A few summers ago, the theme for each blog was a song. It made a pretty good playlist I must say. It feels fully appropriate to share the two songs that characterized our week seven at camp, at least from a weather perspective: “Here comes the rain again” and “The sun will come out tomorrow.”

I never would’ve thought that the Eurythmics and Little Orphan Annie would have a place in this final blog of the summer, but here we are.

While it did rain every day and night from Tuesday through Friday, the weather did not prevent us from having fun. And thanks to a little patience (Guns N Roses … that’s one more), this last weekend at camp was sunny and dry and one to remember.

Of course it is a bit of a bummer when the drama department production and the Airy Olympics have to turn to a back up plan, but staff and campers pulled through, and it is a testament to their positive attitude and collaborative spirit. The official camp value/ middah of the week is friendship, and there also was lots of positive talk this week about sportsmanship and Olympics. Our camp community showcased plenty of both.

The rain finally moved away just in time for our Shabbat dinner. It was great to gather as a whole camp on a dry Village Row basketball court for our Shabbat service, followed by our song session and Israeli dancing, followed by a resumption of regular Olympic programming – song fest and spike ball and synchronized dance and mystery taste testing and half court basketball heaves, and then ASGAD … All Star Games After Dark. Teams competed into the night looking forward to a full Olympic Saturday after a late-ish wake up and our last Shabbat morning service.

Near the end of Saturday Shabbat services, we took time to recognize nominated campers and staff who demonstrated the middah of the week. Those “mensches” (good, selfless people) are awarded certificates, a bracelet naming the value in English and Hebrew, and a photo opportunity together with the Mensch mascot dolls.

Some of those images accompany this blog post. Congratulations to these FRIENDSHIP mensches!

Thanks for following along this week – and this summer – via emailed updates from Unit Leaders and Division Heads, Facebook and Instagram posts, daily posted photos, and our microposts via your Campanion app.

By the time you read this Olympics will have wrapped up and families will be reunited after pick-up day. I would like to say thank you to everyone for being part of our special centennial summer. We are already looking ahead to summer number 101 and the opening of our new Camp Airy dining hall.

Until next time,

Marty