Taco Tuesday!

What a great afternoon we had! Festa-palooza-stock was a great program that brought all of our campers and staff to the field for a variety of games and activities throughout the afternoon. Festa-palooza-stock began with two service projects. Some of the campers made kindness rocks by writing positive, uplifting messages on rocks that were then put on display around the tennis court. Before we leave on Saturday, we'll pack up the rocks and send them home with the campers. The other service project gave campers the opportunity to send letters to people who are struggling in order to help lift their spirits and encourage them along the way. (If you've never heard of The World Needs More Love Letters, you should check out http://www.moreloveletters.com/.) After the service projects, campers could choose from a variety of activities such as lawn games, tie dying, coloring, volleyball, soccer, open mic (we have so many talented campers and staff!) and a 3 on 3 basketball tournament (complete with the National Anthem). It was a great afternoon, capped off by a wonderful chapel service in which we sang one of camp's biggest hits, "Lean on Me." We have fun hand motions that we do to go along with the words of the chorus. Here's a picture of the hugs we give when we sing "I'll be your friend."

Dinner tonight was, you guessed it, TACOS! This meal is always a big hit with the campers. After chapel, we had a fun evening program called "The Legend of the Ossipee Prince." We worked together with our morning groups to compete in different games all around the field, winning clues along the way so that each team could identify the correct princess and then have the princess take them to the prince. Here's a picture from vespers tonight, where you can see all the glow necklaces we gave the campers so that we could keep track of everyone on the field:

The campers are tucked away in bed, and it's time for light's out in my cabin. Sleep tight, sweet dreams! See you in the morning!

Everything's Back to Normal...

Good morning! It's another beautiful day here at Camp Cody. We awoke to foggy, cool morning air, but the sun has come out, the fog has burned off, and the temperature is just right. After an awesome Backwards Day yesterday, we've returned to our regular schedule today. Breakfast was the ever-popular French toast and breakfast sausage. With their bellies full, the campers headed off to their morning groups to build off the momentum of last night's "morning group at night" program. Today, their conversations are focused on beliefs and values.

Today is a special day for our seniors, the Class of 2018. They've all been assigned to different Junior High morning groups, and today the Junior High morning group staff turned their morning groups over to the seniors. The seniors are getting a first-hand experience of what it's like to lead small group conversations. They're getting a taste of what it's like to be on staff. They'll also eat lunch with the Junior High campers, sitting in the staff positions in the dining hall. Then right after lunch, we'll hold Senior Circle. At Senior Circle, the seniors will decide together who will help lead Senior High Consecration on Friday night and who will speak at the closing campfire after Consecration. This is a big day for the Class of 2018 - a day when we ask them to step up as leaders and serve as great role models for the younger campers. 

This afternoon is Festa-palooza-stock, which will be a more relaxed program with all the campers gathered on the field for lawn games, fun activities, and the opportunity to just chill. At this point in the week, both campers and staff look forward to this extended time to relax, to enjoy each other's company, and to renew their energy for the second half of the week.

Hope you're having a great day, wherever you are! As John Fiander reminded us this morning, today is the 21st day of the 8th month of the 2018th year A.D. We only get to live this day once. Make it a good one!

Backwards Day Comes to a Close

We had a fantastic day today! Backwards Day is still one of camp's "greatest hits." The campers successfully solved the EpiClue mystery (it was Gene Simmons - dressed up with *a lot* of makeup on - who kidnapped the Pearson Twins by luring them to the tennis courts with Hoodsies). The kids stayed energetic and positive throughout the game. It was an awesome afternoon.

Breakfast for dinner was a HUGE success. The teens walked into the dining hall to the glorious smell of cooked bacon, along with eggs and hash browns. Yummy! 

After dinner we gathered for "morning" watch, which set us up well for morning group at night. Morning group at night is often the time when groups begin to go deeper in their conversations, building trust and risking vulnerability. The cover of darkness seems to help the teens open up. After "morning" group ended, we headed back to the Council Ring for vespers. The campers are all tucked away in their cabins now, heading off to sleep. Sweet dreams to everyone! We'll check in again tomorrow...

