One Dog Year July 18, 2016Four score and seven years again in 2010 my parents came to me with the chance to travel across the country and go to camp. At first I refused because I thought my life was fulfilled and I had everything figured out…….I was 8 at the time. Also where is Eagle River? Little did I know Marimeta would fill a hole in my heart I didn’t know existed. Flash forward to the 2016 Mari Meta Captain Announcement. As my name was called everyone kept telling me how confused I looked. But it wasn’t confusion it was astonishment. I mean, in just 7 years; yes one dog year, I have gone from the girl who cried every night of her first summer to someone in charge of an entire team. This is just a glimpse of how much I have grown at camp. Like any tree, shrub, or caterpillar; growth is essential to live life to its fullest. With Marimeta, not only have I grown in height, but also in confidence, independence and strength of character. These are lessons no book or teacher could have ever of taught me. As the wise poet Hannah Montana once said once wrote: “Life’s a climb but the view is great.” Nothing ever said could be more true. Because even though I’m not done with my climb just yet, the view I’ve had for the past four weeks of my team smiling and cheering behind me has been pretty great! And once I was named captain, I had to break from my own climb to help my team with theirs. This has shown me that working alongside my team is bigger than capturing any flag, scoring any goal, stalking any lantern or even attempting to dance in any MTV. It’s about the pride you have in your team through thick and thin. Of course my growth, my climb or this final view tonight could not have been achieved without the support of many different people, and to all them I am eternally grateful!
Weekend Recap: Red and White Comes to an Exciting Close August 10, 2015And now for your Weekend Recap… Good afternoon! We cannot believe we only have two days left of Summer 2015. Our last weekend at camp was one of the most looked forward to of the summer. With the Sing and AC Relay, your girls savored the final moments of their Red and White competition. The Sing was a huge success. Both the Red and White teams performed with poise, spirit, and smiles. Their dedication and practice shined through Saturday night! After an extremely close score, the Red’s Fashion Show came out on top! Congrats to both teams – your daughters endless hard work, truly, paid off! On Sunday, a well-deserved sleep in, for the majority of the camp, was appreciated by all. However, a huge round of applause goes to our Marimeta Milers who closed their year’s running season with a 4 ½ mile run around the lake. They celebrated their hard work with a brunch at Donna’s Diner. Bravo to our Milers! After our final Sunday brunch of the summer, both Red and White teams headed to team meetings. Preparing for the approaching All Camp Relay (AC Relay), the captains assigned each camper to various relay events. The All Camp Relay is one of the most anticipated events of Second Session. Both teams must complete 30 different relay events plus a captain’s event. Some of these events include: a hot dog toss with kitchen tongs, sorting snail mail, roasting a s’more at Wilderness Point, a three-legged race, and kick the can down the road. In order to proceed to the next event, the captain must run the official competition baton to the next location. The relay events cover the entire span of camp. The AC Relay is an intense competition that depends on everyone’s participation and cooperation. To finish the relay, the captains face off in a fierce head to head, timed, competition: winner takes all. For this year’s event, we stuck with our army theme and created a one of a kind boot camp obstacle course. After the entire team completed a round of jumping jacks, the captains sprinted to the obstacle course stationed in the middle of the field. Hurdling over benches, hopping through hoops, and crawling under nets, the captains tested their endurance and agility. The final moments of the Relay were neck and neck. With Emma and Katie seconds apart, they both scrambled out of the mud pit towards the finish line. The race was so close that the teams waited with baited breath for the official verdict. A three second gap favored the White team! Congrats to both teams on a fantastic day! After our last cook out and Sunday movie of the summer, we told the entire camp that we would be going to bed. As we began to play TAPS, we quickly cut the music to let