Category: General News

We have waited all year long for this day to happen and it’s here. There are no more countdowns or marking off days on our calendars. There are no more Wanda Wednesday pictures that remind us of where we all want to be. We are actually here, in camp and our summer has begun. There is no place we all would rather be. Even through all the nerves, excitement and anxiousness, we all did it. We loaded those buses and headed to Camp Chen-A-Wanda, our home for the next 51 days.

The weather was ideal and as the sun shinned down on all of us, you couldn’t help feel the love here at CAW. Watching old friends reunite with pure joy just to see one another is a sight to see. It warms you from the inside out. And as our new campers walked out of the bus, some nervous, most excited but they too saw and felt the love they were walking in to. There were counselors waiting for them with open arms, smiles on their faces and an excitement that was off the charts. Today was perfect in every way.

The afternoon was spent playing icebreakers and group games. As you look all around camp, you plainly see why we are all here. There was so much laughter, there were tons of piggyback rides, there was hand holding, there were friendships that started today and there was a feeling of being home.

It was off the The Lodge to have our first meal together. The energy could have blown the roof off the building. It wasn’t too long before we all sang on the top of our lungs and danced to the rockin’ music that was played. From the Freshman to the Wandereres, we all sang and danced together as if we have been doing this forever. If you ever have sang in unison with packed house, it’s quite overwhelming and awe-inspiring. We all became one tonight at dinner. The bond began and it’s just the beginning. Nobody walked out of The Lodge without a smile on his or her face.

We all loaded into Shileds Hall tonight as we watched a video of highlights from last summer. It was sneak peak to what amazing things lie ahead. We will make new memories and we cannot wait to get started. It was an ideal first day. Everyone is fast asleep and we cannot wait for the sun to rise so we can play all day tomorrow.

Thank you for sending us your children. It is them that has given this camp its heartbeat.

Chenny Out.

All of our campers are safely here at camp! We already out playing and having a great time!

Camp starts in 100 days, and we could not be more excited!

Click here for a special video!

Summer 2013 can’t come soon enough!!!

It’s so hard to believe that it’s that time to say goodbye. The last 50 days have been amazing and we cannot thank you enough for sharing your kids with us. We have watched them grow over these last seven weeks. We have watched them accomplish things they thought they couldn’t. We have seen them make lifelong friends and watched how they have made Chen-A-Wanda their summer home. As you sifted through the thousands of pictures and watched endless hours of video from this summer, we hope you got a sense of what amazing things your children did this summer. It has been our priveledge and honor to care for your kids.  Thank you again for trusting us with your kids and believing in the magic of Chen-A-wanda. We read the following letter we wrote to your children tonight just before memory night.

Enjoy them tomorrow and know we will miss them dearly.

Jon & Elissa

Dear Chen-A-Wanda Campers,

Fifty days ago you all arrived here, excited for the journey that you were about to embark on and here we sit, just having spent the most amazing summer together at Chen-A-Wanda.

We have seen you all grow tremendously in these past 7 weeks. It has been a true joy watching you make new friends and as we all can admit that and that alone is the magic of this place. It isn’t the soccer field or the water trampoline or the trapeze that makes us all come back here. It is the friends we have made along the way and knowing that we have created a true summer family. In these walls, we take care of one another, we celebrate together, we inspire one another and we lift each other up. That is what we do here.

We have seen you work through conflicts and become closer to one another with a true understanding of what the word friendship truly means. We cannot truly express the feeling we get as we watch all of you take care of one another. When one of you is sad, you have a group of people who will instantly come to your rescue and wrap their arms around you until you feel safe and better. That doesn’t exist in the real world but it does here at Chen-A-Wanda.

There is no facebook, no twitter, no computers to occupy us here. There is face to face communication. We are forced to talk things through, to work things out, to face our fears. And you have done this for 7 weeks beautifully. You should be so proud of what you have done here and what each one of you has accomplished. You have been a part of something pretty spectacular and this will stay with you forever. The summer is now gone but 18465 lives on in every one of us.

We have a philosophy about living our lives as the river rather than the rock. The ultimate goal is to be able to flow through life’s challenges rather than getting stuck in one place.  The Blackout showed us how we all were the river and dealt with a situation where we had no control and we even had fun with the lights out. Continue to be the river. It will make all the difference in your world. That we promise.

We built the Lodge for you but it was you who gave it its’ heart and soul. You sang on the top of your lungs and you danced as if no one in the world was watching you. Where else can that happen? Oh how we will miss singing and dancing at every meal with all of you.  The food filled our bellies but the energy and love in the Lodge filled our souls.

We are so grateful to each one of you in this room. YOU have made summer 2012 magical and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!!!

Please click here for tonight’s blog post.

We all enjoyed some extra sleep with a lazy morning wake up followed by a delicious brunch in the Lodge. It was the perfect morning to recharge after five days of Color War.  The afternoon was beautiful so there was no better place to be than the waterfront. We all know there are only a few more days left here so everyone is enjoying every second and not wasting a minute.

It was a perfect day for our Doppleganger contest. So many of our campers look like one another on girls side, we had to come together and have an official contest. They dressed alike, they walked the same and they were just adorable. It was fun to see how much we all look a like. Make sure to look out for the pictures from this camp favorite event.

The night was all about Late Night with Leahy and the buzz was in the air. It is an amazing culmination of great videos and presentations delivered by our Boys Head Counselor extraordinaire, Brian Leahy. It was hilarious and referenced everything funny about camp. This evening’s activity is a camp favorite and even our counselors that were off duty, stayed to watch because it’s just that entertaining. Campers absolutely went crazy for the hilarity of what they witnessed. It was a perfect way to end a perfect day.

