YMCA Camp Ralph S. Mason

Todd, Joey, and Garrett were skateboarding at the Skatepark and showing off the things they knew and had learnt. Maya, Alexis, Ella, Molly and I sat on the picnic table watching them. Todd fell and when I giggled, Todd yelled 'Why don't you try?'.

Maya said 'Yeah right, Lily would never do that'! I don't like it when people underestimate me so I decided I would do it and when I told my friends they looked at me like I was crazy!

Joey jumped up onto the wall and said 'You don't have to Lily, Todd was just joking with you'. I replied 'I want to'. I got a skateboard and put the pads on before heading in through the gate.

As I approached the ramp, I suddenly got nervous. 'Joey, can I hold your hand going down the ramp' I asked. 'Sure, just remember to lean forward going down the ramp' he said as he took my hand and a counselor watched from the side.

I stepped on the skateboard ramp and leaned forward. The next thing I knew I was sitting on the ramp. 'Lily, you leaned forward' I heard Joey say and he was laughing. Although I felt silly sitting on the ramp, I couldn't help but join Joey's laughter and soon everyone was giggling as they crowded around me making sure I was okay! I don't think I will ever forget my first time on a Skate Board Ramp!

The talent show was awesome! Paul did a great job on the Guitar and Kate and her friends did good up on Stage (you guys made a great comeback after your fear on the stage)! Aniya and friends were super! "Making the Band" was amazing. The music was definitely something I hope to hear again in the future!

Macker's and Jordan's dance was at the end of the show which made me laugh so much and I was so glad I got to see it as they vowed that it is the final final last time!

Ebiner, Isiah, Nick were really really funny and although I was really scared when I got up on stage - I had alot of fun and think I did okay.

It was a really funny night and everyone had alot of fun! I love you Camp Mason!

Yesterday afternoon we had a lot of extreme weather and at one point it seemed that the Junior Pool party would be called off! However, our office crew who monitor the weather radar confirmed at 7pm that the storm had moved on and so the Pool party could go ahead! There was a lot of Cheering coming from the Algonquin and Apache cabins when the announcement went out!

The Senior Dance was also a huge hit with lots of fairy lights strung around the dining hall and all the favourite hits being played by the host for the evening Danny ‘Mackers’ McKeown! Of all the Dances of the summer so far, this session was definitely the loudest and got right into the Cha Cha Slide!

This afternoon was the Day Camp Talent show! The Day camp parents all came to watch and this week – being the last week of camp – I think nearly every parent came!

I arrived a few minutes into the show but I could hear the laughter and cheering from over at the pool. There was some singing, dancing, skipping and quite a few cute little skits. One in particular that had me really laughing was three little 6 year old girls who were doing a skit that I couldn’t quite figure out but it didn’t matter as their infectious giggles had the whole crowd laughing!

Well done to all the campers who participated! Photos of the event will be uploaded to Bunk1.com tomorrow!

Breakfast:
Waffles with warm blueberry or strawberry syrup, butter, a fresh fruit bar and a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
5 types of Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – Plain, Ham & Cheese and Mozarella & Ham to name a few with soup and a fresh salad bar.

Dinner:
Meatball grinders with red sauce, grated mozzarella, Broccoli au Gratin and a freshly prepared salad bar!
Dessert: Granola Bars with Chocolate milk!

The Ranch Camp team has asked me to remind parents of Ranch Campers that this Saturday 22nd August 2009 from 9:30 to 11:00am, the famous Diamond M Ranch Rodeo is going to take place at Upper Barn.

Campers have been practicing the skills they have learned really well and can't wait to show parents this weekend!

I caught up with the Ranch Campers during Barrel Racing Practice today and so far it looks really good. It was just about to pour with rain so I was only able to get a few pictures but the Ranch campers were in high spirits and excited to be doing Barrels!

Yesterday, our International Campers visited New York for the Day. They got to see many sights such as Ground Zero, The Trump Tower, Top of the Rock – Rockefeller Centre, Times Square and Central Park.

The group began the day with breakfast in the dining hall at 7am and then went by bus to the centre of New York when they were dropped off in Battery Park in order to see the Statue of Liberty. They then walked to Ground Zero and observed the renovations going on there!

The bus picked them up and drove them to Central Park where they had a picnic lunch before walking along 5th Avenue, seeing the sights along the way and meeting at the Rockefeller Centre to go up to the Top of the Rock.
After taking in the breath taking views from the Top of the Rock, the groups walked down to Times Square and had a chance to buy souvenirs at street vendors and shops along the way.

I caught up with a couple of the campers who had gone on the trip this morning and the overwhelming response was that the view from the Top of the Rock was simply spectacular!

As we draw to a close for the Summer of 2009 – the weather has been highly temperamental with a heat wave the past two days and thunderstorms this afternoon.

At 3pm today, all campers returned to cabins as our crew in the office had been monitoring the radar and extreme rain storms were on their way in. As I am writing this – the rain is still pouring outside and campers are playing games in their cabins.

Regardless of the weather, campers always have something to do and each Cabin counselor has a range of activities to run within their cabins for situations such as today. There are board games and group activities for starters. What often happens though, is cabins use the time to practice skits, chants or songs for upcoming events such as the Talent Show this Thursday night! As I was going to collect my Photography Class kit from the Apache Rec, I heard 2 Apache cabins practicing such a skit for the Talent Show and all I can say is that it sounds very very loud!

Hopefully the weather will clear this evening for the Junior Pool Party as I know the Juniors have been anticipating it all week. The Seniors will still be having their Dance in the Dining Hall!

Breakfast:
Blueberry or plain pancakes with warm blueberry or strawberry syrup, butter, a large selection of cereals and fresh fruit.

Lunch:
Sloppy Joes with Potato Salad and a freshly stocked salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fingers with Dipping sauces, caesar salad, croutons, parm cheese, and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Dessert: Fruit Salad

Today, I caught up with the Ranch Campers at the Upper Barn as they were doing lessons and barn work. Although we have had a Heat wave since yesterday, the Ranch Campers were still smiling and working hard in preparation for the Rodeo this weekend and for their Neckerchief tests.
The Drill team is also going ahead this session and I caught up with Sibylle, the Ranch Director to find out how it is getting along. She mentioned that she has a really good group this session and everyone has been keen to put in extra practice for the event.

Lessons today were in Bare Back Riding! Campers were learning to canter while bareback and I was impressed with how well they were doing. Afterwards they were having some fun trying Round-The-World while bareback! A first attempt resulted in a slide and smooth standing landing from one camper who then proceeded to giggle for the longest time.

As I returned to camp, I swung by lower barn where the Spruce Village Meg Feczko and counselor Emma Turner were bringing in the horses ready for Lower barn rides!

On the basketball court, campers and counselors frequently play ‘Knockout’. This game is friendly and competitive while promoting and enhancing key basketball fundamentals. The rules for the game require that the players line up behind the three throw line. The first two people in the line each have a ball. Player one shoots the ball at the hoop and once he has thrown the player behind then shoots. Both players then attempt to beat the other person to score first. They can move to any spot on the court to make the shot as well.

Once they make the basket, they pass the ball to the next person in line. If the second shooter beats the shooter before them they have ‘knocked out’ that player and they have to sit down. The games continue until only one player is left and everyone else has been knocked. Even the best basketball players at camp can be knocked out by the youngest and smallest children. The game is definatly a camp mason favorite!

Last night the heat wave continued so the Senior Quiz night was replaced with an evening hanging out by the pool. The Junior boys had field games as well as a camp fire with Marshmallows while the Apache Girls had their overnight!

Although it was so hot, everyone was having a great time. The junior boys played some pretty intense football and then had songs and fun by the campfire on the Upper Athletic Field. I caught up with them after I had photographed the Apache Girls on their overnight and the boys were sitting in a big circle around their campfire telling stories and chilling out having just roasted their marshmallows.

The Apache girls were having a lot of fun on their overnight being that the rain had held off and they were able to start their campfires quite quickly and have dinner. When I caught up with them they were laying out sleeping bags and chatting around their camp fires.

Meanwhile, down on camp – the Seniors were enjoying a refreshing dip in the pool with music playing and lots of diving and fun in the pool.

Breakfast:
Egg McMuffins with Fried Eggs, Sliced Ham, English Muffins or Biscuits, a large selection of cereals and a fresh fruit bar.

Lunch:
Taco’s with Beef, Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Toppings and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Asian Style Stir Fry Vegetables with Sliced Beef, Sliced Chicken, Rice, 2 Types of Stir Fry Sauce and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Dessert: Fortune Cookies and Fruit as well as Iced Green Tea

This weekend was the fantastic Super Heroes and Villains Themed Weekend hosted by the Sioux Village Leader Danny ‘Mackers’ McKeown and the Apache Village Leader Erica Durina!

The event began at 9:45 on Saturday morning with campers wearing their Super Hero or Villain Costume and with their team coming up with history of how they ended up together, who they are and a chant that disguishes them from other teams. They then presented their teams at Chapel!
The next event was the Camper created Carnival! This involved campers coming up with a Carnival Booth and then making their booth. Booths included; Hydrobstacle, Pin the Fruitful on Jeff (Cardboard), Dance-a-thon, Fortune Telling, Marriage Booth, Divorce Booth with a twist and the pie throwing were just some of the booths.

Campers were then given tickets and had time to go around each booth once they had finished making their own. In each booth they could either win candy or tickets to do more activities! It was an awesome afternoon with lots of water, laughter and Super Heroes!

The evening performance was a Comic Strip where campers had to devise a comic skit of their team without using any words except a couple of poster boards with words such as ‘POW’ and ‘KAZAM’. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there for the event but I heard that it was so good that it went until 10om that night!

Photos of all the events on Saturday are now being uploaded to Bunk1.com!

On Friday night, we had the Junior Carnival hosted by Joe Sworder the Algonquin village leader and the Senior Pool party hosted by Emma Munro the Iroquois Village Leader!

The weather was a little cool but the campers really got into the spirit of the Senior Pool party and had a lot of fun playing pool games, diving competitions and doing the Cha Cha slide in the pool!

Meanwhile the Junior campers had their carnival over by the Nature Centre and the Climbing Wall. The climbing wall was one of the activities as well as Sponge Throw at a counselor, pet the Goats and Rabbit, Face Painting and Sticky Darts to name a few of the activities.

The heat wave has started here at camp but all are in good spirits. The pool has been a very popular location during the day, and with the rest of the week’s forecast in the high 80s we are sure that it will continue to be the “place to be”. Walking around camp today I saw many energetic activities still going on despite the heat and humidity. The upper athletic field was full of campers playing dodge ball, rugby, soccer, ultimate Frisbee and kickball.

Here at camp we are very proud of our health care department and are well equipped to deal with the many issues that can occur at camp. Our health care staff is headed by Suzanne Potter who has been with the Mason family for several years now. Our health center is equipped with much that one would find in a doctor’s surgery such as Oxygen administration apparatus, Automatic external Defibrillators, splits, immobilizers, and all related supplies to handle emergency care. Our Health Center is the only air conditioned building available to campers (as required by New Jersey State Law). Health Center Director Suzanne also tells me that TLC and hugs are free of charge for all who need them.

Camp Mason has a local doctor on call who maintains a standing appointment everyday so that we can always get a child or staff member to the doctors promptly. We are also only 20 minutes from Newton Memorial Hospital and communicate with the hospital and the local emergency squad every spring. All of this adds up to a “top notch health care” program that does it’s upmost to look after all while at Camp!

Breakfast:
Banana and Plain Pancakes with Pork Patties, Toppings and a freshly prepared salad bar and large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
BLT Sandwiches with Soup, Corn Chips and a freshly prepared Salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Parm or Vegetarian Eggplant Parm with Cheesy Bread sticks, Grilled Veggies and a freshly stocked Salad bar.
Dessert: Jello

Volleyball is an energetic and fun sport to get campers involved in. Volleyball consists of two teams played either side of a net that is high up in the air. The teams must hit the ball over and hope the over team can’t hit it back before it touches the floor.

In the beginning lessons the rules of volleyball are taught, although volleyball is a well recognized sport the rules are not widely known so the rules are explained to allow players who have never played to gain an understanding and for those who have played before but need a brush up of the rules. Basic volley techniques are taught such as a spike, how to pop and set a ball. Serving is also an essential part of volleyball so some parts of the lessons focus on this area of volleyball.

After the basic skills are taught the campers go straight into a game as this is a best way to learn this sport and it is the most fun. Towards the end of the week the class is spilt into teams and a tournament takes players to determine who the champions of the week are.

Last night was the Junior Girls Dutch Auction, held in the field next to the Upper Barn and hosted by the village leader Erica Durina and the Nature Director Ali Beatty.

At the end of dinner, the Apache girls were given a list of all the items they might need for their Dutch Auction and warned to bring as many other items as they could fit within one pillow case. They then met as a group and all walked over the road and up to the Upper barn.

The Spruce girls were preparing their Hobo meals at one end of the field next to the upper barn when the Apache girls arrived and asked if they could join in the Dutch Auction. With two-three spruce girls per team and CIT’s, the teams were amply prepared!

Erica and Ali then proceeded to read out one item at a time that one girl in each team had to be the first to run up to them with. The final ingenious item was the first team to pack up their items first ready to head back to main Camp! The Spruce girls were having so much fun that they had asked if their Hobo meals could wait as they wanted to play the whole game with the Apache girls and received an extra special ‘farewell’ from the Apache girls at the end of the night!

This summer, the Photography class has been taking Pinhole Camera Pictures. A Pinhole picture is produced when light sensitive paper is placed inside a light-tight box which is focused on a subject and the hand made shutter opened for approx one and a half minutes. I then develop the paper in my darkroom on camp and hand the pictures back to the campers the next day.

