastic show in spite of little rehearsal time the few days before, as trips rolled in and out of camp.

Our Theater Director, Steve V and Dance Captain, Sammy R, stepped up their game to work with cast members, choreographing musical numbers to perfection then pulling the whole show together with great success. The sets and costumes were beautiful and unique, creating an underwater world, evocative of the animated film.

The night belonged to a few leads who brought the play to life along with a stand out ensemble cast. Sophia T as Ariel sang sweetly, and had the whole camp rooting for her as she delivered the solo “Part Of Your World” with poised perfection.

The villainous Ursula played by Isabella G, was everything a Disney villain should be, bigger than life, badder than bad, with talent oozing from every pore. Isabella’s rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” was haunting and fabulous at the same time. She channeled a Bette Midler bravado as she sang her heart out and danced around the stage with her evil companions, Flotsam and Jetsam played by Rafida M and Sam B.

Ariel’s mermaid sisters were a tight ensemble of singing, dancing, girls who exuded personality plus in several scenes. They were played by: Finn B, Ariana K, Sammie G, Mika B, Phoebe O and Isabelle B.

Colette M gave a star turn as the singing crustacean, Sebastian who led the cast in a rousing rendition of “Kiss The Girl” which prompted one of two standing ovations.

Some of the other notable voices were Gabe P who was totally terrific and can be heard singing all over camp, and Francesca G who was adorable as Ariel’s side kick seagull Scuttle. Ben M, Andrew M, Hachem M, Angel M, Luke C and Mikayla A added so much to the great ensemble who showed their acting chops to the delight of the crowd. Special thanks goes to the Notches staff and Raquel G, and Hailey K for help with costumes, and production.

We are so excited to break Color War with our camper produced Booth Carnival. It never ceases to amaze how original ideas, traditional booths, poster board signs, dunk tank, cotton candy and all manner of created edibles bring our main baseball field to life with not a ball or bat in sight. Although our camp will divide into the four colors of contests on land, water and in song, we know we will come together again to end this camp season and reunite next summer, stronger for friendships found and memories made.

We’ve had a few beautiful Birchmont Bluebird days to kick off our holiday festivities today. Our smiles are not all about the sunshine though. Our smiles are about the feeling of being settled into a place we’ve been dreaming about all winter long, and we’re finally here! It’s a feeling returning campers know well, and new campers will get to experience for the first time. It’s fitting that as we celebrate Independence Day, as your children are celebrating some independence of their own.

The camp day is different from most days at home. We start each day with Reveille and end it with Taps, and do so many fun things in between. Some activities are scheduled and some are spontaneous; many are, “you had to be there moments,” that linger in the mind of a child and then dissipate into the breeze through the trees. At lunch today, the entire Dining Hall of girls broke into a rousing rendition of Kate Perry’s “Firework” with campers standing on benches, dressed in red, white and blue, getting excited for tonight’s races, make your own sundaes and fireworks! There was singing, there was clapping, there was joy at lunchtime.

We’ve gotten underway with our inter-camp competitions bringing home some impressive victories in these early summer days. Our 11 and Under Boys took 1st place in the Tecumseh Tennis Tournament and our 12 and Under Boys Baseball team had a 13-0 victory over Camp Winaukee, with many more inter-camp competitions scheduled for all age groups. We are looking forward to our annual Spirit Day this Saturday, where our girls will host our friendly rival Camp Kenwood /Evergreen here at home in every field and court sport, while our boys will be our road warriors and travel over to Kenwood to play on their home turf.

We are rehearsing for an inter-camp Dance competition, and lots of campers of every age are working to prepare their acts for our camper/counselor Variety Show! Whether you’re performing on stage or watching in the audience, its one of the most fun nights of camp.
We’ve begun our Special Events with Melissa (known to campers as Mo) trying out a new idea which involved a camp wide scavenger hunt for all of Girls Camp. The activity was perfect, just enough running around and just enough reward, with everyone getting cooled off by a cascade of water at the finish!

We have a few time honored traditions to open camp…Not every Birchmonter has a sibling at camp, and even if they do, it’s still welcoming to have a camp “Big Brother or Big Sister.” Together our girls made teddy bears with their Big Sisters, and each camper got to know each other better; its nice to have someone you hadn’t known before greet you in the Dining Hall and ask how you’re doing. As I walked through camp last week, I saw something I hadn’t seen in years, teams of croquet being played, with wickets and colored balls as boys of all different shapes and sizes had chosen a giant friendly game of croquet for their “Big Brother” activity. We opened camp with our traditional Firelight ceremony, a huge unifying campfire at which Greg and I speak along with a few other camp supervisors, group leaders and campers. Each of whom shared some thoughts, goals and camp memories to welcome everyone to this wonderful place, this second home, we call Birchmont.

From all of us at Birchmont, we wish all of you a terrific 4th of July.