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The fourth day of Hye Camp 2005 was highlighted by an exciting evening schedule. The first Hye Camp Olmypics event, a special kebab dinner, movie night for the campers, and staff night out for the senior counselors. As usual, the day was a full slate of classes and sports, including the John Nercessian Closest to the Pin golf contest.
The morning bell was accompanied by the threat of rain, but for the most part the overcast skies provided a welcome relief to the overpowering sun that had beat down on the campgrounds since Sunday. The general theme of the lesson plan today was The Church, which Fr. Tavit expressed to the campers during the morning prayer service. His use of the word Church as both a noun, meaning a place to be, as well as a verb, meaning something to do, provided a different viewpoint on a topic that is prominent in the life of most every camper and staff.
As the class schedule began, Maestro Khoren led his last few groups of kids for 2005 and he had to fly home to New York shortly after lunch. Daron Bolat, newly graduated masters student from St. Nercess Seminary in the Department of Youth and Education of the Diocese in New York, led religion class with an analysis of a poem written by Vahan Tekeyan, entitled The Armenian Church. Arts & crafts class focused on creating a lasting memory of the friendships that form and develop at Hye Camp. Each camper was given a special Hye Camp 2005 t-shirt, which they decorated with the hand-print and signatures of all their cabin mates. After lunch, campers flocked to the closest to the pin contest, many swinging a golf club, under the expert supervision of Hye Camp staff member John Nercession, for the first time. A number of seasoned veterans, as well as a few lucky bounces, garnered a handful of campers some very special prizes during the announcement of winners during dinner.
Dinner turned out to be the highlight of the day. St. Gregory parishioners Haig Pedian Jr. and Edward Klujian, as they’ve done for many years now, pulled up on the camp grounds, unloaded a big flat charcoal grill, and began grilling marinated skewers of lamb kebabs. The sight and smell was enough to make your mouth water. Combined with some home-cooked pilaf, the dinner was absolutely unforgettable. After the spectacular reminder of why it tastes so good to be Armenian, campers split up into their Olympic teams for an intense battle of capture the flag. The 8 olympic teams were partnered and combined into four color-coded teams, given an appropriately colored flag to hide, and then were turned loose on the playing field with the specific objective of finding their opponents flag and getting it back to home base safely. The two winning teams were the Blue Team, made up of teams 3 and 6, and the White Team, made up of teams 2 and 7.
A tradition of Hye Camp is for the oldest campers to be given a night of authoritative responsibility over the rest of the camp. While the counselors and junior counselors are given a night to relax and spend some time with fellow counselors who they really don’t have a lot of time to interact with on a personal level during the typically busy Hye Camp schedule. This year, as the 15 year old campers began their short shift of, the rest of the campers were having movie night, while the junior counselors were secluded away from the bustle of the hectic camp atmosphere, and the senior staff were treated to a quick retreat to a local restaurant. Upon the return of the senior staff to the campgrounds, and with the junior counselors feeling refreshed, all of the normal staff began to resume their duties at their cabins and the 15-year-old campers rejoiced in a job well done. Every year the 15 year old counselors in training, with their determination and resolve to strive for a job well done, never cease to amaze the Hye Camp staff. It’s a welcoming site for the future of the camp, knowing that one day the next youth will be in such capable hands.
Tomorrow, Olympics will continue with relay races in the evening. Campers can also expect a Genocide oriented lesson plan, as well as a second installment of exciting Armenian dance steps. Fr. Aren announced at lunch this afternoon that he had some good news for the camp and some bad news. To share with our world-wide audience, the good news is Hye Camp is almost over and everyone can relax and get some much needed sleep, but the bad news is that Hye Camp is almost over and we’re all going to miss our good friends and the classes and the sports and the cabin camaraderie.
Posted by Jake at August 4, 2005 12:34 PM