I did, formerly, have campers make the Pinhole cameras but due to an overwhelming number of ‘cameras’ not working, I made four pinhole cameras out of old biscuit tins. Maintenance cut the pinhole squares for me and I made the pinhole ‘lenses’ out of Aluminum from Soda Cans.

It has been an instant success and it is a highlight of the week to get their pinhole pictures back. The most common comment is that they are sure their parents won’t believe they made a picture out of a Biscuit Tin!
On request of every camper in my class, I have therefore put a selection of the photos that have been taken so far onto Bunk1.com under the folder 'Camper Photos'.

This weekend Camp Mason is being transformed into the Villains and Super Hero’s stomping ground! Hosted by Danny ‘Mackers’ McKeown and Erica Durina, they have a huge range of activities in line for the campers this weekend.

While 'Mackers' and Erica have been planning, Campers have also been busy planning their costumes during Free time this morning and this afternoon. I have seen a lot of capes being made and some really awesome facemasks were being made in Arts and Crafts this afternoon. More details and a roundup of the weekend will be posted on the news page on Monday!

Today, with the imminent threat of extreme weather, the afternoon activities on camp were cancelled and instead we had a camp wide Lip Sync! Campers were given extra time for Siesta to prepare and then met at 2:30 at the dining hall ready to perform with their cabin.

The selection of songs ranged from Barbie Girl to Grease and even Journey! Everyone was in high spirits and each cabin demonstrated their unique singing ability! The senior boys singing 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from the Lion King was an epic moment!

Afternoon Freetime and this evenings Senior Girls overnights have gone ahead as planned as the weather has since cleared with the radar showing clear skies for the rest of the evening!

Last night was International Night here on Camp with representatives from Wales, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, England and Scotland to name a few.

Each country set up in a different location around the lower part of camp with cabin groups walking from station to station finding out about the different countries.I caught up with several campers who were excited to be telling me about the things they had learnt from each country and especially the new kind of dancing in England called 'Skanking'!.

Apart from the little bit of rain that came near the end of the evening - it was a huge succes and everyone had alot of fun.

Making the Band is for campers who are semi-experienced or professional players. They meet daily with experienced music counselors to talk about the music they like and as well as jam together they work on a song for the Talent Show.

This year we have a range of musicians such as a Drummer, Singers and Guitar players. The class allows the children to play but also encourages them to play as a part of a band. This activity enhances the skills they already have and also teaches them new techniques. The class also gives campers a chance to play in a group setting which may not have been an option for some campers.

Breakfast:
Waffles with 2 types of fruit toppings, warm syrup and butter as well as a fresh fruit bar and a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Hot dogs with toppings such as cheese and sauerkraut as well as a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Baked Chicken with gravy, veggie riblits, oven baked potato wedges, peas, warm rolls and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Home Made chocolate chip cookies!

As reported yesterday, campers from Camp Mason attended a sports day at Camp Nejeda. The events that we participated in were Basketball, Chess, Archery, Soccer, Swimming and Volleyball.

Camp Nejeda won Volleyball, Chess and Archery and Camp Mason won Swimming, Soccer and Basketball. In speaking with the campers who went, the game of Volleyball was the most intense with Camp Mason winning the first game, Camp Nejeda the second game and the third and final game looking to be a tie until Camp Nejeda brought out the best they had and took the game to a winning final!

Another part of the day that was highly anticipated and was enjoyed by all was the song sound-off with Camp Mason singing their favourite songs to the Camp Nejeda campers. The favourite song this summer – the Penguin Song – was an instant hit according to the campers who attended!

Last night was an action packed night for the Camp Mason Campers. We had the Sioux Boys on their overnight and the junior villages having a massive game of Man Hunt. Meanwhile, the Senior girls were having a Newspaper Fashion Contest in the Dining hall.

The Newspaper Fashion Show was quite an event with every camper getting right into the activity. Three campers were chosen from each cabin to be given a Newspaper outfit. When the time was up there was a twist! The campers had ten minutes to come up with an outfit for their counselors which they did with quite a flare! The catwalk was held in the senior end of the dining hall and the girls did everything they could to impress the judges; Ali and Carrie.

Next up, I caught up with the Junior villages playing Man Hunt between Chapel and Arts and Crafts. Due to the light fading so fast I didn't get many photos but they were definitely having alot of fun.

I then made my way to the Green trail and the various campesites along the way to capture the Senior boys on their overnihgts. Each cabin had eaten and were just settling down to Cabin chats as I arrived.

Breakfast:
Pancakes with 2 fruit toppings and warm syrup, bacon, a fresh fruit bar and a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Hoagie Sandwiches with Ham, Turkey, Hummus, 3 types of sliced cheese Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, coleslaw and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Pasta and Meatballs with Red Sauce, Sausage and peppers, Sauteed Fresh Vegetables, Warm Breadsticks and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Dessert: Ice Cream Sandwiches

One of my favourite places to chill out on camp is the Library which Laurie DeLuca and I opened last year. Since we opened it, the library has gone from two very unstable book shelves to four solid book shelves, two of which being hand built by Don Jennings over this past winter. The library also has quite a few comfy chairs where campers can curl up and read or just browse through a selection of books.

This week and next week, we are doing a stock-take of all the books we have as the Library is steadily growing and we have a few gaps we’d like to fill. This morning, finding our coverage for the library at Nejeda, I was excited to spend some time in one of my favourite places on camp. After doing a thorough clean I browsed through the fantastic collection of Baby Sitters Club books that were donated to us this year. It is the first time I have ever seen the entire collection of the Baby Sitter’s Club together and it brought back many happy memories of reading them when I was a kid. An Apache girl was browsing for a book as I was looking at the collection and after I told her about them as she had never read one, she sat down and was totally engrossed within five minutes.

The best part of my time at the library this morning was the campers who came in to browse. Apart from the one Apache girl, I had four Sioux boys come in and spend over 20 minutes browsing the books and each finding exactly what they were looking although it was amusing when each of the boys asked when Twilight was due back!

Camp Mason's Riflery program aims to teach children how to hold a gun properly, how to aim, shoot and operate a gun safely. Target practice is a feature of the program and each participant aims to improve as the week goes on. Our Riflery program instructors are trained and certified by the Civilian Marksmanship Association.

Throughout the week the participants progress through several different shooting stages, starting with laying down, then moving on to kneeling and finally moving on to shooting from a standing position. The activity also teaches the children how to use two different gun types. The first being an air rifle and the other a single shot bolt action 22 rifle.

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs, Hash Browned Potatoes, Sausage Patties, Biscuits and a freshly prepared fruit bar with a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Baked Potato Bar with chilli, Broccoli, Chopped Onion, Sour Cream and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fajita’s with rice, black beans, salsa, Guacamole, onions and peppers and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Fruit Salad

It is indeed the last session of the summer and already it is plain to see that it’s going to be an amazing session! Last night it was predicted to be terrible weather wise and so we set up the opening campfire in the dining hall only to review the weather report and discover at the last minute that we had gone from 90% chance of rain to 5% chance of rain allowing the last opening campfire of the summer to be outside at the campfire ring after all. The energy around the fire was definitely high and there was a lot of giggling and chattering going on as the campers returned to their cabins.

Today has been a spectacular day with plenty of sunshine and very high temperatures. The pool has been popular with campers during free time and Lauren, the Aquatics Director has been enjoying teaching Water Polo with the Campers.

This morning we had a camp wide game of No Strings Attached and this evening, cabins are having individual cabin nights. I have been busy around camp getting cabin photos from the Algonquin Boys and the Spruce Girls. Tomorrow I shall be photographing the Sioux Boys and the Apache Girls with Iroquois on Wednesday morning.

The CIT’s are out in cabins this session having spent the last two weeks learning how to be a counselor and learning all the skills they will need to be able to teach campers to have fun.

The third Rodeo of the summer was on Saturday with campers having practiced the skills they needed for the rodeo to perfection!

The first event of the day was the Halter Show where each campers groomed their horse to a shine and was then judged on grooming skills such as Hoofs picked, Manes Brushed and arranged, coats shining with the tender care of lots of brushing. The event was won by Michaela with Holden and runner up was Gary with Houdini.

The second event was the Dollar Bareback where campers had to ride their horses without saddles while walking, trotting and holding a dollar between their calves and the horse. It was a quick event as everyone showed such skill they were soon into Trotting. The winner of the event was Tashana with Phoenix and runner up was Emma with Leo.

Simon Says was the third event where campers had to only respond to commands when preceded by ‘Simon Says’. The winner was Cecilia with Jiminy Cricket and the runner up was Jessica with Jesus.

Red Light Green Light, a traditional horse riding game was performed on the fields next to the barn and allowed campers to show off their ability to command their horses to respond quickly. First place went to Grace with Tucker and second place went to Emery with Houdini.

Following Red Light Green Light was the Pony Express where campers had to deliver ‘post’ to various counselors surrounding the ring. It is always a fast paced event and entertaining as it is a timed based competition and involves two people to work fast to deliver all the letters as quick as possible. The winners were Madison with Phantom and Ines with Maverick. The runners up were Emery with Houdini and Chrissy with Milo.

The final competitive event is the Barrel Racing where campers have to race their horses around barrels and get back to the start line in the fastest possible time. It is the most anticipated event as it is so quick and amazing watching the campers steer their horses around the barrels so fast. The winner of the event was Madison with Phantom.

The final event was the Drill Team which is similar to Synchronised Swimming on Horseback. The team was perfectly synchronized to undertake a series of serpentine turns between each other while trotting or cantering their horses.

Congratulations to all the winners and well done to all the campers who participated as it was an enjoyable show to watch.

Breakfast:
French Toast with Ham and warm syrup or butter. Also a large selection of diced fruit and a variety of cereals.

Lunch:
Chicken Patty Sandwiches with vegetarian nuggets, 2 types of sliced cheese, sweet potato fries and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Pasta and Meatballs with red sauce, sausage and peppers, sautéed fresh vegetables, warm bread sticks and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Ice Cream Sandwiches

Session 2A ended with abit of Flare as the 70’s Banquet set the tone and everyone started Dancing! Everyone dressed up for the final Banquet in varying degrees of Hippiness and Disco! There was a dance off by Don’s table in the dining hall which led to the ultimate Hippie Congo around the dining hall and outside!

Dinner was followed by the Camper presentation with the campers seeing the photos I have been taking through-out the session for the first time. The Closing Campfire had some new skits such as ‘Little Worm’ and Simon Blakemore – a Sioux Counselor – singing a song he wrote about good times.

Don concluded the ceremony with the memory logs being passed around, the honor campers lighting their candles and the procession of camp across the lake to the flag pole. At the flag pole, two counselors; Lyra and Spencer, said a few words on what makes camp so special for them before the candles were blown out and everyone returned to cabins.
It was a moving finish to a fantastic session of new friends being made, lots of laughter and many memories made!

Tonight is the Camp Mason Talent Show - a much anticipated event of the whole session. The Talent show is usually held at Chapel but if the weather is unsuitable for outdoors - it is held in the Dining Hall.

This week, the event is to be held at Chapel with the hosts being 'Mackers' and 'Emma' the Senior Village Leaders. From the line of people signing up to the event at Lunch time, it looks like it is going to be quite an event with campers having done alot of preparation this past week.

We also have some special guests to these sessions Talent Show; Day Campers who are doing an overnight here at Camp! According to the Day Camp Program Director - the Day Campers also have their own skit in store for the event! Photos of the event will be uploaded tomorrow night.

When campers go on their cabin overnight into the forest they have a taste of outdoor cooking when they cook that night’s dinner over a campfire. The good feedback form these outdoor cooking sessions has encouraged camp to introduce outdoor cooking as one of its many activities.

The activity teaches basic outdoor cooking skills using several different techniques, one being foil cooking. The campers learn how to wrap up their food in the foil and cook it over an open fire, the lesson also teaches what food would be good cooked like this and what wouldn't. The next technique is how to bake in a Dutch oven. The Dutch oven is a cast iron oven which you surround with coals and bake the food inside. You place the coals around and over the top which keeps the heat in and cooks the food. Another stage is frying over the fire (mainly deep frying). Firstly you have to build the fire and make a circle in the middle of the fire. Once the circle is made place a pot there filled with oil. Heat the oil until it’s at frying temperature and that's when you can place the food in the pot. The type of food the campers will be cooking this week include apple pies and pizza which will be made in the Dutch oven. Banana boats and Rice crispies will be cooked in foil and lastly they will be frying doughnuts.

These lessons teach appropriate safety techniques for each type of cooking style. The lessons also instruct on how to start, maintain and put out a camp fire. The lesson aims to give the campers more independence, teaches outdoor and survival skills.

Breakfast:
Waffles with Warm Blueberry or Strawberry Syrup, Syrup / Butter and a freshly prepared fruit bar with a large selection of Cereals.

Lunch:
Grilled Cheese, Grilled Cheese & Ham, Tomato Soup and a freshly prepared Salad bar.

Dinner:
Meatball Grinders with Red Sauce, Grated Mozarella, Broccoli Au Gratin and a freshly prepared Salad Bar.
Dessert: Granola Bars with Chocolate Milk

Last night we had two new and exciting activities for evening programs; the Horse-less Rodeo and Gigantor GaGa.

The Horse-less Rodeo was organized by the Spruce Village Leader; Meg Feczko and took place in the field next to the Upper Barn. The first activity was the ‘Prettiest Look’ where instead of a Halter show where campers would groom their horses, one person in each group was made pretty with flowers, grass, twine and anything else that could be found in the field.
The next event was a game of ‘Ships and Islands’ converted into ‘Horses and Barns’ that had campers frantically running to make up the number of team members for ‘Quick Draw’, ‘Poker Table’ and ‘Yea Ha’ to name a few!
Barrel Racing involved campers running with their entire team holding hands around the barrels! By this time it was getting quite dark but it didn’t stop anyone from running their fastest!