the whole camp know that we were playing Stalk the Lantern! An explosion of noise erupted throughout camp. Played only once per session, your girls have been looking forward to this night for weeks. Stalk the Lantern is a Red and White event that occurs after TAPS. Camp is set up like one giant target, with counselors in chairs outlining point zones. The “bulls eye” is the middle of field, with Lodgies serving as the lantern. The objective of the game is to make it past each point zone without being spotted by the lantern. If a Lodgie’s flashlight spots a camper, they must stand up, walk to the nearest point zone and collect their score. It was a night of stealth and fun! After a long and exhausting weekend, the entire camp went to bed knowing their perseverance, teamwork, and spirit brought their Red and White teams even closer to the grand prize. Today, we are competing in a daylong Olympic competition. Throughout the summer, Olympic teams have played various sports to gain medals. However, today’s events are slightly different. The JC’s will be refereeing around 15 different athletic competitions. Some of these include: tube rodeo, tug a war, 100 meter dash, egg toss, long jump and more! We will end our 2015 Marimeta Olympic Game with closing ceremonies, beside Lake Meta, this evening. After, we will be showcasing our 2015 Highlight Video – we are so excited! With only a few more days left, camp is winding down but your daughters’ spirits are as ever high! Have a great rest of your day. Love, The Lodge
Love, The Lodge: Presenting…”The Sing 101″ August 8, 2015Hello, Everyone! While we usually post a Weekend Recap on Monday, we decided to write a special post about a big event occurring at Marimeta this evening: The Red and White Sing. Yes, The Sing is here! In the past couple weeks, it is likely that the word “Sing” has appeared in some of your daughter’s letters home. In previous Letters to the Lodge, we have briefly talked about the great deal of practice and preparation that goes into making this event a success. However, you are likely wondering what exactly is this thing. We now bring to you, “The Sing 101”: a crash course on the sights and sounds of the Red and White Sing. The Competition: Throughout the session, each team has been extremely invested in the planning of the Sing. As one of our biggest Red and White events, both teams are striving for a win. Tonight, each team will have the opportunity to present their Sing performance in front of the entire camp. The Lodge will score each team based on presentation, delivery of song set list, behavior as an audience, and team transitions. Win or lose, the Sing celebrates the spirit and teamwork that has been alive for the past 69 years of tradition. The Singing: As its name suggests, The Sing is an event that puts rhythm and harmony on the frontlines of team competition. Prior to team announcements, the Senior Cabin selected a song set list for both the Red and White team. The set list had to include a theme song, peppy song, slow song, and team song. The theme song – the theme song is an original song written by the Red and White captains and Senior Cabin spirit leaders. After choosing a theme for each team, the Senior Cabin works together to come up with a creative tune and lyrics, aligned with their selected theme. The theme and theme song are two of the most well kept secrets in camp. The Senior Cabin stresses the importance of keeping the themes a secret until the moment they walk through the Rec Hall doors, tonight. We will let you in on the secret early by announcing the Sing themes for 2015… (drum roll, please) Red Fashion Show and White Wedding! The tunes for the songs are Summertime Guys for the Reds, and In Too Deep for the Whites. Each team will perform their theme song as they walk in and walk out of the Sing. The peppy song – Following the theme song, each team will perform their peppy song. The peppy song is a traditional Marimeta song that reflects the team’s love and appreciation for camp. As both teams would say, this song is sung with “lots of pep and zest.” This year’s peppy songs are, “We are Marimeta girls and we want to say hello…”, for the Red team, and “We have a camp like no other camp…”, for the White team. The peppy songs are performed with a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and smiles. The slow song – Following each team’s peppy song, the teams sing their slow song. Historically, the slow song has been selected from various sources: Marimeta campfire songs, mainstream