Thursday Night Campfire, Candle Lighting, and Friday Morning Awards

 Traditionally, the last evening program of the week is a campfire, led by staff, where groups present fun and spirited songs and chants that represent the individual groups.

Following campfire, everyone participated in a candle lighting session to close out our week at Holiday Lake.  There were some tears and lots of hugs.  As candles were being lit, three senior teens from Nelson County and Cumberland County were recognized.

Senior teens and their 4-H agents

Candle Lighting Program, CANN Camp 2024

Friday morning, after our last breakfast at camp, flag raising, and packing, everyone met in the amphitheater for one last assembly.  A teen and camper were chosen by their peers and adult leaders to be awarded with Head, Heart, Hands, and Health awards, and Outstanding Teen, Outstanding CIT, and Blossoming Camper awards.  And finally, the group that showed the most spirit and accumulated the most spirit points this week was awarded!  The most senior teen leader of the winning group gets to keep the spirit stick and the campers in that group were all given ribbons.  

  Outstanding CIT, Outstanding Teen, and Blossoming Camper

Head, Heart, Hands, and Health Awards - teens and campers

The Sea Otters Win the Spirit Stick!  

We had a great week at camp this year and believe it or not, we're already thinking about next year's camp.  

Crazy Color Run Fun

 

Our Color Run was originally scheduled for Wednesday evening, but we had to postpone it due to the storm that rolled through.   Holiday Lake 4-H Camp was very colorful on Thursday evening as campers and teens became bright palettes of color as they passed the color stations on the Color Run course.  (Side note:  all campers and teens participated, but crossed arms in front let the "color tossers" know that they did not want any color on them.)  At the end of the course, a water feature/water fall was all set up to rinse off the color!  

 

All Kinds of Talent at 4-H Camp

 Thursday night, we enjoyed a fun-filled talent show by our teens and campers.  It takes a lot to stand in from of a large group and speak, much less sing, dance, and act!  A job well done to all!

  

  

  

  

  

  

    

  

    

Wednesday Evening Storm and An "Indoor" Campfire

 Yesterday evening, a fast moving rain storm moved across camp just at the time we were preparing for our Color Run.  Being the flexible group that we are, we changed our schedule, went to the amphitheater out of the rain, and enjoyed a campfire, known as an ampfire (because it's in the amphitheater).  Of course, we didn't have real fire...The energy for the ampfire came from a group of our teens.  The teen leaders led the campers in songs and performed a couple of hilarious skits.  A job very well done to our ampfire teens and thanks to staff member, Focaccia, for assisting our teens in preparing for the ampfire!

There was a lot of energy from our teens in the opening song of ampfire!

Wednesday Classes

 We just finished our second morning of classes.   Campers have been having fun and learning in so many different classes such as canoeing, archery, riflery, tie dye, leathercraft, campfire cooking, volleyball, soccer, high ropes course, swimming classes, and fishing (there are more).  Classes begin at 8:45 each day and conclude at 12:15.  Your camper will have a lot of fun experiences to share with you when they get home.

Barring any weather issues, the campers will spend the afternoon at the pool or playing field games.  This evening's programming is a much anticipated event:  The Color Run around camp (complete with water feature at the finish line) followed by our teen-led campfire.  

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Tuesday Night Yacht Races and Water Olympics

 Our camp theme this year is "Under the Sea at Holiday Lake 4-H Camp".  The campers are organized into 8 different groups, all reflecting our theme.  This year, the group names are the Dolphins, Fiddler Crabs, Jellyfish, Sea Otters, Sea Turtles, Seahorses, Starfish, and Squids.  Throughout the week, the groups compete for Spirit Points.  The points are awarded for many things including straightest line-up for meals, most enthuisiasm, and group competitions.  

Tuesday evening's evening program was the Yacht race and H20 Olympics.  Groups designed a yacht that would carry a (small) camper with a box, empty 2-liter bottles, and plastic bags.  The yachts were judged on whether they would float, how far they would travel, and the decorations.   Some of the yachts were "pool worthy" (aka sea worthy).

One of the fun H20 events was the biggest splash competition!  On such a hot day as we had, sitting in the "splash zone" was wonderful!  The winning group hasn't been officially announced yet.  You can be your own judge.

Happy Tuesday!

 Every day at camp starts with a rousing wake up call over the PA system, flag raising, and breakfast followed by a morning assembly in the amphitheater. The camp staff gets the campers motivated for the day with songs and helful hints for the day's programming.  This morning, campers began their first day of exciting classes, so there was quite a bit of excitement here.  Admittedly, there was some camper  nervousness about where classes were located and what the classes were about but it was a great morning!

Good Morning, Everyone!

It has been quite hot here and water coolers are set up all around camp for campers to fill their water bottles as needed to keep hydrated.  We heard some thunder right after lunch, so pool time has been delayed until the thunder subsides but the camp store is open!

Check back later for more Holiday Lake fun!

 

First Day at Camp - July 8, 2024

 It's been a great first day at camp for Cumberland, Amelia, Nelson, and Nottoway County teens and campers - great, but very, very busy!  We did have a short period of rain, but that didn't dampen our spirits or our fun!  Swim tests, camp tours, health checks, and group meetings happened after lunch and then campers enjoyed a free time to swim or play field games.  The camp store was open for the first time this week.  The evening program was a pool party complete with line dancing on the pool deck.  Currently, campers are at their evening campfire before heding to showers and bed.  

Tomorrow will be the first day of classes for our campers.  

We'll be updating our blog several times daily so you can enjoy some of our activities with us. (The internet here has been a bit touchy today so this blog post isn't as polished as we would like.  Apologies.  We'll work on that for tomorrow.)

                                 Time to Eat!                                              Flag Lowering                     

  

                             Shopping at the Store                                       Pool party with Line Dancing   

        

                             Taking a Break                                            Lining up for Dinner