Meanwhile back down on Camp – the senior boys had figured out a way to have a game of GaGa with all of the Senior Boys and counselors. Once everyone had departed dinner they set about pushing all the tables down to the junior end of the dining hall and using all the benches to create a massive Gaga pit! It was amazing to see as it really did require the entire senior end to accommodate all of the senior boys playing GaGa. I only stopped for a few minutes and was impressed with the speed with which the campers moved around the GaGa pit!

The Junior Boys were all out on their overnight with the CIT’s cooking Hobo Meals, roasting marshmellows and singing some good campfire songs! One of the favourites this summer is the Penguin Dance which the youngest boys were happy to sing to me!

Pictures of all three events last night are being uploaded to Bunk1.com now!

Today, here at Camp – the humidity was so intense my Camera was malfunctioning and everyone was hot and sweaty. Free time in the pool this afternoon was high on everyone’s agenda!

However, mid 1st Activity Period, the Air Horn was blasted three times which is an instruction to all counselors in activity areas to return campers to cabins as a severe weather front was coming through. Within minutes of all the Village Leaders reporting back to Don that everyone had arrived back at their cabins, the sky opened up and the rain came on down. It poured for a good twenty minutes with thunder resounding around camp.

Although it passed quickly enough – the humidity is still around so freetime at the pool is still high on everyone’s agenda and the Junior Poolapolooza is going to be a hit tonight!

Camp Mason’s foremost objective is the moral and character development of its campers. Every effort is therefore made to create situations where our campers can develop under the competent leadership of a highly selected staff. One such situation is the Cabin chat which is held just before bed and may involve the cabin gathering in a group in the centre of the room or tucked up in bed.

The counselor will open a discussion which may include topics such as; a reflection on an activity that occurred that day or a moral question such as ‘If you were told you were to inherit a million dollars when you turn 21, what would you do?’ or ‘Name one bad thing and one good thing that happened to you today and how would you change it?’.

The start of the cabin chat begins when the counselor sits in the middle of the room and lights a candle and ends when a camper who has shown a kindness or made a thoughtful contribution, blows out the candle. One of the discussions a counselor was telling me about today was ‘If a movie was to be made about you, who would star as you and what genre would it be in?’ The stars that were picked were ‘Eddie Murphy’ and ‘Tom Cruise’ to name a few.

Breakfast:
Blueberry or Choc Chip Pancakes with Syrup / Butter, Breakfast meat, a freshly prepared fruit bar and a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Sloppy Joes with Potato Salad and a freshly prepared Salad Bar

Dinner:
Chicken Fingers with Dipping Sauces, Caesar salad, croutons, Parm Cheese and a fully stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Granola Bars with Chocolate Milk

Often as I walk about the courts taking photos, I bypass the Ga Ga pit which is one of my favourite spots for action shots and seeing campers having some serious fun. The game Ga-Ga is quite simple but don’t be deceived – as campers are very particular about the rules being followed. The game consists of a group of players in a round shaped pit (the more people the better) with a ball. The ball is then dropped so it bounces in the middle of the pit. The first bounce is answered with a ‘Ga’ from all the campers in the pit. The second bounce and third bounce similarly produce a ‘Ga’. After the third bounce – the ball can be touched. The aim of the game is to avoid being hit by the ball on your legs by avoiding being touched by the ball. If you are hit by the ball you have to leave the pit. The last person still in the pit is the winner.
The thing that most impresses me with this game is the way in which the campers are so helpful and patient when explaining the rules and then have a great time participating. The other thing I like about this game is that anyone can play – boy or girl – and size is no restriction. Often it is the littlest campers that last the longest!

Here at Camp Mason much of our day centers around pool time. With hot summer days and very little air conditioning at camp spending time at, and in, the pool is critical. Every camper at Camp Mason has an opportunity at least once during that day to go to the pool and swim. Campers undergo a swim test on the opening day of each session to gauge their swimming ability. Their swimming ability determines which area of the pool a camper is allowed to enter. Campers that so, desire can attend swimming lessons to improve their ability while at camp. As ability improves so does a camper's access to different areas of the pool.

On top of regular pool sessions our aquatics director Lauren Lehenbauer also runs "swim team" for those swimmers who have a competitive edge. Our pool, although out of doors, is heated to a constant temperature of 76 degrees making it cool and refreshing without being cold on days that have a cooler temperature. WIth Camp Mason having cooler than normal weather over the past week this has been welcome

Breakfast:
Egg McMuffins; Fried Eggs, Sliced Ham, English Muffins or Biscuits and a large selection of fruit and cereals.

Lunch:
Tacos with Beef, Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Toppings and a freshly prepared Salad Bar.

Dinner:
Asian Stir Fry Vegetables with sliced beef, sliced chicken, rice, 2 types of Stir Fry sauce and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Dessert: Fortune Cookies and Fruit.

Last week, the River Runners 1 trip returned from a treacherous week of storms, raging rivers and lots of stories of their trials out on the river. This week we have the Extreme Rock Climbing trip starting off on The Climbing Wall here at Camp and then heading on to Rick’s Rocks and even more challenging climbs as the week progresses.

I caught up with the group at the Climbing Wall as their instructors; Becks Spruce and Kyle Loewen were instructing the campers on how to set up their climbing equipment and belay so that they are able to belay each other when they are at other locations where there isn’t a pre-set Climbing Wall for them to climb later in the week. By the time I left, they had already perfected their knots and were starting to test their belaying skills.

Photos of last weeks River Runners 1 and this weeks’ Extreme Climbing Trip – are being uploaded to Bunk1.com now.

As Friday progressed – camp was on alert for a severe weather warning with the Village Leaders in the process of setting up different activities than what was scheduled to account for the bad weather. Suddenly though, the sun came out during flag and Don announced amid the cheers that the bad weather was all gone and all evening programs could go ahead!

The Juniors had their carnival with rock climbing, face painting, pie throwing, twister, and many other activities. One camper, a small Algonquin Boy barely 4 ft – climbed all the way up the most challenging part of the wall even though there was barely any light to see by! It was quite a remarkable thing to see everyone cheering him on and he just went up the wall quicker and quicker!

The Senior Pool party was appropriately loud and rambunctious with music and games in the pool and lots of requests for photos! The weather certainly didn’t deter anyone on Friday night!

This weekend was the themed weekend; Shipwreck and with a day of sunshine and a day of rain – we certainly had the Island feeling! Everyone was in theme with shipwrecked costumes and shipwreck shananigans aplenty!

We started off the weekend with 10 groups of campers going off into the woods around camp and gathering up sticks to make a raft. The only supplies they were given was duct tape, 2 noodles and a roll of garbage bags! To gain more supplies – the organizers of the event; Emma Munro and Carrie Lander were coming around and had to be serenaded in order to give extra supplies to the groups!

The Raft race was in the swimming pool at 11:15am with one camper from each group rowing the ‘Raft’ across the pool the fastest with two teams going at a time. The winning team was the team that was the fastest all up. I can only say that watching the rafts paddle across the pool was quite an interesting event with the greatest challenge being to keep the raft all in one piece!

The Afternoon split the groups into two with one group going on a treasure hunt and the other doing pool games with a Shipwreck theme! The Treasure hunt had a catch though with particular objects having points attached. The more points the group obtained the more items they got for their Hobo meals. For example – marshmellows and cookies were obtained by the highest scoring groups! In the evening each group presented with their treasure hunt items, points were added up and a crate containing all the items needed for the hobo meals including extra items for high points was handed to them. The groups then went off to individual locations around camp to cook their Hobo meals.

Sunday started off with chapel followed by a CIT led game. After lunch, each group had to come up with a skit of their story of how they became shipwrecked and if they got rescued from their Ship Wrecked Island! Although the weather was rather ‘wet’ – the weather only added to the theme of ship wreck and lots of mud complemented the ‘Look’!

Breakfast:
Pancakes – Plain and Banana with toppings and Pork Patties. A large selection of fresh fruit and cereals was also available for selection.

Lunch:
BLT Sandwiches with soup, corn chips and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Parm or Vegetarian Eggplant Parm with Cheesy Bread Sticks, Grilled Veggies, and a freshly prepared salad bar!
Dessert: Jello

Here at Camp Mason we pride ourselves on being prepared for any kind of event or situation where the safety of our campers is at risk. In order to practice this effectively all staff are trained to respond to our Emergency Procedure Plans A – F when informed over the radio, in person by Head staff or at the sound of three blasts of the Air Horn!

Plans A – F are plans that determine where staff should direct campers. For example today here at Camp – we have been on alert for a triple blast of the air horn every two minutes as a weather front with thunder and heavy rain is expected to be coming in. Staff know that the response to this triple blast of the air horn is to return all campers to their respective cabins immediately. Counselors in each activity will split their campers into two groups and each group will be led to their cabins by the counselor and instructed to sit on their porch until the rest of their cabin and counselors arrive.

Should you have any questions with regards to the Camp Mason Emergency Procedures – please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Camp Mason.

The first week of Session 2A is already over and what a week it has been! There has been some really strange weather about with an eerie mist hanging about camp both today and on Tuesday. Thunderstorms have been about a lot also and as reported earlier in the week, a tree came down by the pool due a thunderstorm Tuesday night! All activities have still gone ahead and Sioux, Iroquois and Spruce have had their overnights this week.

This session we have had a lot of new campers who haven’t been to Camp Mason before and it has been great meeting up with them and chatting about their thoughts on Camp Mason. The most frequent comment I have heard is ‘There is so much to do and so many activities, I’m so worried I won’t get to do them all!’ Last night I roasted Marshmallow’s with some new Iroquois girls who taught me the Bear Chain and another cabin of Iroquois Girls lined up and sang me the Penguin Dance as introduced by Lyra Haas who is a new counselor to Camp Mason this year and working as Trips Staff!

Last night all of the boys had a game of Ultimate Frisbee with the Camp Mason CEO; Dave DeLuca. Mackers and Jordan were the MC’s for the night with counselors; Rodney and Brandon as the Referee’s. When I left the boys game to take pictures of the senior girls overnight – there was so much action, I had to force myself to leave! The boys were having a very intense and fun game! Meanwhile back in the Apache Village, the junior girls were having a fast paced game of ‘Capture the Counselor & CIT’s with the Apache Rec being base!
It’s been an intense week of action and fun with many more good times ahead with Ship Wreck this weekend and tonight’s Pool Party and Junior Carnival!

This weekend is the Theme Weekend; Ship Wreck and here at Camp we are gearing up to the theme with costumes being made and skit’s rehearsed!

A Theme Weekend is the middle weekend of a two week session and begins Saturday morning until Sunday Dinner. Campers are informed of the theme for the weekend before hand in order to create costumes during Arts and Crafts and plan skits for evening programs.

This theme weekend has been in the planning the whole summer with the hosts being the Village Leaders; Emma Munro of Iroquois Village and Joe Sworder of Algonquin Village. The events include a team boat race rally across the pool, a cook out, a treasure hunt and a camp wide game with pirates and Ship Wrecked campers, to name a few of the events!

Brad Nagle and I will be around the whole weekend taking pictures which we will upload on Monday under the Bunk1.com Gallery folder ‘Ship Wreck Theme Weekend’!

Breakfast:
Breakfast Burritos with scrambled eggs / eggs with ham, warm Salsa, Sour Cream, Grated Cheese, Onions & Peppers, a large selection of Cereals and fresh Fruit.

Lunch:
A selection of Pizza’s such as Pepperoni, Plain Cheese or Vegetarian and Antipasto salad.

Dinner:
Pilly Cheese Steaks, Vegetarian Nuggets, Cheese, Pickles, Condiments, Tater Tots, Broccoli with Cheese, and a freshly prepared Salad Bar.
Dessert: Popsicles

This Summer, our Arts and Crafts Director – Carrie Lander has been doing Mosaics once a week with Campers. Mosaics have many different stages that campers must go through to have a completed piece. Firstly campers must design what they are willing to make onto paper. They then go onto place the different tiles on to a piece of card. This is the stage that takes the longest to perfect as it takes a while to completely cover the card so there is no card showing.

This activity allows the campers to show their creative side, it is also a chance for campers to do something very relaxing. After it is finalized on card it is then filled with grout. The grout is left to dry for a day or so then the excess grout is sponged off. After the excess is sponged off it is left overnight to dry again. Finally it is sponged a final time and then it is ready for the campers to take home.

This week it has been very hot and sticky here at Camp Mason with little in the way of a respite. Yesterday, everyone remained in cabins during first activity as a thunderous weather front rolled across camp. Today though, the clouds and humidity have lifted to provide a beautiful sunny day for activities and fun in the sun.

Arts and Crafts are doing Tye Dying today and Pool Games are playing Water Polo! The Nature class is hanging out with the animals while up at High Ropes, campers are on the Wild Woozie! My photography class took Panning and Action shots while down on the courts there was an intense game of Basketball!

This morning our Maintenance team was out in force as a large tree had fallen down next to the pool and with the help of several counselors, they had the tree cut up and removed by lunch time!

It’s been a busy week but the excitement is just starting to build for the theme weekend – Ship Wreck! More details on that tomorrow night in the weekend review!

Last night the evening program was International Night with representatives from 11 countries! Campers and counselors from each country gave a brief language lesson followed by a skit or song from their country!

France sang the French favorite and taught everyone to count to 10! Scotland didn’t have ‘You cannot Kick your Granny off the Bus’ and instead had a song about a Scotsman wearing a ‘kilt’ instead of ‘Troosers’ which was just as funny! Columbia shared their national Anthem with the Spanish helping out before the Spaniards had the whole camp up doing the ‘Macarena’!

South Africa showed it’s pride with the representatives painted in the national flag and singing the national anthem in three languages; Zulu, Africaans and English. England brought everyone up to date on Pop Dancing with a dance tutorial!

The last three acts of the night were Wales, Korea and China. The complexity of the Welsh language quickly became apparent when no-one could spell any of the numbers from one to ten even though the representative said the words out loud several times!

