Camp Two: Sewanee Day Trip

While half the camp was swimming at the Res, the other half of camp went to Sewanee and played all afternoon. We hung out in the quad, played frisbee, climbed trees, went to the playground, and browsed the bookstore. 

 

Camp Two: On-Campus Afternoon

For afternoon activities, the campers always have a choice of where they go for the older camps. Yesterday, there were two off campus trips and an on campus choice. The kids on campus tie-dyed and went to the pool. It was a great day for it, as it was hot!

 

Camp Two: Games

We've got a few games we always play with the campers: Do you love your neighbor and Magic Tambourine are two favorites. Large group games are just one of those camp traditions.

Today the campers played Do You Love Your Neighbor in the pavilion before lunch:

 

Camp Two: Foster Falls

We're in the swing of things for Camp II, our middle age camp. We've already started forming friendships and having "the time of our lives" this week. 

Monday we took a trip to Foster Falls. A group went rock climbing while another group hiked to the water hole:

Our bus arriving at the hike

The view from the top of the falls:

 A camper scaling the rocks:

 The swimming group waiting to jump in:

 We are so lucky to be surrounded by God's creation in the state parks and to have the park rangers lead us in these activities! We had a lot of fun.

Camp One: Best Year Ever

And now, for the final post of Camp I....

Our theme this year was "Best Year Ever." And it truly was. As we journeyed from Advent to Lent, through Easter and Pentecost to Ordinary Time, we formed friendships and grew together as the week progressed.

 Our tradition for the final night is to have a Banquet, Final Eucharist, and Dance. We say goodbye in style:

Campers and staff from St. Philip:

Our Final Eucharist includes a lot of music. We've had a great music team this year:

The final Eucharist is always a good opportunity for kids to get involved in the service:

 

Camp One: Skit Night and Coffee House

It is a camp tradition for each cabin to do a skit for the second to last night of camp. For the older camps, we also do a talent-show style "Coffee House" where the kids can display their skills. For Camp One, there were 17 acts to Coffee House. Singing, piano, guitar, rapping, we had it all. Here are some memories from Camp One's Skit Night:

Our hosts for the night were Alex and Phil:

 There is always a running theme for the skit night that the counselors come up with. This year for Camp One, the running skit was that it was a telethon for various made up charities. The best part of these skits are the inside jokes that form over the week of camp. Everyone always has a great time with it. 

 The cabins did their skits:

 And then we had Coffee House:

 

Camp One: Foster Falls

With our first two camps, we take a hike into Foster Falls. One group rock climbs while another swims at the falls. Here are the pictures from last week's trip:

 

Camp One: Rappelling and Swimming

We take each camp rappelling in the Fiery Gizzard with the park rangers. It is a good challenge for the kids. There's also a group that goes swimming in Fiery Gizzard as well. 

Here's Camp One's trip to the Fiery Gizzard last week:

Camp Two: Group Photo

Well, we've started Camp Two! The campers arrived yesterday. We took our group photos this morning:

Camp One: Day of Service

Part of our mission as Christians is service. At CGM, we try to live out our mission by implementing a Day of Service during our camp session. In the morning during chapel we read reflections on why service is a part of our duty. Then, in the afternoon, the campers get to choose one of three service projects to work on. We reflect on this experience and the kids are able to grow because of it. 


This year, our Day of Service is sponsored by the Diocese of Tennessee. Thanks to a generous grant, we were able to completely fund all three projects so these campers could engage in service. The three projects are Arts and Crafts with the local nursing home, creek clean up in the South Cumberland State Park, and grounds maintenance at Dubose (CGM's home). 

There are more pictures to come but here are the pictures from the third group, the grounds maintenance. Camp Gailor Maxon and Dubose Conference Center are almost synonymous to us here and we felt it was important to give back to the place that provides a home for our camp. There are benches all over the grounds that our campers use for family group discussions, hanging out, and taking breaks during activities. These benches needed a little upkeep so the kids sanded and scraped the old paint off and painted them a fresh white: