End of 1st Session Camp Updates

Dear FLC community,

The summer is flying by and it’s been so much fun! Read below for updates from Boys Camp and Girls Camp from Week 3:

Girls Camp Update

Here at FLC’s Girls Camp, we’ve had an amazing third week. It’s been filled with many birthday celebrations, meaning we’ve had lots of cake to share. We’ve been busy preparing for the last week of the first session, including the Dance Show, the Into the Woods play, Banquet, the Horse Show, and much more! We’ve also had our usual waterskiing and rafting groups going out which campers have enjoyed immensely.

At the start of the week, we had our junior overnight, where campers were treated to smores around a campfire and campfire games and stories. Our LITs also hiked Mount Marcy and even though the weather wasn’t what they were expecting, they kept their spirits high and had a great time! They then returned to camp the next day with warm welcomes because even though they were only gone for a day, the energy that they brought to camp was very missed.

After a slightly more relaxed day on Tuesday, Wednesday was jam-packed full of camps extra circulars. We had our Archery tournament against Echo Lake and we are pleased to announce that we came first place! We additionally had our junior basketball tournament against camp Che-Na-Wah, where we returned with a second 2nd place trophy out of 4 places. Everyone had an amazing time and we are so proud of everyone who participated in both tournaments.

On Thursday, Cabin 5 went on their hike to the Cascades which was a huge success. They then came back to camp for their overnight at Lookout, where they were blessed with clear skies, where they could enjoy a night of beautiful star gazing. Friday was a busy day on camp as we had cabin 6’s hike to Ausable Chasm, known as the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks. Additionally, we had our junior girl’s Swim Meet which we are pleased to say returned with many awards.

On Saturday, we had our camp Switch Day. Girls camp and Boys camp switched sides for the day, where they ate on opposite sides of the mess hall and took up each camp’s traditions to see what life was like on the other side. We ended the week on Sunday with great weather, playing Gold Rush, and an outside Campfire!

Our final week of the first session is bursting full of so many exciting events and we can’t wait to tell you all about it next week

Kind regards,

Freya and Lisa

Girls Camp Head Counselors

Boys Camp Weekly Report

As we head into Week 4 there have been quite a few memorable adventures to look back on from the past week! The week started off with a typical day enjoying our regular activity periods while many of the the LIT’s enjoyed a hike up MOUNT MARCY which is a yearly tradition here at FLC with it being the highest mountain in the Adirondacks and therefore one of the more accomplishing hikes. Even though the weather turned for the worse in the evening the LIT’s bravely stuck it out for their overnight while the rain trashed down on their tents throughout the night. The boys, however, were all in good spirits coming back the following morning, although we did have to do an emergency laundry run for their wet clothes.

 The week quickly moved up in excitement with a portion of boys camp heading out on a WATERSKI trip on Tuesday. However this excitement developed into uncertainty as a small storm began to sweep through the Adirondacks in the late hours of the morning but luckily all the campers were still able to waterski and have fun. The afternoon began with a portion of junior boys heading to Echo Lake Camp to compete in a SOCCER MATCH which FLC of course won comfortably 6-0 with junior camper EDGARD scoring a hattrick. All the boys were in high spirits when they came back to camp, so much so that campers ran out of their cabins during 5 o’clock free time to congratulate them. The day ended even more positively as we all celebrated WENTAO’S birthday with a big HUBBA HUBBA and he made all the campers laugh as he dove face first into his cake. On Wednesday the senior boy embarked on a hike to CRANE MOUNTAIN with MILAN, they climbed ladders, scrambled up rocks and enjoy scenic views of the surrounding mountains as well as the pond on the way down the mountain. The rest of the seniors and junior boys camp enjoyed a nice day on camp with the usual activity schedule before buying an evening of ultimate frisbee with both senior and junior boys.

Thursday morning was met with even more campers heading out of camp to go WATER SKIING and RAFTING this week. Aside from the off camp trips it was business as usual until the afternoon when camp was met with a thunder, rain, and hail storm. Campers were at first a little frightened by the hail but that fear soon turned into curiosity as we all saw them staring out of their windows. Campers were enjoying their cabin activities until dinner time where energy and spirits were still high. Chants were filled with excitement and the boys stayed down in the mess hall for an evening of board games where they were even more engaged and passionate than their usual outdoor activities. Friday was a very busy day, especially for the senior campers. Cabin 12 also went to AUSABLE CHASM which was a first for FLC. The boys went with SAM and NICO and had so much fun climbing through the beautiful but challenging chasm and finally tubing down the river. That night Cabin 12 also enjoyed a wilderness night down at the beach; they shared stories, ate some s’mores and enjoyed the evening as the fire sizzled out. The rest of camp enjoyed seeing the senior boys complete their soccer match of red versus blue with their counselors. The match ended in a draw 6-6.

Saturday was a rare and special day with Emma, the Director of Fun, organising a ‘SWITCH CAMPS DAY‘ whereby the boys would participate in more Girls Camp related activities while the girls would participate in more Boys Camp related activities. The junior boys had activities like softball, zumba and friendship-bracelet-making while the boys had activities like braiding, dodgeball dance party and also friendship-bracelet-making. You’d be surprised how popular friendship-bracelet-making was on Boys Hill – perhaps we’ll have to schedule some more periods for them during second session. Not only were the activities switched but also many of the traditions such as each camp switching sides of the mess hall during meal times and the boys and girls each spending their free times on opposite camps. During dinner we have a big HUBBA HUBBA to junior camper EDGARD and shared cupcakes. For evening activity the juniors enjoyed CAMO in the woods while the seniors played TENNIS-RACKET-BASEBALL once more after popular demand. We finished the evening activity early and both the juniors and seniors came together to play a casual game of ultimate up on the hill while the sun was setting to round a beautiful evening and hilariously fun day at camp. Sunday of course began with everyone at camp heading up to Chapel where DWIGHT gave a beautiful speech about  how he came to FLC and that it was the start of a second home and a new family. Chapel was followed by the campers heading to lookout and enjoying time together and discussing the importance of gratitude and taking group pictures with the astonishing views in the background. The campers who have siblings then enjoyed some important brother and sister time.

After lunch we had our annual GOLD RUSH event, the campers were split into small groups based on their color war teams and embarked on a search for variously rated gold stones hidden around camp. Ultimately the winner of the event for boys camp was the RED TEAM. Later that evening we had our weekly CAMPFIRE ceremony where we handed out more awards this week. Our Tennis player of the week award was given to QUINN F. The Archer of the week award was presented to CONNOR C. and the rider of the week award was given to AVI S. Finally the head counsellors handed out the camper of the week awards. The Junior camper of the week was BEN F. and the Senior camper of the week was QUINN F. Week 3 flew by and it’s hard to believe we are already in our last week of 1st session. We look forward to updating you again next week!

Sincerely,

Matt Laythem & Charlie Oliver

Boys Head Counselors