The evening was a fantastic success with everyone learning something about another country such as counting to ten in French or Korean or what the capital of Australia is

This summer our Nature Director; Ali Beatty has been growing our garden and looking after our new farm animals! At the start of the summer she planted zucchini’s, pumpkins, corn, tomatoes and radishes. The Radishes and Tomatoes are already through and being tasted by campers.

All of the animals have been named and the chickens have been producing a steady supply of eggs. The two goats are named ‘Sideswipe’ and ‘Bumblebee’. The Rabbit is ‘Tulip’ and the chickens are ‘Henny Penny’ and ‘Alabama’. The Nature centre has also become a-bit of an Animal Hospital with a Painted Turtle that was accidentally caught in Fishing, a snake that was stepped on and a little tiny snapping turtle that needed a home. Ali assures me that all of the animals that have been caught are doing well and getting lots of food.

In addition to the garden and the animals, Ali has been growing flowers such as the Straw Flowers and others to bring a little colour to the Garden.

Breakfast:
Waffles with 2 Fruit Toppings, Warm Syrup and a Selection of cereals and fresh sliced fruit.

Lunch:
Hot Dogs / Veggie Dogs with Toppings and Sauerkraut, Chilli, Cheese, 2 types of Mustard and Pretzel Twists as well as a freshly prepared Salad Bar.

Dinner:
Baked Chicken with gravy or Veggie Riblits with oven baked Red Potato wedges, Peas, warm rolls and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Home Made chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk!

Nature exploration at Camp Mason is a popular choice with campers as it is a chance to find bugs, eat berries from the forest, dig in the mud and learn about different animals and trees. Ali Beatty, our Nature Director has been taking campers all over the 600 acres we have here at Camp Mason. Yesterday I caught up with her team as they explored the ecosystem surrounding the pond and the wildlife populating the shores. This particular exploration involved a lot of mud as the campers dug for different frogs and identified them with Ali’s help. It is a fun and relaxing activity enjoyed by both boys and girls of all ages.

Since this session started a mere three days ago, two campers – Sydney Beck and Michelle have been following me around asking me where I am going to be at certain times. Each time they suggested, I wasn’t going to be around but finally today we arranged to meet at Free Time.

I met Sydney as she was on her way through the trails behind the courts on the way to her cabin. She was quite out of breath having ran almost all the way from her Lower Barn Ride and not wanting to miss catching me with my camera at the time we had organized. As we approached her cabin, she called out to Michelle who came running out with a huge big sign that they had made and a personal message for their mums ‘We love you and we are having a great Time!’ they told me as I took a photo of them with their sign and promised I would get it up on the site tonight for them! A photo of their sign can be seen on Bunk1.com now and I can now tell them that I have kept my word!

Once a week I have the pleasure of catching up with the Day Campers who are usually up to something cool and exciting. Today was no different being dress-up Wednesday and the theme being the 70’s. Nearly all of the campers were dressed in some form of tye-dye clothing and various other 70’s outfits. The counselors had also joined in with Hippy Hair styles and flares!

The youngest Day Campers were on the Volleyball court and impressed me with their ability at getting the ball over the net considering how small they are! The oldest Day Campers were out on a Bike Ride and I briefly captured them as they zoomed down Sioux hill before I headed up to the Upper Athletic Field where the rest of Day Camp was having a Soccer game before drills!

I caught up with the whole group once more after lunch for a group photo which always makes me smile as someone always begs to say ‘Cheese’! Photos of the activities this morning and the group photo are being added to Bunk1.com now. For more details on Day Camp or on registering for Bunk1.com, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Cabin Activities are a daily part of camp life and involve a cabin choosing an activity they wish to do each day of the week together. Cabin Activity time runs immediately after Cabin clean up from 9:30 until 10:45 in the morning.
Cabin Activities can be any activity on camp or it could be an activity of the cabins own devising.

This morning the Iroquois girls had decided on Court Drawing and spent over an hour on the courts drawing art and their names as well as a few cute slogans.

I captured most pictures and they are uploading to Bunk1.com now.

Breakfast:
Pancakes with 2 Fruit Toppings, Warm Syrup, Bacon and a large selection of fresh fruits and cereals.

Lunch:
Hoagie Sandwiches with Ham, Turkey, Hummus, 3 Types of sliced cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, coleslaw, corn chips and a freshly prepared Salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fajita’s with Rice, Black Beans, Salsa, Guacamole, Onions and Peppers, and a freshly prepared Salad bar.
Dessert: Ice Cream Sandwiches.

High ropes, a firm favorite amongst campers, gets kids 40 feet into the air, suspended by harnesses and climbing ropes, as they move between trees across a collection of logs, ropes, and wires. High ropes is spread over two periods as there is so much to do! In the first lessons, campers learn harness and climbing safety skills. Only when the instructors are happy that the campers have a basic understanding of safety will they move on to the next step.

The high ropes course consists of five continuous elements that campers go through with each getting progressively more challenging constantly testing the campers skills. Throughout the week safety procedures are continually reinforced, so campers never forget important information.

The first high ropes element campers can attempt is the vertical playpen. After putting on their harnesses and clipping into the ropes, with counselors belaying, they go up in pairs. The vertical playpen is an obstacle course in which two people climb together, supporting one another as they go up rope ladders, a 'giant's ladder,' and finally a set of spinning blocks or gradually shrinking tires. Once the campers become more confident they can race each other or attempt it blindfolded!. The next high ropes element is the pamper pole. The campers have to climb to the top of a 25 foot telephone pole. Once at the top they must then stand up and balance. Standing up is the hardest part! They then jump off and try to hit a bell hanging from another wire about 6 feet in front of them. They then float to the ground supported by the ropes.

Giant Swing is probably the the absolute favorite amongst campers. One camper is suspended in the air on his or her harness, whilst the other campers crank them into the treetops via a pulley system. The "flyer" camper who is being pulled into the air, has a rope which the can pull whenever they are ready, to release themselves to swing. The higher campers allow themselves to be pulled up, the more thrilling the swing!

The fourth element, Firecracker, is a teamwork exercise. One person climbs up to a wobbly horizontal ladder suspended in the trees, whilst the other campers stay on the ground. The slabs in the ladder will wobble when they are walked on. So they person in the air must walk along these slabs whilst the other campers keep them steady by pulling on ropes that are attached at either end.

The five element high ropes course and zip line is the final challenge of the week, and left to the end as campers must be responsible for their own safety on this element. Campers clip themselves in and out of the harness whilst in the air, so a high and confident level of understanding of high ropes is essential. The course consists of four stages which campers must complete to finally end on the zip line. Instructors demonstrate the procedures and walk the campers through the whole procedure from the ground.

This activity is extremely good for those wishing to challenge themselves and go beyond their normal comfort levels. This is not only a confidence builder but a real teambuilding experience as everyone offers encouragement to people climbing and wills everyone to do well.

Often my day is so busy I don’t get to stop and hang out with any of the campers but this morning I found myself with a couple of minutes to spare and happened to be passing the new Four Square court that Dave DeLuca and Don Jennings made last session.

This game has intrigued me more and more as I always see a long line of campers waiting to play and never having witnessed this game before I was naturally curious to see how it worked. Having determined I had a few minutes I stopped and put my camera down but then was faced with a whole group of boys, many of which being seniors who tower over me. As I stood there watching and deliberating how I could ask how it worked and if they would let me play – I heard someone calling my name and I looked up to see two Algonquin boys in the midst of the game asking me to play. ‘One hurdle down’ I thought to myself. ‘Um’, I said ‘I’d love to play but I have no idea how!’ Within moments the Sioux Boys and the Algonquin boys had explained the game and I found myself playing Four Square. At one point, for the briefest moment it took for me to bounce ball to another square and it be bounced back, I even found myself as the ‘Ace’. It was a thrilling moment!

Brief though my time was playing ‘Four Square’ – I especially enjoyed the interaction with the Sioux & Algonquin Boys that I wouldn’t normally get unless I was taking pictures! Thanks Guys, you made my day!

Twice a day this summer, campers have the chance to do any activity for as long as they like during free-time activities. The first free-time activity is from 10:45am to 11:45am and the second is from 4:30pm to 5:45pm.

During this time, nearly all the program areas are open for Campers to go to with special areas that are open announced at meal times. The areas that are open every day are; the upper Athletic Field with a variety of games, Archery, the Climbing Wall, the Courts, Gaga, Boating and Canoeing, the Pool and Arts and Crafts. In addition to these activities the special activities are; Juggling, Yoga and Drawing by the Lake, to name a few.

The Trading post is also open during both Free-time Activities allowing campers to purchase merchandise and other items.

Breakfast:
Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browned Potatoes, Sausage Patty, Biscuits and a fresh fruit bar with a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Baked Potato Bar with chilli, Broccoli, Chopped Onion, Sour Cream and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fajita’s with Rice, Black Beans, Salsa, Guacamole, Onions & Peppers and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Fruit salad with strawberries, banana, blueberries and peaches diced and mixed together.

A favorite trip in the Summer is our day long Tubing Trip. Campers depart camp at 11:30 in the morning and are driven to the Delaware River where they are dropped off with a packed lunch.

The length of the trip is 4 miles and campers float down the Delaware to a Picnic site where they stop to have lunch before continuing onto the pick up point.

It is one of the most popular trips as campers get to swim in the Delaware, relax in the sun and make friends with other campers on the trip. Last Friday I had a chance to be part of the pick up crew and watch as the group floated in and under the pedestrian bridge. The weather was perfect and there were smiles all around as the campers told me of seeing Bald Eagles and deer running next to the Delaware as they floated along. The trip is going out again this week and photos will be uploaded the following day.

Session 2A has begun and what a fantastic start it has been! This opening day was my first to be able to take photos as campers arrived and I was immediately impressed by the energy of everyone. There were smiles and laughter everywhere I went as well as old friends re-uniting and new friends being made.

Ranch Campers were busy having their riding tests of which I was able to tsee the first campers go through and photograph. I also saw the first cabins having swim tests and impressed with the amount of younger campers getting their green bands letting them use the deeper part of the pool!

Activity Sign-up and Opening Campfire only increased the level of energy with the opening song ‘My Little Red Wagon’ being sung louder than I have ever heard it sung before!

This morning was the all camp activity – No Strings Attached which is a favorite with campers as it allows them to get to know their cabin abit better while having lots of fun doing so! The areas I got around to today were the ‘House of Cards’, ‘Make Me Laugh’, ‘Sing me a Song’ and ‘Memorize this’. Being that many of the campers this session are new to camp – it was really great to see kids who have never met before, getting on so well together and having a lot of fun doing so!

Every evening here at Camp Mason, campers participate in an evening program where a village will do an activity all together, an activity with another village or all the villages will participate in a camp wide evening program.

Some examples of Village only activities may be a campfire, a slumber party, a games night or an overnight. When two villages are involved it is often the junior boys with the senior boys all mixed into teams or the senior girls with the junior girls and all mixed into teams. This gives younger campers and older campers a chance to act like big brother/sister and little brother/sister and help each other out. Activities where villages are mixed may include a Dutch Auction, Capture the Flag, Man Hunt, a Scavenger Hunt or Capture the Mattress. Whole camp activities are highly anticipated events as everyone gets to participate and it is always a lot of fun. Favorites include; International Night and the Talent Show!

The evening programs usually begin about 7:30 and finish at 9:15 or thereabouts. I am there for most evening programs with photos going up the following day about 5:00pm!

Breakfast:
French Toast, Ham and Warm Butter / Syrup and a large selection of cereals and sliced fruits such as; pineapple, pears and oranges.

Lunch:
Chicken Patty Sandwich or Vegetarian Nuggets with 2 types of sliced cheese, sweet potato fries and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Baked Ziti with Green beans / cooked carrots, Italian bread and a freshly stocked salad bar of items such as tuna salad, pasta salad, lettuce, tomato and cucumbers – to name a few.
Dessert: Chocolate Pudding with Lemonade or water.

The Rodeo was the final event for Session 1B and a fantastic event it was! The campers and Staff had worked hard for the event as was evident by the excitement of the campers and the display of skills tuned and timed to perfection!

The first event was the Halter show where two campers were paired with a horse and groomed and primped their horse to show off their grooming skills. There were horses with sparkly hooves and others with glitter hearts drawn on their backs. All of the horses coats shone with the care that had been given them.

Next up was Dollar Bare Back where a dollar bill was placed below the calf of the camper who was riding their horse bareback. They then had to walk, trot and canter without letting the dollar bills drop off. At one point it seemed as though the event may never end such was the skill of the campers in keeping their dollar bills from dropping.

A new event for this session was the Apple Bobbing where campers had to race their horses up the field, jump off, bob for an apple and lead their horse back with the winner being the first one back over the start line! Bobbing for the apply was definitely the tricky bit but also a lot of fun watching!

Before the two main events, there was also the Pony Express and Red Light Green Light which are favorites with the campers in showing off their skill at having their horse respond to their commands quickly!

The final two events were the fast paced Barrel Racing and the drill team. In the two years I have been photographing this event, it was the first time I had to work really hard to capture everyone as they really did fly along with their horses. If I recall correctly – the fastest time was 28 seconds!

The Drill team was organized by Cat Church and the Ranch Director; Sibylle Tanner and it wasn’t hard to see how hard the campers had worked to achieve such perfect synchronicity! Horses were crossing between each other diagonally and cantering all at the same time around the ring!
Photos of the event are being uploaded to Bunk1.com now!

Congratulations to all the winners of the day and to all the campers who participated!

We are now officially half way through the summer with Session 1B ending and all the campers leaving!

Session 1B ended with the Oscars Banquet followed by the final Campfire. The Oscars had each cabin dressing up in their best for the night with each cabin in a particular Movie Theme. There was ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Fame’ and ‘The Classic Diva’s to name a few! All cabins entered the Dining hall having first chatted with the presenters Ashley Forster and Amanda Meehan and then posing for photos with one of the four photographers! The Photographers were myself and the LT Director; Brad Nagle as well as two Photography Students who had competed for the honor of being the Red Carpet Paparazzi – they were Sam Brandt and Victoria Saunders.

