Camp Green Lane Blog Post

, July 14, 2023

Happy…Friday!

That’s right, today was an exciting break in our camp schedule for one of our favorite events of the entire year – Olympics!!

Olympics is almost a mini color war, where all of our campers and counselors are divided up into 4 teams. As I’ve mentioned before, this year’s theme was Battle at the Zoo, and our teams were Birds (led by JJ Wiltshire and Sophie Davis), Mammals (led by Tyler Malat and Lilah Greenberg), Reptiles (led by Grace Kelly and Nathan Reed), and Fish (led by Emma Freedman and Joe Price)!

The morning began with a hearty breakfast, and then everyone returned to their cabins to dress in their team colors and meet their teammates before their grand entrance onto BB1. Led by some pretty incredible captains, the teams looked glorious parading in with their signs. Then, last year’s color war camper captains took turns carrying and passing off the CGL Olympic torch, which ultimately lit a small firepit next to the basketball court. It was ceremonious, and once the fire was lit, our day of Olympics had officially begun!

The first event was a cheer created by Olympics Team Captains and taught to their teams throughout several rallies over the past few days. The Birds took first place with their cheer, setting the tone for a competitive day!

Then, the Olympics Team Captains competed in one of the most highly anticipated Olympic events: Fear Factor. This rite of passage is essentially an eating contest to see which team can most quickly devour a plate of, shall we say, challenging foods. This year’s array included chicken wings doused in ghost pepper sauce, spicy beef jerky, 10 strings of black licorice, and last but not least, a popsicle. Grace and Nathan of the Reptiles dominated the challenge, although the other Team Captains gave it their best!!!

Then, the day continued with a slew of activities where, organized by division, campers competed on behalf of their Olympics Team. There was Blind Volleyball, where the net was covered so you couldn’t see what was happening on the other team, Slip n’ Slide Kickball (a CGL classic), Tennis Baseball, Whirlyball, Slip n’ Slide and wacky relays, Tug of War, and the always popular obstacle course. It was an exciting day all around, and the Team Captains made sure they were rallying and cheering for their teams across camp all day long.

Lunch was a BBQ cookout by the White House, followed by a rest period where everyone got to rehydrate, reapply sunscreen, and replenish their energy for the afternoon. While the rain made us pivot our plans ever so slightly, we were still able to safely gather to watch the Team Captains tackle the Obstacle Course, where Mammal captains Tyler and Lilah took the win!

After a pit stop at juice squad, all of the campers went back to their cabins for shower hour to prepare for tonight’s dance, where we’ll pause to hear each team’s rally song. There’s also the Wing Bowl tonight, where one valiant volunteer from each team will eat as many spicy wings as they can in the span of 5 minutes in order to earn points for their team. It’s a very close race at the moment, and tonight’s Sing will determine our big winner. We’ll update you with the winning team tomorrow!

The fun doesn’t end today – tomorrow is Rookie Day at CGL, where we get to share the awesomeness of camp with a new crew of future campers! We’ll tell you more about it tomorrow, but for now, we have a dance to attend!