music, movies, and musicals. The song’s lyrics are extremely sentimental and meaningful to all campers. Legend tells that the goal of the slow is song is to make Sandy and Terry cry. Moreover, the song is delivered in a slow, emotional manner. This year, both the Red and White teams will be sharing their slow song, which is extremely special. The song is called, “What We Came Here For” from the Disney movie Camp Rock. The team song – Lastly, the team’s will perform their team song. The team song is a previous theme song. Team songs are sung in the mess hall, daily, and serve as a team’s legacy. We sing team songs from the past 69 years of Red and White tradition! This year’s team songs are “Red Bells are Ringing” and “White Team Fantasy.” Fun Fact: “Red Bells are Ringing” is actually the theme song from Katie’s mom’s Sing, when she was an Overall Red captain – how cool! The Movements: As part of Sing tradition, there is a customary set of movements that each camper learns prior to their team’s debut. These moves serve as transitions, between songs, and also highlight the team’s togetherness. Entrance and Exit: In one of the first Sing practices, the captains organized their team in height order. Once arranged, each camper is assigned a partner that they will enter and exit the Rec Hall with. Tonight, each team will line up outside the Rec Hall with their partners. Each partner pair links their inner arms, together, and leaves their outside hand in “fours”, which placed down by their side. Once the captains cue their team, each pair begins to walk into the Rec Hall. The girls even try to step with the same foot, in order to be totally in sync. The teams both enter and exit in this fashion. The walk-in and walkout is one of the most iconic features of the Sing! Ups and Downs: Ups and Downs are movements that are used strictly for transitions. They’re one of the most worked on components of the Sing, because the whole team tries to perform these movements in unison. There are three levels of Ups and Downs that the captains teach their teams. It takes a great deal of cooperation and collaboration to perfect these motions – the girls work extremely hard! Turns: Turns are an exit transition that the teams use to leave the Rec Hall. When prompted, the entire team pivots outwards…at the same time! Once turned, the teams begin to walk out. Captain’s Cues: Prior to the Sing, the captains prepare a set of cues that are used for various purposes: starting songs, performing ups and downs, etc. The cues are memorized by the captains and are recited in front of the entire camp. They are usually written in rhyming fashion. The Costumes: The costumes for the Sing are one of the most captivating parts of the performance. The Senior Cabin works tirelessly to craft costumes for the entire team. Using an array of materials, they produce, truly, professional costumes. The costumes reflect the team’s theme. Captain Costumes: Every pioneer captain designs a costume that is larger than life! These costumes are usually the main symbols for their team’s theme. This year’s captain costumes are: Red Team – Fashion Show Katie: Fashion Designer , Sophie: Runway, Leah: Vogue Magazine White Team – Wedding Emma: Bride, Lily: Wedding Invitation, Lacey: Wedding Ring Top Row: The Top Row is composed of the Senior Cabin girls and a few campers of taller stature. These costumes are also elaborate and usually involve a lot of glitter. The two centers of the row are the campers who have been here for the most amount of years. This year’s top rows are: Red Team – Fashion Show Fashion Sketches and Sketchbook Cover + Models and Head Model White Team – Wedding Bridesmaids and Maid of Honor + Groomsmen and Best Man Paper Costumes: The rest of the team dresses in white shorts and a white t-shirt. Additionally, their hair is styled in a traditional Marimeta French braid. Once outfitted, the team is given a paper costume that has a decorated image, in relation to their theme, on it. Campers who are in the middle of their rows – “centers” – are given a paper costume that is glittered. Collectively, the paper costumes add a lot of glamour to each team! We know that was a lot of information, but we hope you gained a comprehensive insight of the Red and White Sing. We are all so excited for tonight and cannot wait to see what the teams have put together! We will be posting pictures later this evening! Love, The Lodge P.S: Here is a throwback to some of our most memorable Sing performances, these past couple years. Enjoy!