The dinner was an ongoing awards ceremony with campers receiving awards for Archery, Swimming, Dance, Drama and Neckerchiefs were also given out to Ranch Campers – to name just a few of the awards. There was also a ‘Lost and Found’ Fashion parade with Head staff dressing in the Lost Property and continually circling the dining hall until they found their rightful owners.

After Dinner, campers were awarded their pins based on how many years they have been at camp and then headed back into the dining hall for the Camper Slide Show before heading over to the Final Campfire. The final campfire was a moving affair with skits and presentations to the LTs and CITs who were finishing their programs. Don closed the evening with the memory logs being passed around and then leading everyone by candle light back to the other side of the lake and surrounding the Flag pole. It was an amazing sight to see each village led by their Village Leader and their honor camper for the session.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear with the Ranch Color Guard for the final flag raising and the Rodeo.

Everyone agreed it had been an awesome session and everyone would be missed but hopefully back next year! Photos from; The Oscars, Closing Campfire, Color Guard, The Rodeo and the Talent Show are now on Bunk1.com.

After two weeks of preparing and practicing – the Talent Show is on tonight! Making the Band has written and produced a song for the event which campers have been practicing earnestly for the past two weeks. Dance produced an amazing dance to Thriller last session and again, from the rehearsals I have seen, it’s going to be another amazing performance.

As I have been walking about Camp today and while on the bus yesterday with the International campers, I have been impressed with the amount of rehearsing that has been going on.

With the rain that we have had on Camp today, there is a good chance that the event will be in the Dining Hall tonight. I will be there with my camera and we will also have someone videoing the event so that we can get some Talent Show Videos onto Youtube.

Yesterday, I went with our International Campers to New York! With the weather being so perfect, it was the perfect day for seeing the sights such as; Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, the Raging Bull, Trump Tower, The Plaza Hotel, Times Square and the view from the top of the Rock – The Rockefeller centre.

We started off at Battery Park for photos of the Statue of Liberty and then walked to Ground Zero where we were able to see the plans for the site and the building currently in progress for the Memorial to be built over the site. The bus picked us up from Ground Zero to take us to Central Park where everyone had lunch before starting their walking tours to the Rockefeller Centre down 5th Avenue.

While viewing the sites down 5th Avenue, we also had a little bit of time for Campers to stop at a few shops for souvenirs in-between viewing The Trump Tower and The Plaza Hotel.

The view from the Top of The Rock was simply spectacular and especially good being that it was a clear sunny day. The group photo will be up on Bunk1.com shortly. Many campers were especially keen to get photos with the Empire State Building in the Background!

After the Rockefeller Centre we all headed down to Times Square. The group I was walking with were in awe of the sights and lights and cameras were flashing constantly as everyone tried to capture the enormity of the area. We also had a bit of time to see the M&M’s store where there are huge tubes of M&M’s every color of the rainbow.

The drive back to camp was filled with the songs of Columbia, France and Spain with arrival back exactly on time! Photos of the day are being uploaded to Bunk1.com now!

This afternoon was the Day Camp Talent Show which the campers have been preparing for the last two weeks and parents anticipating for just as long. The talent show is held once every two weeks, with Parents coming to have a snack before settling down with the day campers to watch the show.

The first show on deck was Boom Chicka Boom with parents joining in. The two little campers gave it their best over the stifled giggles emanating from both the counselors and themselves. The mood was set for the rest of the show with each group producing either an act, song or dance and some of the campers even doing their own performance.

Although I wasn’t able to be there for the whole event Photos of what I did see, are being uploaded to Bunk1.com now.

Breakfast:
Waffles with Blueberry or Strawberry Syrup, Cereal and a selection of fresh sliced fruits.

Lunch:
Grilled Cheese or Grilled Cheese & Ham, Tomato Soup and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Meatball Grinders with Red sauce, Grated Mozzarella, Broccoli Au Gratin and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Dessert: Granola Bars and Chocolate Milk

Every day, multiple times a day, the pool chemicals need to be checked. Twice a day the chemicals are tested in the pump room and every hour the pool is open, the lifeguards test the chlorine and pH levels of the pool. When the chemicals are tested in the pump, I primarily test the chlorine and the pH. When testing the chlorine, I am looking for the level to be in a range between 2.0 and 4.0. As I test the acid, I am looking for the level to be between 7.4 and 7.6. If the acid level is too low then that means there is too much acid in the pool and there needs to be more chlorine pumped in to help the acid level raise. If the acid level is too high, then there is not enough acid in the pool and more acid needs to be added to make the acid level lower.

Other things that are done in the pump room are cleaning out the filter which gets full of any leaves, bugs and other stuff that falls into the pool. Every other week the pool needs to be backwashed. When the pool is backwashed, all of the gross little particles that get into the pool are filtered out even more so that the pool puts back clean water into it.

There are also other chemicals that are tested which are the alkalinity, the calcium hardness and the outflow and inflow pressure from the pumps. Although there are some dangerous chemicals that may go into the pool, when it is all put together it makes a great place for the children to have tons of fun.

Today, the International Campers visited the highlights of New York! From 5th Avenue and Times Square to Central Park and the Plaza Hotel – the International Campers got to see it all!

The New York trip is a highly anticipated event with the International Campers as for many campers this summer is the first time they have left their countries and they are very excited to see some of the sights they have only ever seen on T.V.

The trip occurs twice a summer as many of our International Campers come for four weeks. The campers set off at 7:30am and return to camp by 7:00pm in time to participate in evening activities. Breakfast and dinner are both at camp and a packed lunch is had in Central Park.
Photos of the day will be uploaded to Bunk1.com on Thursday.

Breakfast:
Blueberry or Choc Chip Pancakes with; syrup or butter, breakfast meat, cereal and a the fruit bar.

Lunch:
Sloppy Joes with Potato salad and a freshly stocked salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fingers with dipping sauces, ceasar salad, croutons, parm cheese, and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Dessert: Fruit Salad

The sun rises higher as you crawl out of your warm sleeping bag, listening to birds singing their sweet morning song, the Delaware rushes by just feet away… not a normal morning at Camp Mason, but for a LT it is.
The LT; Leadership Treks, Program has had a make-over! LT’s are 15-16 year olds that are interested in developing their leadership skills through adventure trips such as canoeing and backpacking, doing on and off camp work service projects, setting up evening activities and some other interactions at camp.

So for the Session 1B LTs have gone on a three day Delaware canoeing trip, built a primitive campsite at Camp Mohican, built stairs for a bridge at Camp Mason, meet with Camp Mason’s Board of Trustees, and are about to leave on their three day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail.

The Ranch Camp team has asked me to remind parents of Ranch Campers that this Saturday 25th July 2009 from 9:30 to 11:00am, the famous Diamond M Ranch Rodeo is going to take place at Upper Barn.

Campers have been practicing the skills they have learned really well and can't wait to show parents this weekend!

I caught up with the Ranch Campers during Drill Team Practice today and so far it looks really good. It was pouring with rain so I was only able to get a few pictures but the Ranch campers were in high spirits and excited to be doing the first Drill Team for 2009!

What makes Camp Shannon a great part of Camp Mason? A mix of great kids, enthusiastic counselors and a staff willing to put all their efforts into making a camper’s summer a once in a lifetime experience.

The 2009 Day Camp season is unlike any summer seen before. Each week includes Themed Wednesdays where campers can dress up like pirates, their favorite cartoon characters, and a mix of interesting personas. The Freedom Friday events have campers competing in watermelon eating contests, world record breaking events, and other team building activities. These Themed Wednesdays and Freedom Fridays are inspired by Camp Shannon’s theme “Americana”. In fact, each group is named after an army division. The Golden Acorns, The Timber Wolves, and the Screaming Eagles.

Not only does the staff at Camp Shannon strive to attract campers to the Day Camp program but they also strive to attract parents. Each second Thursday of every session camp Shannon holds a family BBQ / Talent Show event where the parents are able to watch the show while having dinner.
The main and most important goal at Camp Shannon is keep kids safe but at the same time let them have a summer full of memories and fun!

Day Camp Shannon also has photos uploaded once a week to Bunk1.com. If you are not already registered with Bunk1.com - you will need to register. Once you are registered click through to the Gallery and look for the folder called Day Camp Shannon where all of the photos of Day Campers are.

Breakfast:
Egg Mc-Muffins; Fried Eggs, sliced Ham, English Muffins or Biscuits, various cereals and the Fruit Bar with a selection of fresh fruits.

Lunch:
Hard or Soft Tacos; Beef, refried beans, sour cream, toppings and a freshly prepared salad bar.

Dinner:
Asian Style Stir Fry Vegetables with; sliced beef, sliced chicken, rice, 2 types of stir fry sauce and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Desert: Fortune Cookies and Milk

This weekend was the Camp Mason theme weekend with the theme being ‘Future Mason’. On breakfast Saturday, each camper received a personalized e-mail from their future selves telling them about their team for the weekend. There was the light side which consisted of the teams; white, pink, purple, yellow and green. The Dark side consisted of the colours; black, grey, red, blue and brown. The first task of the teams was to come up with their history and produce costumes in accordance with their team colour and representation in the future. A ceremony of the teams was held at Chapel late Saturday morning.

After lunch and Siesta, light versed dark in three all camp games of Capture the Flag, Counselor Hunt and Dodgeball. With the sun being out and the sense of festivity in the air, it was a high paced and fun afternoon.
After dinner, the teams met again to design something they would use / need in the future and explain it in the context of a skit. Some of the objects designed included a laser torch and robotic people who spread love, happiness and joy each time they spoke.

On Sunday the teams designed a Pod – their means of transportation in the future – which was tested for smoothness with the Egg Test. Campers had to carry their ‘pod’ with 6 eggs across the upper athletic field without a single egg breaking. It was a challenge with a lot of laughter as campers tried not to let the eggs break.

The final event of the day was the Awards ceremony where the points from the different events were added up and campers who had shown exceptional ability were awarded special Future Mason awards!

Photos of the weekends events can now be seen on Bunk1.com under the folder; Theme Weeked: Future Mason!

On Friday night, a fast moving weather front came through which required a last minute re-schedule of the normal events. The Seniors would have had their Pool party and the Juniors were to participate in a circus. Instead, the seniors had their dance and the Juniors had a village night. The Apache Girls had a slumber party in the Apache Rec and the boys had a game night in the Algonquin rec.

The senior dance included lots of favourite music with Amanda Meehan playing DJ and fairy lights strung around the dining hall. The Apache slumber party included hair styling, card playing and lots of dancing to favourite songs while everyone was in their PJ’s and Sleeping bags were laid out all over the floor of the Apache Rec.

The junior boys Game night was an intense affair of Ping Pong, Hang Man mega contest, badminton with a beach ball, cards and a chess game that apparently lasted the whole evening.

Photos of the various events of the night can be seen shortly on Bunk1.com under the July 17th 1B Folder.

This summer, Tom Lynch, the Trips Director has added an overnight trip to the Trips program that used to run at Camp Mason but hasn’t been run for some years now. The Overnight Trip is where campers go on a Canoeing, Hiking or Tubing trip but instead of returning to Camp after the trip that day, they camp out for the night and return to camp the next morning.

In session 1A, Tom and his team took out the Seniors on an overnight canoeing trip and this session they are taking out the Juniors to do tubing on Cradle Lake followed by a hike on the Appalachian trail and finally camping out near Cradle Lake on the Appalachian Trail.

The overnight trip this session is this Thursday and campers attending will miss the Talent Show but in speaking to the Junior campers who are attending the Overnight – they are planning on doing their own Talent show at the Appalachian Trail.

Photos of this session’s Overnight Trip will be up Friday night on Bunk1.com.

Breakfast:
Plain or Blueberry pancakes with toppings, pork patties, a large selection of diced fruit and cereals.

Lunch:
BLT Sandwiches, soup, corn chips and a salad bar with a range of items such as tuna salad, egg salad, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and dressings.

Dinner:
Chicken or Egg plant Parm, cheesy bread sticks, grilled veggies and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Desert: Jello

The first week of session 1B is over with campers having experienced many of the activities here at camp as well as participated in evening programs such as International Night, Overnights, Capture the Flag, No Strings Attached and a Dutch Auction.

I caught up with several campers today who were chatting about activities this past week. A group of Sioux boys were telling me about a hike they went on. One of the thingsthey liked most is that Trips have become specialised to Seniors and Juniors to account for differences in physical stamina and ability. The boys were telling me that it is great that they can go so much further now whereas last year the trips were shorter.

The overnights were also a hot topic with the Sioux Boys and Iroquois Girls having done their overnights this week. They were keen to tell me about the new locations and how everyone sleeps in in the morning now as they take breakfast out with them.

The Apache Girls were excited to recite the stories Don had told at their village campfire and the Algonquin boys have found 'big-brother' buddies in Sioux from their game of Capture the Flag with the Sioux boys.

It has been an eventful week and to wrap it up, the seniors are having their dance and the juniors are having village games due to a stormy weather front coming in which is a diversion from the usual Friday night week 1; Senior Pool party and Juniors Circus!

A review of the weekend will be on Monday - bring on the theme weekend 'Future Camp Mason!'.

Over the weekend, we don’t traditionally do updates to either Bunk1.com or the Campmason.org website as I try to get some time off. Also, as the whole weekend is one ongoing event, I try to capture it all in one photo batch and upload late Sunday Night and news updates Monday. If the evening is particularly busy on Sunday – I will just do the Weekends uploads on Monday.

