Friday was our last full day of Hye Camp 2007. For Hye Camp Fridays, we always change our normal daily schedule to accommodate some unique activities and to initiate the camp clean-up process. The day began a little differently. Instead of Morning Prayer services, Fr. Paren Galustyan celebrated Soorp Badarak in our chapel and all the campers and staff received Holy Communion.
Following services, everyone enjoyed a nice brunch together, followed by some free time for the campers to begin packing their belongings, cleaning their cabins and working on their Hye Camp Olympics team flags. Except for the Capture the Flag event that took place on Tuesday night, all the remaining Olympic events were held Friday afternoon. The events included a basketball tournament, a volleyball tournament, a closest to the pin golf competition, a soccer accuracy kicking contest, and the very popular shoe distance kicking contest. In addition, the Olympic team flags competition was judged in the evening. Team 10, “The Family Hye”, led by jr. staff captains Krikor Paylan and Paul Oganyan, won the basketball tournament and Team 7, “Hye Ballers”, led by jr. staff captains Sako Manavdjian and Anna Sagatelova, lived up to their name by winning the volleyball tournament. In the individual competitions; Hunter Muckel of Team 9, “Hye Stakes” won the shoe distance kicking contest for the second year in a row; Hugh Rabjohns of Team 6 “Hye-formers” as well as Arthur Nigoghossian and Sterling Minasian of Team 5 “Hye Lights”, tied for first in the soccer accuracy kicking contest; and Michael Boyajian of Team 4 “We Stay Hye” won the closest to the pin contest by placing a shot within 2” of the target. After the athletic competitions had completed, there were three teams with a shot at an overall championship depending on how good their Olympics flags were. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to cooling off in the pool and a little more free time to wrap up work on the Olympic flags and the cabin cleaning. We were surprised to find steaks waiting for us when we arrived at the mess hall for dinner. There weren’t many complaints about camp food on this occasion. After dinner, a little more free time to get cleaned up for our Friday Night Dance allowed the excitement and anticipation of a fun night to grow to a peak. The John Paklaian Ensemble finally kicked off the party and everyone got to show off the new Armenian dance steps they learned during their Heritage classes.
Not only was our dance celebrating another successful year of Hye Camp, we also had the privilege of seeing the very first live performance, playing clarinet with the band, of our very own senior staff member from Detroit, “Uncle Harry” Kezelian.
During the dance, we held our Olympic flag competition and, based on the judges scores, we were able to announce the winner of the 2007 Hye Camp Olympics - Team 10, “The Family Hye”. Congratulations to Krikor and Paul and their whole team!
As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun. Sure enough, bed time seemed to come way too early for the campers. The last morning of Hye Camp is always busy, between moving luggage to correct loading areas, final cabin check-out, and saying goodbye to friends, and everyone needed their rest.
