Camp Green Lane Blog Post June 30th

It’s hard to believe everyone only arrived the day before yesterday.

Because it feels like we’ve been here forever.

Of course, in my 15th summer, I feel like that all the time. But these were the thoughts of one of the youngest campers in camp, who was hanging with his boys at the pool talking about how he just feels comfortable at camp unlike anywhere else.

From those little boys to the oldest girls, everyone seems to have slipped into their comfort zone here in their happy place. For the newest among them, these early days are for making new friends, carving out a new routine and finding all their favorite places in camp.

This afternoon the Dunkin Donuts Truck rolled into camp and handed out Strawberry Dragonfruit refreshers to all of us.  The kids loved seeing the truck and everyone cooled down with a nice treat.

These early camp days are also for organizing Leagues. Every division in camp, from the Inters to the Greeks, divides up into counselor-coached teams that compete throughout the summer in games and activities. We keep standings, reorganize for the playoffs and award a pizza party for the winning team in each group.

Tonight is the Senior Boys Leagues Draft, one of my favorite nights of the summer. We call the kids down one by one, interview them, make a huge deal out of them “signing” with a team and the event’s taken on a life of its own. Like many things at camp, it’s something the kids look forward to (some pack special clothes just to wear when they walk down the Red Carpet) and it grows organically through the years.

I’m lucky to have been in camp long enough to see former Senior Boys grow up to become counselors themselves now. And in that, they pass along all of these wacky traditions that have remarkably taken hold over time. In a few years, some of these boys may do the same when they graduate to become counselors themselves.

So tonight, we have fun. We dress up. We laugh and cheer. We honor the Senior Boys of the past, we put the present Senior Boys front and center. And we push forward our little camp traditions another year into the future.

Camp Green Lane is filled with countless little traditions like that.

They’re why it feels like even though we just got here the day before yesterday, we’ve been here forever.