This session, we will be creating an individual folder for the Theme Weekend under the 1B Session files on Bunk1.com. A full review of the events on the weekend and happenings around camp will be on the News section of Campmason.org on Monday

7/17/09

Another new introduction to Camp Mason this year are the Camper Pins. Camper pins come in Bronze, Silver and Gold and are a recognition of the number of summers a camper spends at Camp Mason.

First year campers are awarded a Bronze Pin, three year campers are awarded a Silver Pin and five year campers are awarded a Gold Pin.

A Pin ceremony takes place on the last Friday of Camp immediately after the banquet and before the Camper Slideshow Presentation.

Breakfast:
Breakfast Burritos with scrambled eggs / or with Ham, warm salsa, sour cream, grated cheese, onions and peppers, cereal and a large selection of diced fruit.

Lunch:
Pizza – Plain, cheese, pepperoni or veggie, Antipasto Salad and a freshly stocked salad bar.

Dinner:
Pilly Cheese Steaks, vegetarian nuggets, cheese, pickles, condiments, tater tots, broccoli with cheese sauce and a large selection of saladry items on the salad bar.
Desert: Popsicles

Yesterday, I had one of those moments that make Summer Camp what it is. I was sitting at one of the Picnic Benches by the lake, assisting one of the campers in my Video class video Backyard Games when I suddenly hear from my right ‘Zoom Clicka Zoom’. I turned that way and sitting right beside me is this tiny little Apache Girl engrossed in her drawing of the lake and singing the very song I had completely messed up at Opening Camp Fire. She sang the whole verse through and all the other verses from Boom Chicka Boom oblivious to the fact that I was sitting right beside her and listening very closely.

What made this moment so amazing was that many of the verses that she was singing had been made up on the spot to characterize the people who were doing that verse. For example – me as the Photographer, I was doing Photographer style while Carrie, the Arts and Crafts Director had made up an Arts and Crafts Verse.

To be reminded of how special every moment and every word is at camp, was a pretty awesome thing to witness yesterday.

Each Summer, Campers are rewarded for displaying one of the core values without having to be encouraged to do so. How we have done it in previous summers, is to hand campers a wrist band that has the colour of the value they have shown. Here at Camp, this is a huge honour and campers covet the number and colour of wrist bands they have.

This summer, we have upped the ante and asked Campers to not only be aware of their own behavior, but also the behavior of those people around them. How we are doing this is by having campers who have received one of the core value bracelets to pass it on to someone else who has shown such a value without having to be prompted.

I have been curious to see how this would work as inherently, campers are quite keen to keep their bracelets to show what they have achieved. What I have noticed though is that campers who have been given their bracelet by another camper are even more proud than being given it by a counselor. I’ve seen campers who are homesick suddenly faced with another camper handing off their caring bracelets and going away smiling and other campers who have lost something and handing off their responsibility bracelet when another camper helps them find it.

It would be easy to assume that I have only witnessed these moments because the camper handing off their bracelet has been aware of me being nearby but the fact is that each time I have witnessed this, I have been too far away or out of sight of the campers, for them to even know I was nearby. This encourages me a lot to realize how amazing this new concept is as it fosters not only a sense of awareness of ones own actions but also of others.

Once a session, we have an International Night here at Camp Mason. Last night it was held at the Chapel and was skit based. Representatives of 11 countries provided lingo interpretations and other interesting facts. Scotland was first up with a translation followed by a Scottish Jig and an interesting song that had everyone feeling rather ‘Canny’.

Korea and China sang their national Anthems and recited and translated some poetry. The French sung a pop song which has become a camp favourite and after a short tutorial by the French Chaperone Charlotte, all of Camp Mason was able to reproduce a pretty fair version of of the song.

Ireland followed by Russia were next up with an Irish TV advert and a song about Raspberries from the Russian contingent. Columbia demonstrated that the three parts of their flag had significant meaning and that Columbians are fluent in many languages. The Unicorn Whisperer from Switzerland justified her role as the Assistant Ranch Director with a glimpse of some delicious looking swiss chocolate. The Spaniards produced an interesting song that looked very much like someone picking their nose, examining it and eating it??? I hesitate to ask for clarification as an ‘Awkward’ moment comes to mind!

Australia and New Zealand tested contestants on their knowledge of the great down under and that there are significantly more sheep than people in those far off countries. The final group on deck was the English with the Beatles, Spice Girls and Mary Poppins.

From the many standing 'O's that were given, I think it would be fair to say that the event was a fantastic success. Photos can be seen on Bunk1.com now.

Breakfast:
Waffles with 2 toppings, warm syrup and a large selection of cool fruits such as sliced pear, pineapple and peaches. A selection of cereal was also available.

Lunch:
Hot Dogs or Veggie Dogs with toppings, Sauerkraut, chilli, cheese, 2 types of mustard, pretzel twists as well as a fresh salad bar.

Dinner:
Baked Chicken with Gravy, Veggie Riblits, Oven Baked Potato Wedges, Peas and Warm rolls with a freshly stocked Salad bar.
Dessert: Home Made choc chip cookies with chocolate milk or water.

Every day we aim to get photos onto the Bunk1.com website by 5pm. This week we have noticed that the uploading process was taking longer than we would normally expect it with some photos taking up to 2 hours to load onto Bunk1.com.

We have been in communication with Bunk1.com and photos are uploading quicker now. We will be monitoring the process over the next few days to determine if the time-delay re-occurs. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused .

All photos from each day of this session are now live on the site and today’s photos are up there now including all Cabin photos.

In our Newspaper class this year, campers are putting together the Moose News once a session. It is compiled of a range of hot topic articles such as ‘Camp Mason Goes Green’, ‘Meet our New Arrivals – the animals’ and a review of a the Twilight Series available in our Library. There is also some trivia, sports news and photos from the session.

The class runs for one week with two different groups of campers contributing to the Moose News each week. This week we have two of our English Staff – Caff O’Connor and Sam Timms – running the activity. Caff, who has a degree in English, is very excited to be on board and with her class of mostly seniors, she has already said that “This is going to be the best session of the summer”. I am sure it will be and we aim to have a link to the Moose News on the Camp Mason website soon!

On our staff this year is Jennie Fiddler who was both a camper and counselor in previous years here at Camp Mason. This year she is teaching Dance and Arts and Crafts.

Campers sign up to Jennie's Dance class for two weeks as Campers build a Dance spectactular for the Talent Show.

Last session, Jennie's class did a fantastic performance to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. The Choreography and the timing was perfect. The clapping at the end was so thunderous, it took quite some time for the Village Leaders to quieten everyone down.

With many of our campers staying on for a second session, I have been eager to see what she is planning for this session. Her class is again full and only three days in, I can see that it is going to be another amazing performance. Photos of their preparation so far are now up on Bunk1.com.

Breakfast:
French Toast with Ham, a large selection of diced fresh fruits and cereals.

Lunch:
Hoagie Sandwiches with Ham, Turkey, Hummus, 3 types of sliced cheese and a large selection of crispy fresh salad on the salad bar for example Cole slaw, Lettuce and tomato. Also corn chips were an aside.

Dinner:
Pasta and Meatballs, Red sauce, sausage and peppers, sautéed fresh veggies, warm breadsticks and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Desert: Ice Cream Sandwiches

The first session of Adventure Bound Campers set off this week on their Boots and Paddles Backpacking and Canoeing Trip.

Alissa Duffy, the Adventure Bound Director saw the campers off at High Point State Park at High Point which is the highest point in New Jersey. From there they trekked to Sunrise View today for some stunning views and tomorrow they will be hiking by Culver Fire Tower with pick up at Stokes State Forest.

On Thursday, the Adventure Bound Campers will be heading out again to paddle down the Delaware River and pick-up on the river on Friday afternoon in time to join main camp for dinner.

With the weather being so amazing, they are sure to be having a fantastic time and I shall be posting pictures of their trip on the weekend. Pictures of their departure can be seen now on Bunk1.com.

Today, 25 of Camp Mason’s campers went to Camp Nejeda for a competitive sports day! Camp Nejeda is about 20 minutes drive from Camp Mason and is a Camp for children with Diabetes.

The events for the day included Volleyball, Basketball, Archery and Soccer. Camp Nejeda triumphed in all bar the Volleyball which the Camp Mason team won by a narrow margin.

After the games were played, the teams took to the Camp Nejeda dining hall for a chant sound off and trade which I was informed by the Camp Mason Campers was a fantastic end to the games

Well done to all the campers who participated and we are looking forward to the next sports day later this summer!

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs, Hash Browned Potatoes, Sausage Patties, Biscuits and a large selection of fresh fruits and cereals.

Lunch:
Baked potato bar including chilli, broccoli, chopped onion sour cream and a cool and fresh salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fajita’s with rice, black beans, salsa, guacamole, onions and peppers and the salad bar.
Desert: Fruit Salad

This summer Camp Mason is using Bunk1.com to host our summer photos and camper e-mails. Photos are updated weekdays at approximately 5pm and are sorted according to date and village. If a camper is in Apache, for example, you can search within the Bunk1.com Photo Gallery for 'Apache' and all photos with Apache campers will be displayed. Same for Algonquin, Sioux, Iroquois and Spruce.

Camper E-mails are also through Bunk1.com. For additional credits, you are able to have your camper reply by e-mail by purchasing the Bunk1.com stationary which we print out here at Camp and once the camper has filled it out, it is sent onto you via Bunk1.com.

It is a free service to view Bunk1.com Photos and send camper e-mails but you will need to purchase credits in order to receive Bunk1.com e-mail replies.

Literature has been sent to all Camper parents with an approval code allowing you to immediately view Bunk1.com photos and send e-mails. All friends, relatives, Alumni who have not received this approval code will need to register for Bunk1.com and after approval, will also be able to send e-mails and view the photo gallery.

Daily News updates will continue to be on www.campmason.org which will include a 'Photo of the Day'.

Should you have any questions with regards to Bunk1.com e-mails or photos, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Cabin chats were introduced to Camp Mason’s traditions last summer and were such a success that returning campers have been asking on arrival if there will be cabin chats this summer!

Cabin Chats are held each evening just before lights out and once campers are ready for bed. All campers sit in a circle in the cabin and a lit candle is placed in the middle of the circle. The cabin counselors then put to the campers a question for discussion which may relate to events on that day or they may be an open-ended question. An example of an opening day question may be ‘What are you most excited about this summer and why?’ and further down the week, a question may be; ‘If you could be a Superhero, who would you be and why?’.

Counselors can also use this time to recognize a camper who has acted without encouragement to help another camper or do something to help others. In this instance, the camper may be allowed to light the candle or to be the camper who blows the candle out. Either way, campers recognize Cabin Chats as a time to reflect and an honor if chosen to light or put out the candle.

On the first Monday of each session, the whole of Camp Mason participates in activities where the campers have the chance to meet campers they would not normally mingle with.

One of the activities is ‘No Strings Attached’. This activity involves campers forming groups from campers in every cabin. Once the groups are formed, each group visits stations spread out around camp. For example, in the dining hall, the campers have a timed five minutes to memorise as many flags as they can around the dining hall. They then go outside and the group is awarded ‘strings’ based on how many flags they have remembered.

Other stations include knockout on the Basketball courts, the screaming race and a throwing the mattress competition on the upper athletic field. The winning team has gained the most 'strings' while also getting to know campers from cabins other than their own!

The Arts and Crafts Director this year is Carrie Lander who has a degree in Art Education and has been both a Camper at Camp Mason and counselor in previous years. This year she is excited to be adding the natural element to Arts and Crafts. What this involves is teaching campers to use their natural environment for art projects. For example, at the start of each week, all of the campers who have signed up for Arts and Crafts create Nome homes which are little homes built from leaves, branches and other natural forest waste. A selection of this week’s Nome homes will be photographed by Campers doing Photography this week and can be seen on Bunk1.com tomorrow evening.

Other projects that Carrie is doing with Arts and Crafts is Lake drawing and pottery where the campers are making all of the objects they create and then taking the projects through each phase of construction, glazing and cooking in the Kiln. Bracelet making and beading is also being done in Arts and Crafts this summer.

Breakfast:
Plain and Blueberry Pancakes with syrup and Sausage patties. A selection of cereals and fresh fruit was also on the cool foods cart.

Lunch:
Chicken Patty sandwiches or Vegetarian nuggets with 2 types of sliced cheese, sweet potato fries and a crispy fresh salad bar of cold pasta, egg salad and other saladry items.

Dinner:
Baked Ziti with green beans / cooked carrots, Italian bread and the salad bar.
Desert: Chocolate Pudding

The sunshine is out and Camp Mason has re-filled with campers! Tours are just coming to a close, swim tests are wrapping up and everyone is settling into their cabins before dinner!

The session ahead is going to be another awesome session with our CIT's from last session assisting in cabins this session and our first LT's of the summer beginning their program.

We also have another group of International campers arriving this evening which is always exciting hearing the many different accents in the dining hall!

The Diamond M. Ranch Rodeo this weekend was an awesome display of the Ranch Campers determination to show off what they had learnt.

The events included the Pony Express, Dollar Bareback, Simon Says, Halter Display and the fast paced Barrel Racing. Each event had a winner and a runner up and photos of each participant and event are now up on Bunk1.com.

The final event, Barrel Racing was won by Josie Millard and runner-up was Michael 'Ryder' Sammons who had a particularly challenging horse for the event.

Well done to all the campers who took part and congratulations on making the events such a success!!

Session 1A came to a close this past week with a beautiful display of candles around the lake here at Camp Mason.

Preceding the Camp Fire, campers were awarded special pins pertaining to ther number of years at Camp and if this is their first summer here at Camp Mason. After the Pin Ceremony, campers re-joined in the dining hall for the final Camper Presentation before heading over to the Campfire ring for theCamp Fire.

There was some tears and there was even more laughter and yelling as campers gave their final cheer to Session 1A. As Don sang 'Lean on Me', the candles were distributed and campers surrounded the lake and finished off Sesison 1A. Photos of the evening can now be seen on Bunk1.com.