Everyone is looking forward to banquet tomorrow. It is the best celebration and we do it in style. We dine on amazing cuisine as we are all dressed up in our best duds. Then it’s back to the bunk to get on comfortable clothes and shoes for one amazing night of dancing and celebrating. Best night of CAW is just around the corner. Can’t wait!

Chenny out.

Everyone matters in the Apache Relay. No matter if you are doing the elephant walk or diving to the bottom of the pool to pick up 8 spoons or are heading into the canteen for the infamous “unknown”, you count. It is a race that includes everyone. It was an outrageously fun morning and everyone loves Apache.  The encouragement we all give each other during this crazy race is stupendous. It just doesn’t get better than this.

Before dinner each team holds psych speeches that will inspire and motivate their teams. Tonight’s speeches stood out as what this war is about. Each Captain and Lieutenant wore the shirt of their opposing team and shared qualities of their opponents that was outstanding and deserved recognition. The theme was, friends first, war second. One Lieutenant said he was in awe of the Lieutenant from the opposing team because she exhibited such a positive spirit, not when they were winning but when they were loosing. When we win it is easy but it’s when we loose, that our true character comes out. This is the meaning of true respect and why Color War is so spectacular and important. We will loose more than we win but it is how we loose that will ultimately define us as winners.

It was skit night tonight and it was hilarious. Each team brought us back to the 80’s and 90’s. They rocked and rolled and referenced everything from a few decades ago. It was insanely fun and outrageously funny. The campers in the skit were brilliant and showed that even though they were not around during that time; they fully understood what the 80’s and 90’s were all about.

As day four came to an end, Gold 90’s jumped ahead by 221 points with a score of:

Red 80’s – 2,479 points

Gold 90’s – 2,690 points

There are over 1,400 points still up for grabs with a full day of final games tomorrow and like we always say, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO SING!!!!

Chenny out.

It was a glorious morning and a perfect day for more color war games and contests. Everyone was feeling the spirit with their faces painted and their hair sprayed with their team colors. Spirit and team pride runs deep here and everyone feels the excitement. Today our middy girls painted a strip of the opposing teams color down their noses. They did it as an act of respect for their bunkmates and girls in their division that were on the opposite team. This is what it is all about. Friendship trumped competition and no matter what happens in these games, friends are what matters the most. It was a sweet gesture that spoke volumes.

Boy’s side had their track meet today and girls side battled in the pool with their swim meet. The kids had so much fun as they relayed to their finish lines getting cheers praise for their hard work and effort. To sit back and watch the encouragement we all give one another here is life changing. There was an Inter girl in the pool and she fell behind a race she was in.  With every stroke she took, her teammates chanted her name saying, “ You can do it, we believe in you.” That Inter girl got a surge of energy and won her race. As she jumped out of the pool and celebrated her win, she told her teammates that with every stroke she took, she heard them encouraging her and that alone gave her the will to push harder. It’s amazing what you can do when you have a whole team behind you.

It has been three full days of Color War battle and the score before this evening’s event was:

RED 80’s – 1,990 points

Gold 90’s -1,987 points

We have a serious war here with only a 3-point difference. Tonight was a great event as we all headed to see the long-standing camp tradition of Rope Burning and Water Boiling. Counselors for both teams have been collecting wood and preparing for tonight. Their faces are painted with zinc to protect them from the burning fire that they have created and the entire camp, watches with great anticipation as to which team while burn the rope and boil the water first. Tonight’s win went to GOLD 90’s as they burnt their rope in record time of 21 minutes and boiled their water first. Red 80’s followed by burning their rope moments later and followed by boiling their water. Not an easy fete but both teams completed their mission. It’s an awesome Color War event to be a part of and to witness knowing that so many campers before us has sat on that same field, watching ropes burn and water boil. We are all so proud to be part of this long-standing tradition.

Tomorrow is the Apache Relay and we just can’t wait!

Chenny out.

It was a day full of games in between the rain. There was newcomb and softball there was hockey, BBG and water volley. There was basketball, volleyball, soccer and wiffleball. It was a day of play, spirit and pride. You have to see it for yourselves to fully grasp just how much fun your kids are having.  They are in a war that demands all of their effort and commitment. When they win, they celebrate together and when they loose they pick each other up and move on to the next game.

When you walk around camp and see the camaraderie and teamwork you realize that we all are experiencing something pretty tremendous. We are in a bubble of support and kindness.  How we all treat one another after a win or a loss is just as important as the battle itself.  Unfortunately, this just doesn’t exist outside our gates and though both Red & Gold are vying to be the victors of this Color War, it is done with great respect and support for one another.  It’s brilliant to see and magical to be part of.

As we all worked our bodies to the bone with a day of physical challenges, the night was meant to test our brains. It was Quiz Night and it was awesome. Each group had trivia tests that covered everything from pop culture to sports to history and everything in between. Then we all headed into Shields Hall to watch the counselors in a serious battle of the brains contest. After 40 challenging questions, the race was close but Red 80’s squeaked out the win tonight.

After 2 full days of Color War battles the current score is:

RED 80’s – 1,502 points

Gold 90’s – 1,487 points

Still early on in this race and way too soon to call but Red & Gold are neck and neck with a mere 15 point difference. You can see how badly each team wants it. We have three full days of Color War fun to be had. It truly doesn’t get better than this. By far the best week of camp yet!

Chenny out.