Word From Wildwood

We're Back! With Great Weather and Great Campers!

Well, we are finally back online! I think the fun waves reverberating from camp threw off the satellite we use for internet (or something).

Anyway, we have been having a terrific session, and I hope a few of you have received letters to prove it. The weekend overnights all went very well, although the group climbing Mt Monadnock had to turn around and descend just before reaching the top because of an approaching thunderstorm. Still, they all had a really great time.

There have been a bunch of neat nature sightings this session. Birds are on the move and we've seen turkey vultures, broad-winged hawks, and even a shorebird (yellow-legs). Lots of different butterflies, dragonflies flitting about as well, and a smooth green snake was seen today too - a first for Wildwood!

I can't believe we are just a couple days away from the end of the session. However, it's been getting much darker earlier, and the mornings are cooler too, so we are certainly reaching that time of the summer. Like many of the other sessions this summer, this group has really come together nicely and has enjoyed singing in the dining hall, playing all camp evening games, and just living and learning together as a wonderful community. It is such a pleasure for all the staff to teach to and learn from such great campers.

We all hope you have been enjoying your two weeks as well, especially for the past several days which have been absolutely beautiful weather-wise. Let's hope you have some great stories to rival some of the stories you will be hearing from your camper(s)!

Tomorrow is our last full day, and it will certainly be a good one, with the final, closing campfire of the summer sessions. I know it will be amazing! Enjoy your last day of vacation too, and we will look forward to seeing you all on Saturday morning! Here's a few pictures from the past few days here at camp.

See you soon!

Bob

 

Internet is down at Wildwood

Hi from everyone at Wildwood!

Currently our Internet connection is not working but everything at our camp is going well. All of the email messages that have been sent to Wildwood campers have been printed out at our headquarters in Lincoln and brought over to the camp.

We will be back to regular blog posting as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. If you need to reach us, please call us at: (603) 899-5589. If you need to reach Bob Speare, please call the number and dial extension 3701.

Fun But Rainy Days at Camp

Hello everyone! We certainly have been getting our share of rain this summer! Yesterday was a mixed bag of some sun, but intermittent showers, and today was a full blown washout! Heavy rain throughout the morning and the first half of the afternoon, then some breaks and finally a bit of clearing as the sun set tonight.

Even though the weather has been on the damp side, the spirit of camp has been anything but. We redirected some morning programs today to stay dry and warm, but still were able to do some outdoor cooking (via the fireplace in the dining hall), build some birdfeeders in arts and crafts, and the morning herp hunt broke the all time Wildwood record for greatest number of reptiles and amphibians spotted with well over 100 individual animals seen!

After lunch, featuring some nice hot chocolate, we enjoyed some dry DGs including circle games under the arts and crafts roof, friendship bracelets, card games in the dining hall, edible dirt, nature study, nature writing, and more. Just in time for oats, the rain let up and we were able to open up the waterfront and enjoy some swimming, time on the iceberg, and canoeing and kayaking too. There were also chess games, other arts and crafts, discovery in the nature center, and the camp store was open.

After dinner, we were visited by those pesky heffalumps again! This strange and somewhat annoying critters appear sporadically throughout the summer, and groups of campers helped us tonight to keep them at bay and under control. This is a favored evening program and this games was invented by a Wildwood staff person many years ago - it's a lot of fun! Here's some picture of some of these 'lumps.

All in all it was a wonderful day despite the weather.

Have a great night!

Bob

Session Four Begins!

We are off to a great start with our Wildwood Session Four campers. After a smooth check-in, dodging local showers and thundershowers, everyone got set-up, had a nice dinner, and headed to the amphitheater for a rockin opening campfire. Everyone had a terrific time.

Today was busy with camp tours, health checks, swim checks and a visit from Drumlin Farm's ARK program. They brought along a corn snake and a great-horned owl to show off up close and personal. And then, for lunch it was Pizza Day!

Right now we are all enjoying a beautiful afternoon of sunshine a cool breezes while we zoom around during OATS. Right now, campers are enjoying Beach Games, Volleyball, Arts and Crafts, Drum Circle, Ponding, and more! Tonight, we are all set for an amazing game of Predator-Prey a first night special!

We hope you are enjoying your week half as much as we are, and keep those emails and letters coming!

BTW- We found a Honda key in the parking lot after all the dust settled yesterday, so if you are missing one, let us know.

See you again soon!

Bob

Amazing Finish to Session Three

These have been three amazing days - very busy, but really great.

Pirate Day was something special, complete with all kinds of pirate fun. The day began pretty normally, having a nice breakfast in the dining hall. Then, pretty much out of nowhere, a group of nasty pirates paddled across the pond and made a landing on the waterfront. Of course I ran out to stop them from entering the property, but I was quickly over-powered and they made their way into the dining hall. Caroline and I attempted to regain order, but we were both carried out and forced to walk the plank (which magically appeared on the dock). Then we were both banned from camp for the rest of the day, so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures!!! I think some counselors did though, so stay tuned in case they show up.

The day ended with a movie in the dining hall and root beer floats for all the campers who helped to restore order at camp!

Both Thursday and Friday were really beautiful days at camp and we were able to finish up very strong with all of our activities. Tonight's campfire was really creative and filled with great songs and skits. The second year LITs ran the show, which was themed to the Wizard of OZ. It was certainly a site to see.

The White Mountains Trekkers returned just before dinner, pretty tired from all their adventures but all reporting a really good time. They relived a bit of their trip in the form of a skit at the closing campfire too, which was really funny. They had two beautiful days of rock climbing, but saw some rain for their hike into the Ethan Pond campsite. They were all smiling as they spoke about it.

The management team here at Wildwood had a very busy week preparing for the day-long inspection (called a "visit") from the American Camp Association. This process considers all aspects of our property and program, from the dining hall to the campsites, program areas, staffing, etc. On Thursday we began a little before 9:00 am and completed just before 6:00 pm. We certainly came through it with flying colors, and this proves to us and them, that we are really on track for a safe and strong program.

Well, it's a beautiful, quiet night here and we are eagerly awaiting the chance to see our parents and friends again - well, most of us.

Thanks to all the parents for helping us to make this session such a wonderful success. We'll see you in the morning!

Good Night! Bob