Dinner:
Burgers, Dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad and a freshly prepared Salad bar.

Desert: Watermelon

After a really wet week last week, this past weekend and yesterday we have had some mighty fine weather here at Camp Mason. Campers have been able to fully enjoy the range of outdoor activities such as Field Games, without getting too wet.

Today the day looked to be off to a fine start with plenty of sunshine and Don’s word of the day getting everyone in the mood for abit of ‘Awesomeness’. At 10:50am, our weather watchers in the office were out around camp with the Air Horn blasting three times to alert all campers to return to cabins immediately. The Apache girls who had just returned from a late sleep-in on their overnights, were delighted to have a little more time to shower before going off to activities. By 11:30 – activities were back on and laughter could once again be heard from all corners of the camp!

The weather for the rest of the week looks to be sunny and a few clouds with the chance of rain being less than 20%.

This year, Camp Mason has started a Video class within the Media Program. During the activity, campers are learning the basic principles of Video such as; lighting, angles, distance and scripting.

The campers are split into two groups of four and each camper has to come up with a story that they wish to video within a 90 second time frame. Having come up with an idea they then draw up a scene card for each scene which outlines lighting, props, script etc. Each member of the group then brings their ideas to the whole group and has to figure out how to make a story from their individual ideas. Each member of the group then films their section using the other members of their group as their cast.

Having completed their filming, we will discuss editing and why it is so important and what we need to do to our films to make them awesome. Having finalized the edits, on Friday, we have a chance to review each film and finalise it for uploading.

The Ranch Camp team has asked me to remind parents of Ranch Campers that this Saturday 11th July 2009 from 9:30 to 11:00am, the famous Diamond M Ranch Rodeo is going to take place at Upper Barn.

Campers have been practicing the skills they have learned really well and can't wait to show parents this weekend!

I caught up with one of our Ranch Campers this session; Kyle Bryant. Kyle is really excited to be doing Ranch this year and this week he is challenging himself to do the White Neckerchief test. He is really hoping he achieves his White Neckerchief so that he can wear it this Saturday during the Rodeo!.

Breakfast:
Blueberry or Choc Chip Pancakes with Syrup or butter, Patties or sausages, and vegetarian patties. A selection of fresh fruit and cereals was also available.

Dinner:
Chicken fingers with Dipping sauces, ceasar salad, croutons, Parm cheese and a large selection of saladry items on the Salad bar.
Desert: Fruit such as Apples, Oranges, Peach and Watermelon.

We’re very excited about our new library, which was started last year by Kate Elston, this summer’s Media Specialist. Campers visit everyday during free time and check out books that they can keep for up to a week. It has been very well-received and they are making suggestions for other books we should have on the shelves.

To help the library grow more quickly, we are asking our alumni, camper families and volunteers to make a contribution to this great new program.

1. Purchase books from our WISH LIST at Amazon.com.
The books will ship directly to camp if purchased from this list and you will receive a gift-in-kind acknowledgement letter soon after we receive your contribution.

You can use this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=3KCL552NDZ2ML
OR
follow these steps:
Go to www.amazon.com
Click on “Gifts & Wish Lists” in the top menu bar
Click on “Wish List”
In the “search for a list” box, type in Camp Mason, hit enter and the list will appear and you can begin shopping right away!

2. Donate some of your good-condition used children’s books
You may have books in your home library that you no longer need and that may be appropriate for the library. If so, please let us know what you have and then ship them to us or bring them by camp next time you are in the area. We need books for campers ages 7 - 16; the list is just a small sampling and we will take any and all used books in that age range. Contact us at alumni@campmason.org and we will provide you with the correct shipping address.

3. Bookstore Gift Cards
For those who do not enjoy the online shopping experience, nor have any books to donate, gift cards would also be appreciated. We can use gift cards to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks or Borders, to name a few. If you choose the e-card method, please use alumni@campmason.org.

If you have any questions about the library or other contribution opportunities, please email to alumni@campmason.org or contact us at (908) 362.5828.

Breakfast:
Egg McMuffins; Fried Eggs, Sliced Ham, English McMuffin or Biscuit and a fresh selection of fruit and cereal.

Lunch:
Tacos (Either hard or soft shell); Beef, refried beans, sour cream, various other toppings and a salad bar with items such as egg salad, tuna, cold pasta and cucumber.

Dinner:
Asian style Stir Fry Vegetables with sliced beef, sliced chicken, rice, 2 types of stir fry sauce and a freshly prepared salad bar.
Desert: Fortune Cookies and Fruit.

Camp Mason was alive with activity this weekend beginning Friday night with the Junior Carnival and the Senior Dance and then both Saturday and Sunday being the Olympics theme weekend.

The Carnival was alot of fun by all with campers having the chance to throw wet sponges at Counselors, climb the climbing wall, pet our new goats, roast marshmellows and Don was giving campers the chance to try out his Unicycle, to name a few activities.

Meanwhile, over at the pool - the senior campers were enjoying some chill out time to the beat of their favourite tunes in the pool.

Saturday and Sunday was the Themed Olympics Weekend with Saturday being filled with competitive events such as relay races, basketball, volleyball and hockey tournaments. Before the events kicked off each team was formed of a mixed group of campers who then took the morning to create their flags and have a flag parade. The team names for this year were; Dynamite, Sparta, Funkytown, Awesome, Crispy, Waffle, Twentyforia, MasonTopia and Neverland.

Sunday, Campers completed the events with a each team being allocated a Funyak which they were provided with paint and paintbrushes to decorate with their team logo. During the decorating process, each team sang their team chant. In the afternoon, the campers then carried their team's boat over the lake where a string was tied to it and they walked back to the flag pole. Two teams at a time then had to pull their boat across the lake with the fastest team over all winning the event.

The winning team for the whole weekend was; Funkytown! Well done to all the campers as everyone put in their best efforts!

This weekend saw the departure of some of our campers who were trying out Camp for the first time and the arrival of new campers who are coming for a week also.

Five of our departing campers had also shown exceptional skill within their activities and Don presented these campers with a special award recognising them for their achievments. These campers were Elizabeth Cheui, Katherine Cheui, Sabastian Georgiev, B.Elijah Lanchester and Ryan Munson.

The new campers who arrived on Sunday, came into the midst of the Boat Racing event and so were immediately immersed into the sounds of Teams chanting at thier loudest while pulling their boat across the lake the fastest!

We look forward to seeing our starting campers who have already departed, again soon, and are enjoying the company of our new starter campers!

Breakfast:
French Toast, Toppings, Pork Patties and a selection of fresh fruit and cereals.

Lunch:
BLT Sandwiches with soup, cornchips and a salad bar of items such as tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and pasta.

Dinner:
Chicken or Vegetarian Parm, cheesy Bread sticks, grilled veggies and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Desert was the ever so tasty Jello with a dollop of whipped cream!

On Saturday 11th July 2009 from 9:30 to 11:00am, the famous Diamond M Ranch Rodeo is going to take place at Upper Barn. Our Ranch Campers are going to participate in different Rodeo event such as Halter Show, Dollar Bareback, Simon Says, Red Light - Green Light, Pony Express and the action loaded Barrel Racing.

During the two weeks of this session the Ranch Campers are working hard to perform well and have fun in the Rodeo. All of the are improving their riding skills each day and will get even better before the Rodeo.

Campers and Counselors to meeting you at the Rodeo to show you what they have learned and accomplished.

Breakfast:
Breakfast Burritos with scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with ham, warm salsa, sour cream, grated cheese, onions and peppers. A selection of cereals and a fresh fruit bar.

Lunch:
Pizza's such as Cheese, Pepper or veggie. Antipasto salad and a fresh salad bar.

Dinner:
Pilly cheese steaks, veggie nuggets, cheese, pickles, condiments, Tater Tots, Broccoli with cheese sauce and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Desert: Popicles

Camp Mason is on Facebook and Twitter this year! Today, Summer 2009 photos were uploaded to the Camp Mason Facebook page and the upload was 'tweeted' on Twitter.

More photos will be uploaded as the summer progresses although the main source of Camp Mason Photos will be on Bunk1.com!

Camp Mason is also about to launch an upload to YouTube - so stay tuned for more details on when we get our first video onto YouTube!

The YMCA Camp Mason Counselor in Training program is a 4 week leadership training program where 16 year old campers learn the skills and qualities necessary for becoming an effective counselor. The program is divided into two parts, each lasting one, two week session.

During the first session, the CIT’s live together in gender grouped cabins and do leadership excercizes as well as service projects. This session the CIT’s have chosen to re-clear and rebuild a degraded trail that used to lead around Mason’s beautiful marshes. Making these trails usable again involves laying large, flat stones on top of the low, muddy areas of the trail. In order to clarify the safest path is large rocky clearings the CIT’s also used logs and fallen tree trunks to line the trail. At this point, much progress has been made, but there is much left to do in coming weeks. On Wednesday, the CIT’s will be traveling to Genesis Farms in Blairstown, NJ to volunteer at an independent and sustainable local farm. These projects exemplify the service aspect that is the main focus of the first session of the CIT program.

The second session, the CIT’s will be moving into cabins with junior campers and acting as a third counselor in the cabin. The aim of this is to give them the experience of supervising young children, while allowing them to observe the way in which older, more experienced counselors manage their children. During the third week of their program they will still be spending time working on in-camp service projects, as well as creating skits and other performances for chapel, the talent show, and campfires. The final week of the program they will be acting as counselors both in the cabin, and during activity periods. They will help to run activities such as backyard sports, soccer and drama. This four week regimen will give them the tools necessary for returning to camp next year as junior counselors.

There are still places to sign up for the second session of the CIT program this year - starting in 2A. If you would like to find out more, please don't hesitate to contact us here at Camp Mason!

Cabin Photos for all Villages and CIT's are now up on Bunk1.com! To find your camper on Bunk1.com once you have registered, go to the Photo Gallery and down the left hand side you will see a 'search' bar. Type in your Campers Last Name or Cabin Number and all photos with them in it, will appear in the gallery.

If for any reason you are unable to find your camper, please don't hesitate to drop us a line and we will be more than happy to direct you to their cabin group!

For Families, relatives and friends of campers who have signed up for Bunk1.com the villages are defined by Age and Gender.

Iroquois is Senior Girls
Apache is Junior Girls
Sioux is Senior Boys
Algonquin is Junior Boys
Spruce is Ranch Campers
CIT are our counselors-in-training.

Breakfast:
Pancakes, 2 Fruit Toppings, Warm Syrup, Bacon, a selection of Cereals and a fresh fruit bar. Orange Juice or Milk was available for Juice.

Lunch:
Hoagie Sandwiches with Ham, Turkey, Hummus, 3 types of sliced cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, Coleslaw and corn chips as well as a selection of salad items on the salad bar.

Dinner:
Pasta and Meat Balls, Red sauce, Sausage, Peppers, sauteed fresh veggies, warm breadsticks and a freshly stocked salad bar.
Desert is Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Today, the drill became unnecessary when inclement weather provided the perfect opportunity to put into action one of our Emergency Procedures. This procedure was alerted to the whole of camp with a triple blast of the Air Horn repeated once a minute. For the trained staff of Camp Mason, this triple blast of the Air Horn informed them that all campers should be returned by staff to their cabins immediately as a prolonged bad weather front was approaching.

Within minutes all village leaders were able to confirm that their campers were in the appropriate cabins. The storm front took some hours to pass and campers were able to enjoy some indoor games that each Cabin was prepared for!

Breakfast:
Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browned potatoes, sausage patty and biscuits on the hot cart while on the cold breakfast cart was a selection of fruits such as Bananas and mixed fruit salad or a large selection of cereals.

Lunch:
Baked potato bar with chilli, broccoli, chopped onion and sour cream as well as a freshly stocked salad bar.

Dinner:
Chicken Fajita’s with rice, black beans, salsa, guacamole, onions and peppers as well as the salad bar.
Desert tonight is fruit salad.

All meals have juice and Peanut Butter and Jelly is available at every meal!

This summer we have lots of new activities and one in particular which has become an instant success is Back Yard Games! Back Yard games are 16 all time favourite games that Campers choose from in one activity.

At the start of the week the campers choose four of the sixteen games they would like to play that week. Some of the games they can choose from are; Whiffle Ball, Kick Ball, and Gaga. In the last fifteen minutes of each day – the group works on a game of their own devising.

Jordan Katcher – one of our counselors who was also a camper here at Camp Mason is leading this activity this year. After only one day he was able to tell me that so far they have four great ideas for the game of their own devising and he can’t wait for tomorrow!

Camp Mason is excited to announce that this year Bunk1.com will be hosting our Camp Mason Photos and Camper E-mails. Bunk1.com is a fantastic resource allowing parents, relatives, campers and staff to find photos of a particular person quickly via the search option and purchase merchandise of their photos. The e-mail facility allows parents to send e-mails to their camper with the camper being able to send a hand written e-mail back to the parent, friend or family member.

To register for Bunk1.com go to www.ymcacampmason.bunk1.com where you will have the option to ‘Register Now’. If you are a parent or guardian, you will have received literature in the post with regards to Bunk1.com including a pre-approval code to enter upon registration. Once you are registered and approved, you are able to start sending e-mails to your camper and to view the Camp Mason Photos.

The feature to allow you to ‘search’ for a particular person on Bunk1.com can be found once you enter the Photo Gallery. Look down the left hand side of the screen and you will see the ‘Photo search’ bar where you can enter a name and only the photos of the person you have searched for will appear in the gallery. You can also search by Cabin Name or Village Name. Once Summer Camp starts Photos will be updated every weekday at approximately 5pm and Sunday afternoons.

The Camp Mason News including the Daily Menu, Director’s message and activity articles will still be found here on the Camp Mason website under ‘News’.

Should you have any questions with regards to Bunk1.com or any other questions, please don’t hesitate to drop us an e-mail here at Camp Mason.

Old friends were re-united and new friends made as campers settled in for their first day and night on camp!

First off, campers had a tour of camp with their cabins followed by a swimming test. This year we had many campers obtaining the Green swimming band allowing them to swim in all parts of the pool! There was even a little extra time for campers a quick swim due to the smoothness with which the testing went!

Program Sign-ups was an exciting time for campers with many new programs on offer and, having had a brief taste of the Programs on offer on the Basketball Courts earlier in the evening, Campers knew exactly what they wanted to take and went straight to the appropriate sign-up sheet!

The first night at camp came to a close with the first Camp Fire of the Summer! Counselors from each village produced a huge range of skits from 'Repeat-after-me songs to a fashion show! There was alot of laughs and a particularly moving version of 'Lean On Me' led by Don his Guitar!

Breakfast:
French Toast with warm Syrup and Butter and accompanied with Bacon. A large selection of fresh fruit such as pears, peaches and pineapple was also available. Cereals such as Cornflakes, Bran Flakes and Cheerios are on offer every breakfast. The juice today was Orange Juice.

Lunch:
Chicken Patty Sandwiches with 2 Types of sliced cheese, Sweet Potato Fries and the Salad bar were featured with a vegetarian option of Vegetarian nuggets.

Dinner:
Baked Ziti without meat, green beans, cooked carrots and Italian bread with butter. A salad bar with a range of items including salad and cucumber. Desert was Chocolate pudding with cream.

New to Camp Mason this summer is our Aquatics Director who comes to us from Davenport, Iowa. Lauren has 15 years of competitive swimming experience and has been a Swimming Instructor for 8 years.

Lauren's role as the Aquatics Director involves scheduling for 15 Lifeguards, programming for the entire Acquatic Programs, Swimming lessons and all maintenance of the pool.

Lauren is most excited this summer about the new swim lesson program she has put in place which includes certification for any accomplishment in the water!

Dinner:
Barbequed Chicken Wings with corn, baked beans and potato salad. The salad bar was fully stocked with cold beans, lettuce and tomatoes to name a few items.

Desert:
Watermelon

he Camp Mason staff of 2009 all had a chance to experience Camp as a Camper would experience camp. It was a great day for the trial run with the sun out and the international staff getting their first taste of the heat of New Jersey.

The day started off with Flag and Don's word of the day 'Whizbang' followed by a fantastic breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausages. After breakfast Cabin groups set off on various activities. A quick recall at the Basketball courts revealed cabins had participated in various activities such as field games, ASE, Arts and Crafts and a Core Values Scavenger Hunt which was highly entertaining and successful according to the photos I saw.

The day has since progressed through the various activities, free time and a highly appreciated 'Free Swim' this afternoon to cool down after the heat of the day!

This evening staff will have a chance to dress up for the staff dance which has been a highly anticipated event by staff so should be alot of fun. All photos of today and tonights dance will be on Bunk1.com after 4pm tomorrow.

This past week Camp Mason has seen A LOT of rain! There have been times when we thought it would never end! Today though, has been a definite ray of sunshine with temperatures rising and the warm clothes discarded for summer shorts and t-shirts! It couldn’t have come at a better time with staff having completed some concentrated staff training and next on the schedule were work projects. This afternoon, staff are all across camp weed whacking, painting, cleaning and getting the cabins and camp ready for Sunday.

I caught up with our new Camp Shannon Day Camp Director Mary Beth Journe and Program Director Mike Seidel who were doing training with their team this morning. They have some really exciting changes for this summer including new staff who will be doing both Day Camp during the day and with a cabin group in the evenings. They have lots of new activities and are very excited about this summer!

This afternoon all the camp is coming back together to meet at the pool in time for an Aquatics orientation with the Aquatics Director Lauren Lehenbauer followed by an open swim for all staff to cool down after an afternoon of work projects!

Descended on Camp Mason this weekend was 60% of our Summer Staff! From Switzerland and South Africa to Australia and the United Kingdom – they came for Camp! The energy walking around camp is amazing with counselors meeting in cabin groups with towels slung across their shoulders ready for their swim tests and others still pouring in with suitcases and smiles! Summer Camp feels like a heartbeat away!

The tone of this week’s staff training was set with the high jinks of Head staff at the Camp fire skits and Don, Marcus and Dave giving a verbal tour of Camp Mason’s history, our Mission for this Summer and the core values that define us; Honesty, Caring, Respect and Responsibility!

The first day of all staff being on camp ended with the counselors in each cabin gathering around a candle and reflecting on the day during cabin chat!

As many of you will recall our Apache Village Leader last year was Amanda Meehan who this year has taken on the challenging role of Program Director. Amanda is very excited by this opportunity not only because there are many new programs to offer but also because she gets to work closely with Don Jennings!

As program Director Amanda’s role is to facilitate and co-ordinate with staff all the programs we offer to campers. From the basics of helping staff design the most exciting lesson plans to ordering and providing the equipment necessary to get the programs up and running. One of her most important jobs is in the scheduling of all the programs with staff to run each activity.

Amanda is most excited about the Theme Weekends this summer which she has been working closely with the Village Leaders to organize.

If you have been following the Camp Mason news Over the Fall, Winter and Spring; the Camp Mason Staff, Volunteers and Alumni have been busy building and preparing for Summer 2009!

The dining hall is one of our most exciting renovations with a marble-like finish to the floor, new chairs, pictures of camp around all of the dining hall walls and brand new ‘heated’ food carts! The Upper Barn and lower barn have had a fresh lick of paint while new fire rings have been established for overnights along and near the Green Trail and the Beaver Pond. The Nature Centre program has been re-invented with a recently planted garden of vegetables and a farm of animals such as goats, rabbits and chickens.

A new program for 2009 is the CIT Program (AKA Counselors-in-Training) which will be run by our CIT Directors Kat LaFata and Will Watts. The aim of this program is to give young people who wish to become counselors; the skills and experience required to be a counselor next year as well as learning how to operate as a team and contribute to camp through a Service Project.

The LT program has also been given an overhaul and this year will be focusing on teaching leadership skills such as survival and trekking through two big trips during the two week session. Brad Nagle and Sara White are the LT Directors this year and they are very excited to get going!

The Summer is gearing up with Staff Training beginning this week and continuing next week! It has been great to see many familiar faces and lots of new faces! This week has involved the Leadership team scheduling and organizing the summer for their villages, LT and CIT programs.

Ali Beatty, the Nature Director is getting the nature area ready for the arrival of the goats while Carrie Lander; the Arts and Crafts Director has been ordering lanyards and clay and lots of other exciting equipment ready for the many activities she will be running this summer. Lauren Lehenbauer, this year’s Aquatics Director has some new Pool Games she is preparing while I have started getting photos up onto Bunk1.com and preparing for another exciting summer.

To find out more about Camp Mason or about donating to Camp Mason, information is available at the Camp Mason Website www.campmason.org

Did you know that Camp Mason offers family camp weekends? In our busy, modern lives we all seem to have far too many distractions that pull us away from the things that really matter. We say family foremost! Quality time with the family when you can all be together seems harder and harder to find. But, the YMCA has a solution - a tradition that spans seven decades. Family Camp!!!

Our program is designed to be a fun-for-the-whole-family weekend of things to do, indoors and out. Do as much or as little as you like. Relax at camp, or hit the trail! Throughout the weekend we will be offering various camp activities you can enjoy as a group - or divide up for a time so each can sample the activity they most enjoy. Some activities are self directed while others are supervised by our helpful, caring staff. The weekend also includes planned group events. Evening programs include exciting presenters, treasure hunts, and a traditional campfire complete with s’mores

Interested in Scrapbooking, Quilting, crafts of any kind? Are you and your friends looking for some peace and quiet to focus on what you love? Here at camp we will take care of everything for you, providing meals, lodging, a place to work on your projects with plenty of activities available when you want to take a break.

Looking for a weekend where women have a opportunity to spend time together in the outdoors? All activities are outside, social and designed to provide a retreat from daily life. “Get away from it all” with other like minded women.

Grandparents, what better way to spend time with your grandchildren than spending a weekend away with them at camp! All activities available at our traditional family camp weekends will be available this weekend.

July 3-5: Olympics – A theme with an international flavor, this weekend’s events will be defined by Olympic-type competition and mixed-village, mixed-cabin teams representing a wide range of ‘nations’. Prepare for the thrill of victory!

July 17-19: Future Camp Mason – Everything from Star Wars to Star Trek to Lost in Space, this theme will focus on the future… any future. A huge range of costumes and activities is available – from astronauts and aliens, to robots and rockets. Start planning now to get your future on at camp!

July 31-Aug 2: Shipwreck – Pirates and galleons and Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island – this theme presents an amazing array of costume opportunities. Events will include all things island-y, so get ready enjoy a deep sea weekend!

Aug 8-16: Heroes – Comic book heroes, movie heroes, literary heroes, imaginary heroes, side-kicks, villains, and secret headquarters – this theme has it all!

Thanks to everyone who showed-up for Family Day at Camp Mason. More than 100 people – parents and kids and friends and families – turned out for an afternoon of sunshine, snacks, tours, and fun-filled camp activities. The weather was beautiful and camp looked great. With only three weeks left until Opening Day, this event was a great start to the summer season. Don’t miss it next year!

Remember, there’s still room in every session – tell someone you know about the summer camp you love! We’ll be accepting registrations up until Opening Day and beyond. Don’t forget that tuition assistance is available. Why not give your child the gift of summer camp?

The American Camps Association has developed a wonderful video titled Because of Camp…™. The purpose of this viral, Web-based, campaign is to familiarize the non-camp population with the benefits of summer camp.

Because of Camp…™ consists of fourteen celebrities discussing how their lives have been changed… Because of Camp...™. As dedicated members of the ACA we at Camp Mason feel that this video represents many of the wonderful benefits of a summer camp experience.

Recent visitors to Camp Mason have witnessed long anticipated changes to our most important building on camp...our dining hall.

Our new dining hall floor has been polished (ridding us of the old painted surface), we have replaced much of the old decor on the walls, are acquiring new hot food serving carts, new lighting and new chairs for our round tables.

The dining experience for our guests is one of the most important goals for Camp Mason's staff and we hope that these improvements to our dining hall, in addition to new meals like asian sty fry and philadelphia cheese steaks will be welcomed by all.

Last weekend over fifty summer camp families, board members, outdoor center participants,alumni and donors converged on Camp Mason to participate in our spring Work Weekend.

Projects that took top priority were painting in our Dining Hall, the establishment of our Farm and Garden Program, routine trail maintenance and brush clearing.

All participants worked hard and by Sunday morning we even had time to give our Dining Hall tables and benches a new coat of paint . Thanks to all who participated.

Here at Camp Mason we’ve been busy planning ahead for another great summer of Adventure Bound Treks. This year you can expect to see some improvements to many of our programs. Two treks (Mountain Adventure and Spokes n Splash) have fun new itineraries and all treks will see an increased focus on leadership and team building. We’ll still visit all of the beautiful locations we’ve been going to for years: Rick’s Rocks, the Delaware River, Kittatinny Ridge, and more. Never been on an Adventure Bound Trek? Many of our trekkers are first-time campers. All you need is a positive attitude and a willingness to try something new! If you have any questions about Adventure Bound Treks feel free to contact Alissa at 908-362-8217 or Alissa@campmason.org.

All the best adventures in the area packed into two fun filled weeks! We’ll hike, bike, climb, and canoe our way through some of the most scenic places in New Jersey. Our trek starts with a bike ride along the beautiful Paulinskill Valley Trail. Later in the week we’ll advance to trails in High Point and Stephens State Parks as well as the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Our hikes will be along the Kittatinny Ridge, affording us some of the most beautiful views of the region. We’ll also test our climbing skills as we progress from our climbing wall to some awesome local faces. The culmination of our trip will be a 2 night canoe trip on the Delaware River where we’ll paddle, swim in the refreshing waters, and camp out along the banks. Don’t miss out on this multi-sport adventure! Intermediate swim level required.
This trek will run from July 26th to August 8th.

You’re invited to join us on the weekend of March 27-29 for our Spring Work Weekend! We’re looking for a hardy group of volunteers – alumni, camp families, friends – to help us with a number of important projects around camp. We’ll provide the housing and meals – you provide the enthusiasm and muscle. Bring the whole family; There will be supervised children’s groups to keep the kids busy. And when the work day ends, there will be plenty of camp activities to enjoy. Best of all, our work weekend is completely FREE!

Come visit Camp Mason at one of the best times of the entire year. For more information about our Work Weekend, or to register, please visit the link below or contact the camp office.

Camp Mason's Camp Director was recently featured in an article in MetroKids magazine.

The magazine is distributed throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Circulation totals 130,000 copies.

On Sunday the 18th of January campers and staff gathered at the Princeton YMCA for some pizza, games, slide shows and catching up! Thank you to all our wonderful campers who attended, we were thrilled to see you all. Camp Mason is planning another reunion event at the Edison Branch of the Metuchen-Edison YMCA in February - look out for the details coming soon to your inbox.

Over the weekend of October 24th - 26th Camp Mason hosted Comfort Zone Camp, the nation's largest bereavement camp for children. Comfort Zone Camp runs camp programs in Virginia, New Jersey and California at no cost to participants. Information on Comfort Zone Camp can be obtained from their website by clicking here.

The New Jersey Herald also ran an article on Comfort Zone Camp's programs at Camp Mason on Sunday, October 26th. To view that article please click here. YMCA Camp Ralph S. Mason is proud to host Comfort Zone Camp and proud to be participating in this important service to our community

Traditional camp, Ranch Camp, Adventure Bound plus many new programs are currently open for enrollment.

Remember that all registrations that pay a deposit by Nov 1st receive 2008 prices and all registrations that pay-in-full by December 31st also receive 2008 prices. Two ways to save money! You save $200 on a four week session of regular camp and $50 on a two week session.