Greetings, fair friends and family! It’s Gretel here, the Christmas Elf.  I had the pleasure of visiting Merri-Mac today to celebrate Christmas and oh, what a joy it was!

The girls started the day off by sleeping in an extra hour (thanks, Santa!) and then were woken up by the sweet sounds of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” as the blue truck drove around camp to deliver sweet treats. Smiles and sugar-filled giggles all around as we all enjoyed donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast wearing our Christmas pajamas. Then a healthy dose of cabin chores and on to chapel we went! My little Christmas heart was so full as we sang Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, and Silent Night as the sun rose over Lake Doris. Adam read us Luke 1:31-33 and shared with us a message about how we know what Jesus says is really true.

During activity time, I watched girls all over camp show courage, strength, creativity, and focus as they built their skills in each activity. A few highlights include girls working through the lower ropes course in Backpacking , Trail rides in Riding class, and world cup games in Soccer.

For lunch, we enjoyed a delightful Christmas feast featuring turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, and chocolate cake. Boy, was I stuffed! After lunch, I snuck into a Tweedle cabin to take a nap during rest hour. I hope they didn’t mind! Then, on schedule, we stampeded to and Tray Po and had free time, which was full of gaga ball, tether ball and earning bars in activities.

Then we were back to activity time where girls continued to glaze pots in pottery, cook Christmas colored pasta and garlic bread in Cooking class, swim with the puppies in Paws, and climb the upper tower in Climbing. A few girls earned bars today including Adrianna B. (silver in Drama), Clarissa S. (silver in drama), Claire M. (bronze in drama), Cici C. (silver in climbing), Alexa L. (gold in climbing), Helen G. (bronze in tennis), and Ila R. ( bronze in tennis). Also earning bars today were Kate R. (bronze in guitar), Caroline S. (gold in gymnastics), Trista R. (silver in swimming), and Sarah R. (silver in swimming). These girls are absolutely amazing!

As is camp Christmas tradition, we ate breakfast for dinner. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits were passed around as we all reflected on a splendid Christmas day. We also sang cabin songs and heard a fantastic slam poem performed by Martha P.

After dinner, we donned our green and red apparel and played Christmas sockwar! It was exciting game full of tribe cheers, jail breaks, and flag stealing! The girls spent the rest of the evening with their cabins enjoying each other’s friendship and singing away the last few tender moments of Christmas.

But wait! There’s more! In addition to the festivities at camp, we had a few girls partake in trips out of camp. Lily T., Lizzy H., Haden W., Sohpie W., Caroline H., Holly H., and Adeline G. left for an overnight backpacking trip. Margaret M., Kennedy O., Eva S., Sarah M., Savey S., Coco B., Winter H., and Elizabeth W. came back from an overnight packing trip. Finally, Korina G., Cici C., Roads R., Ansley S., Molly P., Katherine C., Ashley Lauren J., and Bailey Z. went kayaking!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Sincerely yours,

Gretel, the Christmas Elf

(Gretchen Mull, Pottery Staff, and Comet Counselor)