Love, The Lodge: Let the Games Begin! July 22, 2015Good morning! Another bright and sunny day here at Marimeta! Yesterday, we began our first full day of regular activities. Just as a reminder, activities that occur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are called, “K” Day activities, which is short for “Kindness.” Conversely, activities that occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are called, “G” Day activities, which is short for “Gratitude.” Look out for this special lingo in the letters you receive from your daughters! After a delicious dinner, we announced the evening program, “Mudpie Relays.” With bursts of excitement and curiosity, the campers gathered in smalls groups in the middle of the field. The objective of the game is to collect an array of items with the goal of building a “mudpie.” The items are collected by figuring out a series of clues, which all lead to a different location around camp. The items included: graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding, Oreos, gummy worms, licorice, sprinkles, frosting and whipped cream. After collecting all the items, the groups competed in a mudpie decorating face-off. Our judges scored on the most creative pie versus the most visually appealing pie. This led our girls to come up with some pretty unique treats! One of our favorites was a messy pie that followed one of our Marimeta sayings, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” It was a great evening activity! Now for the moment you (and your daughters) have all been waiting for…RED AND WHITE ANNOUNCEMENT 2015! Following the evening activity, the counselors quickly, and subtlety, got their cabins settled in early. Every night, we play a bedtime song called, “TAPS” which signals the end of the evening. Upon the conclusion of TAPS, all of the counselors ran into their cabins, wearing black face paint and bandanas, with whistles blowing. In military fashion, they ordered their cabins to line up, single-file, and to start marching. Shouting, “left-right-left”, the entire camp marched towards the High Ropes course. Arriving at the High Ropes course, the Senior Cabin girls got into a circle and anxiously awaited to find out their teams and captains. Suddenly, the entire Lodge staff emerged wearing camouflage holding a pole filled with military style dog tags. Each individual dog tag had your daughter’s name on it, and the color of the yarn signified what team they were on. Before announcing captains, Sargent Terry commanded our Senior Cabin girls to complete some quick bootcamp training to make sure that they were truly ready to lead camp. After passing their drills, the announcement of the captains began. Congrats to our overall captains – Katie and Emma – and the rest of the our 2015 Red and White captains! We are so proud of all of you and cannot wait to watch you lead your teams. Let the games begin! After an exciting evening, the whole camp went to bed in all smiles. Looking forward to another fabulous day! Love, The Lodge
XOXO, Your Happy Camper: “Incredible” June 26, 2015Hello, from your lovely daughter! If I could sum up today in one word, I would definitely choose the word incredible. I know I tend to start every letter with, “Camp is great” but today it was truly incredible. Let me tell you about it… By 8:30 A.M. , my day was off to a great start! The smell of warm croissants filled the mess hall air, which quickly made up for the rainy weather outside. After breakfast and Cabin Cleanup, we played a game called “General Headquarters.” Basically, the Lodge gives every cabin a task to fulfill, ranging from “make up a new evening program” to “design a fashion line complete with a night and day outfit.” Cabins are awarded points for creativity and also for completing the round the fastest. It was so fun! My cabin created a fashion line out of pure duct tape called, “Forever Fashion Tape”: a full line of couture made out of the finest prints and patterns of duct tape. After General Headquarters, we started working on our “Cabin Sings.” As a cabin we came up with original words for a new Marimeta song. We had so much fun thinking of the lyrics! Hopefully our harmonious voices will pay off and our song will end up in the mess hall – I will keep you posted! After lunch, the sun came out, and I got to go skiing! I am currently trying to master crossing wakes, which is pretty tricky! I know by the end of my summer I will be crossing wakes effortlessly! Practice make perfect, right? Now for the most exciting part of the day…MARIMETA LEAGUE WAS ANNOUNCED! I was so surprised!! You’ll never believe how it happened! At dinner, we were waiting to find out what the evening program was when, all of the sudden, Lillie said, “before finding out what we are doing tonight, you must unscrambled this word: Truoc Sennit. We were all looking around in confusion until Table 14 yelled, “tennis court!” Screaming of excitement, the whole camp sprinted out of the mess hall, across the field, until reaching the tennis courts. There, I found a puzzle piece with my name on it and a yellow smiley face sticker on the other side. I found my other teammates with matching smiley face stickers and sat down with them. Our little team’s counselor poured out a cup full of puzzle pieces, which we then had to put together. It was a challenge, but the pieces formed the letter “I.” The tennis court was covered with little teams trying to figure out what their pieces spelled. It was so cool! The Senior Cabin, the oldest cabin in camp, was seated in a huge circle. They had a much larger puzzle to figure out. It ended up saying, “Mari + Meta = Marimeta. 12 little letters = One Big Word.” The Senior Cabin then scrambled to put together all of the little teams’ individual letters. After arranging and rearranging the letters, the puzzle spelled out “Climbing Wall”… yes the space caused a little confusion, but we got it nonetheless :) Again, the whole camp sprinted to the climbing wall to await the announcement of the captains! This was crazy! The overall captains were Morgan and Nicole! I am so excited for them and can only hope to be like them when I am in Senior Cabin one day. It was such a great announcement! We ended the fun-filled night by playing “Team Comp” (a.k.a Team Competition). I played dodge ball and had so much fun cheering and competing with my little team! Well, that marks the end to my incredible day, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings! Off to bed, night all. XOXO, Your Happy Camper