Day Three Tuesday of Splish Splash Week
A perfect day for a new camp favorite…
Tuesday is the kind of day that we’ve been waiting for here at CYC since about mid-April. It was filled with sunshine but with a cool breeze and the occasional cloud cover. Swimmers were eager to jump into activities we had all water stations going full time and for the first time this week Splish Splash seemed an appropriate theme.
Before anyone headed to the beach however CYC staff gathered everyone around the direction pole in front of the art barn and excitedly announced the debut of a brand new all camp game: Fuzz Ball. While the rules are somewhat convoluted (we spent hours fine-tuning them) the game is basically a cross between capture the flag angels and demons and ministry time. Here’s how it works:
Five teams of campers (this week each cabin made up one team) are given empty shoeboxes. These boxes are placed in hoola-hoops around a large circular "jail" area. Campers are then told the location of five "fuzz ball" stations (ice-cream buckets placed around camp that contain five balls crafted out of yarn each corresponding to each team’s color. The point of the game is for each team to gather the balls of their color and place them into the home base (which is made more difficult by "snatchers" counselors who can tag campers and send them to jail and by the fact that other teams can steal and return fuzz balls you’ve already brought to your home base).
The game though a bit complicated was a huge success!! The Yell-yo Ponchos (one of the trailblazer girls cabins) won the inaugural game and the pathfinder boys and Ninja Duckies also took home first prize in subsequent games.
Making prayer come to life…
During the afternoon ministry activity campers and counselors collaborated to create a living rosary. CYC is of course a catholic camp so we drew on years of tradition but gave it a bit of a camp twist. Cabins were asked to lead a skit representing and illustrating each mystery and then lead the whole group in one decade of the rosary. We moved from one station to the next on the field praying acting reflecting and at times singing.
Stories around a dying fire…
In the evening campers enjoyed s’mores and songs over the campfire. A highlight of the evening was stories and improv. Several counselors stood on the campfire stage and told a story as they were pointed to by Natalie. After two hilarious stories (one about the adventures of the camp dogs in a chocolate factory the other about playing Fuzz Ball in an airport (of all places)) we were introduced to Dr. Know-it-all (three counselors who answered camper questions one word at a time. We found out a great deal about camp — where the camp dogs came from Natalie’s favorite food and the origins of some of the buildings on camp. It was hilarious and enjoyable for all. By the time trailblazers headed down to Sweeney for Heads Meds and Beds we were all ready for some rest; besides our stomachs were a little sore from laughing!