Birthdays, Counsellors, and Bags…Oh My!
I just finished off another delicious breakfast – Manitou McMuffins – from our amazing Chef William, and wanted to tell you all about our day yesterday up here at Manitou! The counselors were hard at work, starting off the day with waterfront and First Aid training. Our friend Eric “Shendy” Shendelman, of Shendy’s Swim School, always gives us the best tips and lifesaving techniques in his First Aid sessions, and our wonderful swim staff put our staff through the greatest training around, always keeping safety a priority!
After our safety-based sessions, we went to a couple of fun and exciting talks with two Manitou veterans—Mike Levinsky and Sandy Foster. Although Mike doesn’t go to Camp Manitou anymore, he came up and did a special session all about being “the best of the best”, helping our staff members with confidence and tips for their cabins and campers. Plus, he had us all dancing—and I love to put on my dancing shoes! Sandy Foster, our Head of Theatre and a long-time Manitou staff member, told us classic camp programming stories from his over 30 years of camp experience, and he made us laugh, cry, and feel inspired.
As if the day couldn’t get more fun, we walked into dinner to find we were having a birthday themed meal. That meant everyone sat together at a table according to the month they were born, which was a great way to make new friends, and have a blast with people you may not get to sit with during the summer. Our wonderful programming duo Justin Shears and Sarah-Rose Wentling took the dinner one step further, too, and had us playing party games and smashing piñatas. There was even a giant birthday cake there, as we continue to celebrate Mark and Jeff’s 20th year at the camp.
After dinner, the counselors were bursting with excitement as they finally found out who they would be paired with, and which campers and cabin they would be taking care of. It was great to see everyone with big smiles moving into their new cabins, and I know the campers will be so happy, too!
Later on, the Manitou Hockey League captains drafted their teams for this summer, hoping to make a squad that would take the championship this year. The MHL is a blast for staff and is also a great opportunity for campers to be involved in camp spirit and cheer for their favourite staff members.
While I was in the draft watching to see who went to what team, I received some amazing photos from baggage duty. I know camp is coming up soon when baggage duty day arrives! Most of you probably met our wonderful staff and CITs as you dropped off duffels to the truck, and you can see from their photos how much fun they were having!
It’s such a nice day today, I just have to go and play some baseball with all my friends! Until next time…
Yours Moosily,
Manny the Moose
