Today, Camp Merri-Mac was filled with tremendous growth that showed not only in the girl’s relationships with each other, but also within their activities. The only repetitive thing that Merri-Mac girls do here at camp is the daily challenge to try new skills. As the difficulty of their activities progress, your daughters conquer fears, set goals, and reach their greatest potentials.
The girls fueled up for their long day of adventure with a breakfast of belgium waffle sticks, sausage patties, and maple syrup to top it all off. After filling the Tucker Inn (our dining hall) with playful morning songs, the girls made their way to the chapel to hear one of our assistant directors, Elisabeth Olvey, speak about our relationships with God. Our girls continued to celebrate the goodness of God through the three chapel songs that we sang proudly today: The Banana Song, Star of the Morning, and Reckless Love.

After meeting with their tribes led by our oldest cabins, the girls made their way to their first activity. The first couple days of a new environment can feel a little awkward to some, but this session’s campers jumped head first, literally, into new skills that are not so easily acquired. The diving class showcased their three-step approaches and began working on skill progression for their bars. Kayakers practiced new strokes that are applicable in real life experiences, like when they embark on their first trip. As I watched your girls progress in their skills, I also witnessed what it’s like to see a young girl truly empowered in herself and what she can do. The opportunity to form new goals and try new things is an experience unique to camp and our MerriMac girls. It is more than evident that the bonds these girls share is greatly attributed to the confidence they gain within their activities and the thrill of getting to hear all about what activities were like for the other girls in their cabins.

After dinner, the tribes prepared themselves for counselor hunt by suiting up with tribal colored paint and tons of glitter. In simple terms, counselor hunt is one massive game of hide and seek that takes place around camp. Each counselor is worth a certain number of points and the tribe who finds them are awarded these points. However, some counselors are worth negative points and may be detrimental to the tribe’s overall score. In order to find out the point amount, the campers who find the staff members get to push them into the lake and the mystery point value is revealed to everyone! As tribal leaders inspired their girls to win tonight’s activity, staff members were preoccupied with attempting to find the best hiding spot away from all the tweedles who were so ambitious to find their counselor and push them into the water.

The girls finished their days by spending quality time with their cabin and alongside their best friends. The bonds these girls form here at Camp Merri-Mac are lifelong due to the unique atmosphere that camp provides. It is not everyday that girls from all different backgrounds are not only able to have friendly competition with each other, but also grow together and individually. Furthermore, they are still able to come back home to the cabin and spend their nights together unified as a group of independent young ladies filled with confidence and new skills. Although their activities will repeat and cycle again, these girls will continue on their dynamic journey to become strong leaders and gain new skill sets. I can’t wait to see what they accomplish tomorrow and how they’ll change the world one day.

-Alison (Ali) Quigley
Rainbow Counselor