It's Backwards Day!

Greetings from beautiful Freedom, NH! It's a gorgeous day to be at Camp Cody! This year's theme is Camp Greatest Hits: 1958-2018. The theme celebrates the 60th anniversary of camp and brings back some of the most popular programs from previous years. Today, the campers awoke to some surprising news - it's backwards day! They also found out some shocking information that set them up for the day's programs. The set-up of the game was this - two of our staff members disappeared after the dance last night, and the entire camp has to work together in color teams for an epic game of Clue (hence the name of the game: EpiClue) to figure out who committed the crime, where it happened, and what tools were used. They're working right now during the afternoon program to solve the crime!

Because it's backwards day, we started the day with vespers and then a buffet dinner of chicken patties, watermelon, chips, and cookies. How often do your teens get to eat chicken patties for breakfast? And cookies??? So fun! The first part of EpiClue, the "evening" program, was this morning, as well as chapel. Lunch was a new camp meal (everyone at my table gave it two forks up!) of tortellini with sausage and spinach, peas, and rolls. 

Coming up later on this backwards day: breakfast for dinner, morning watch, and then the ever-popular morning group at night.

The weather has been amazing so far this week, and the campers are having a great time! Thanks for entrusting your teens to us. The campers are the reason that camp has been going strong since 1958!

The End of Day 2

Good evening, everyone! Day 2 at Camp Cody has come to a close. The weather today was absolutely perfect for our afternoon program - sunny and warm, but not too hot. Morning groups moved around the big field area at camp competing in different games or participating in get-to-know-you activities. With the regular morning group meeting this morning plus the afternoon program, our teens have gotten to know their morning groups really well today. Hopefully the groups are forming close bonds that will allow for deep and meaningful discussions throughout the rest of the week.

Dinner tonight was fantastic! We had a full Thanksgiving meal - turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, and gravy. The whole works! It was awesome! After dinner, we gathered for chapel with a great message about the importance of stepping outside our comfort zones in order to try new things and truly become who God intends us to be. Here's a picture of the whole camp gathered for chapel today:

After chapel, everyone got ready for one of the week's big events - the first dance! The theme for tonight's dance was Neon Nights. As the teens streamed into the rec hall, they all received glow sticks. The rec hall was glowing with neon all evening long! Take a look:

After the dance, everyone moved outside to the campfire for vespers. The reflection at vespers connected with our theme for the day, which has focused on social situations and how the teens navigate the different social contexts they're a part of: school, family, friends, work, etc. After your teens get home, you ask them what it means to "find your Erin." When vespers ended, we sent everyone back to their cabins. After dancing the night away, hopefully everyone will get a good night's sleep tonight!

We're Here!

Hi everyone! Rev. Jennie here, reporting in from Camp Cody. My apologies for the delay in getting up our first post. Please know that everyone arrived to camp yesterday, safe and sound! We hope the campers enjoyed the luxurious accommodations on the coach buses this year. The buses seemed to make it up to Camp Cody in record time! We spent yesterday afternoon getting everyone settled in their cabins, connecting with morning groups for the first time, and fueling up with a delicious dinner (chicken, rice, veggies, and ice cream sandwiches). We had our first chapel service, led by members of the staff. The staff then put on a variety show last night to share some camp traditions, teach some camp songs, and get everyone laughing. The evening ended as we gathered around the campfire for our first vespers service of the week.

We awoke today to a beautiful morning! After breakfast (pancakes and sausage), we gathered for morning watch (everyone takes about ten minutes of silent time to read a reflection, think, pray, etc.). Morning groups had their first full-length meetings today, and campers also stayed with their morning groups for the afternoon program. Lunch was a hit - grilled cheese sandwiches and French fries! Tonight is the first dance (Neon Nights!), so it's going to be a great evening!

Thanks for checking out the camp blog. We'll keep the posts going throughout the week so that you can get a window into life at Camp Cody.

Camp is just 2 weeks away!!