Big Upgrades
TIPI CIRCLE circa 9:30pm—The dwindling daylight has cast a blueish pallor over Camp’s living room, causing the typically dust-colored tipis to appear like marble reliefs in our pantheon of oaks. The Tipi Circle is mostly empty except for a pair of counselors strolling through. The nearby Rainbow Theater is brimming with lights and sounds as campers participate in the traditional first-night activity, Tipi Skit Night. “Up next, Purple Tipi!” announces Clowning Instructor Riley Soloner over the large PA system which subsequently blasts out an upbeat song for Purple Tipi’s walk-on.
I’ve positioned myself strategically apart from the evening’s festivities in order to garner a few quotations for the first blog of Session B. My first subjects are the aforementioned strolling counselors.
“I’m really excited about my co-staff, Wynne,” says Acrobatics Instructor Adelina Babbit. “Wynne and I were campers together in the same tipi for like three years, and now we’re co-staff in Maroon Tipi, aka ‘The Tipi of Friendship, Courage, and Love.’”
“Can you help me with the back of my shirt?” says Tightrope Instructor Tashi Liem who has begun cropping a T-shirt while wearing it.
“Yeah I got you,” says Adelina, taking over the scissors. She continues, “I really feel connected to the land and the magic. People here really bring out the best in you. I love hanging out with my friends as a job.”
“My tipi is super chill,” says Tashi. “We took ‘UV Tipi’ and turned it into ‘Under-Velmed Tipi’. Ve are from Berlin and ve are ‘under-velmed’ vith zis Kamp Vinnarainbow,” they joke, affecting a German accent. “I’m glad it’s a two-week session. I like being able to get to know the campers better because they open up and feel free to be themselves. With two weeks you can really develop a rapport.”
The light has dwindled beyond the point of writing unassisted, so I abscond to my tent to fetch my headlamp. When I return, a cozy campfire has been lit, somehow urging on the dark of night even faster. I cycle through my settings for the red light so as to not blind my fellow fire-watchers.
“Today I was painting rules on the lifeguard stand so that kids can read them—at least the ones who can read,” says Waterfront Director Annika Crowley. “Before it was just on a little piece of paper so this is a big upgrade. One big difference is that they finally took the waterslide down. It was too much work to keep it in operation. But it had a good run. It had been here ever since I was a little camper, and long before. I have many fond memories of riding it as a kid, and many stressful memories of supervising it as a lifeguard.”
“The lake is beautiful this year,” continues Annika. “There’s new shades and a new picnic table, and there’s pennyroyal blooming everywhere! Redwing blackbirds have been busy making their nests in the cattails and today there was a deer keeping me company eating leaves off of the beach.”
Hearing that Tipi Skit Night is nearly over, I relocate to the toothbrushing area to collect some camper quotations. Before the campers arrive I encounter one final adult, Head of the Stilt Department Nova Platt.
“The kids responded great to our stilt field orientation skit,” says Nova. “Pita and I were really in sync. He’s training to become a certified stilt teacher. This year we have new stilts that were lovingly hand-crafted by our own Irik Larson. It’s very exciting. It’s the first new batch of stilts we’ve had in decades! It speaks to how well the last set were made. I think Irik used the same design to make this new batch. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Freshly dismissed from the theater, the campers descend on the bathrooms in a great swarm.
“Camp is awesome,” says Kayla, 10, Purple Tipi. “My mom showed me some videos of this camp, and we both said, ‘This camp was exactly made for me!’ The giant rainbow was a green flag. My counselors are really nice.”
“It’s really fun,” says Vela, 10, Green Tipi. “I’m gonna take Calvin and Hobbes and dance. My tipi is nice and roomy.”
“I’m really excited to get unified,” says Simón, 11, Turquoise Tipi. “’Unified’ is when you get certified on a unicycle. It means you get to ride off the track around Camp. I’m also looking forward to stilts and juggling. I think about Camp during the school year, and now that I’m back it feels just the same.”
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor
