Rizz Department
Thursday, July 31st, 2025
COSTUME BARN circa 7:30pm—The Costume Barn is one of those places that feels crowded even when there’s only a couple people in it. Ahead of tonight’s Costume Dance Party, dozens of campers have descended in a ravenous swarm to scour the many racks of festive attire. Costume pieces are flung in every direction, piling up on every surface, including the walkways. A few of us counselors attempt to tidy amidst the fray, but the garments are discarded faster than we can find hangers, let alone hang pieces on the correct racks. A contingent of face painters attend to a growing line of partygoers. As we near the 8pm start time, the golden hour lighting gives way to a desaturated pale blue.
“I can’t find a costume in this huge mess!” laments Rye, 10, Rainbow Tipi, kneeling in the swamp of discarded garments. “I wanted to be an animal, maybe a big cat, but at this rate I won’t even be able to be a common domesticated housecat! When will the campers ever learn?”
“I’m an Oompa-Loompa gone wrong!” declares Porter, 9, Purple Tipi, wearing a blue wig with a top hat. “I have no idea how I came up with this idea, I just grabbed some stuff and this is what happened. It’s unleashing my silly side. It represents a trouble-maker in the real world. I say, ‘Just go for it!’”
“I’m either a grumpy old man or a billionaire,” says Mikio, 11, Maroon Tipi, sporting a blue king’s robe. “This robe just really spoke to me. I’m gonna do some old man dance moves like the boogie-woogie. Hey, stop slouching!” he snaps at a passing camper in his best old man voice.
“This is Mr. Wonkawot,” says Sophia, 10, Blue Tipi, holding up a cow hand puppet, and otherwise dressed in mismatch rainbow attire. “This outfit is just a bunch of stuff I like thrown together. I’m not trying to go to prom or be all bling-bling. I wanna be ugly. I wanna be silly. I wanna be goofy. I wanna be me!”
“I was finna wear my regular clothes, but then I though, ‘Hey, I should go to the costume barn!’” says Tristan, 11, Maroon Tipi, wearing a red jumpsuit and matching face paint. “Red isn’t my favorite color, but it’s definitely in the top-four. I just asked the face painters, ‘Can you do a clown?’ I’m ten-out-of-ten excited!”
“You can call me Dino Danny!” says Sandro, 11, Rainbow Tipi, wearing a green reptilian onesie and holding a red cheerleader’s megaphone. “I really like dinosaurs. The fact that they were on the planet so long before us until that asteroid wiped them out. I’m gonna do a dance called ‘Num-Nums’. It’s what a T-rex does before eating a biologist.”
“I’m a water-phoenix-leopard,” says Eilie, 9, Yellow Tipi, draped in silk butterfly wings and a blue dress and wearing a headband with fuzzy cat ears. “At first I saw the wings, and then I got caught up in this whole leopard thing. I’ll be doing lots of wing movements and cartwheels.”
A conch is blown, followed by blaring dance music which emanates from the Big Top. The campers flock to the source of the noise. I follow behind, toting my notebook and a camping chair.
“I did my own face paint,” says Umberto, 11, Maroon Tipi, grimacing a skull-like visage. “I did the white first, and then the nose, eyes, and cheekbones. My skeleton lips got a little smeared, but I fixed it, and it even looks cooler now. I’m not gonna dance, I’m just gonna juggle.”
“I made this crown at the Art Grove over the past two days,” says Talys, aka Queen of Camp Winnarainbow, 12, Indigo Tipi, wearing a gown and a cardboard crown. “The Queen endorses this party.”
“We’re not in costume; I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Kahli, aka José, 12, Orange Tipi, dressed in masculine-coded casual wear and a painted moustache. “We’re just some bros, bro-ing around. We’re cool like that. We’re loaded in the rizz department. Sigma Chad, all that cool stuff.”
Suddenly the music switches from the beloved pop swill to John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates”. A voice on the PA instructs campers to gather in the Stilt Field. Two adult stilters lumber into view, one dressed as Darth Vader and the other as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan wields a blue pool noodle while Darth Vader totes a bright red lifeguard buoy. The two spar with each other as the throng of campers cheer on the playful battle. With a deft parry of the noodle, Obi-Wan disarms Vader, bringing the spectacle to a close. The music resumes and the campers surge back into the Big Top to dance the night away.
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor
