Happy 4th of July!

Many families have traditions for the 4^th of July – BBQs, trips to the beach, parades, and fireworks. On this day, we have some of our own traditions.  One of the most important involves a special flag raising ceremony.

Here at camp, the flag not only serves as a symbol of the history of our country, but also as a reminder of the people who worked to establish a place where every camper can be herself and be part of a kind and accepting community.

When we raise our flag, we remind ourselves that we have to work to uphold the ideals it represents. As members of the Camp Louise community, we should also ensure that we accept others for who they are and work to “live the good we have learned here.”

For decades it has been the great privilege of the CITs to raise the flag each year on the 4^th of July. The honor guard is composed of the CITs who have attended the most weeks throughout their time at camp. They start counting up their weeks when they are young campers. This year, the six CITs who made up the honor guard had a total number of weeks ranging from 35 – 46 weeks. 46 weeks….that’s almost one full year that this CIT has spent at camp when you add up all of her weeks together. Pretty amazing!

I spent some time with the CITs before the ceremony. After practicing for a full week, the day was finally here! There was definitely A LOT of emotion in the group. The CITs who have attended camp during the first session have been looking forward to this for years. One of them told me she has spent every July 4^th at Camp Louise for the last 10 years and she has been waiting for this moment since she was in Unit A. The CITs who were second sessioners had never seen the ceremony before this year, but they still felt a connection – wanting to do well for the first sessioners. For ALL of the CITs, it is a very special and meaningful time – something that they all get to do together.

Many of the CITs have been planning their outfits for this ceremony all year – buying multiple white dresses until they find the perfect one. Others were last minute shoppers and didn’t find the dress they wore today until just before coming to camp. Whenever they bought their dress, they do love getting dressed up and standing in front of camp as one unified group.

As the whole camp entered the Dining Hall for the ceremony, the CIT holding the flag told me she was nervous and excited and she wanted to make sure she remembered to breathe. “I have been waiting for this for 12 summers, and it is such an honor to now be the girl holding the flag!”

And yes, she did remember to breathe. The ceremony was beautiful and now this year’s CAs are already starting to count their weeks and figure out who will get to hold the flag next year.

Whatever traditions you have for celebrating the 4^th….hope it was a good one!  Ours here at camp was definitely a great one!

Alicia
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Today’s Birthdays

Anna – Staff
Jenna – Staff

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Today’s Menu

Today’s Weather

High: 73°F | Low: 71°F – A chilly day with a rainy afternoon – but with lots of red, white and blue spirit all around!