It was great to see so many of the guys who brought festive items for the Independence Day celebration. The dining hall was covered with red, white, and blue.  We brought up our own basket of “flair” the guys to use as well. We belted out “freedom music” all morning.

Independence Day is a great time to be at Camp High Rocks! It is the perfect aligning of goals and fun to focus on building independence as you celebrate it on the same day.  Camp is a big time on July 4th.  

Our day starts with all sorts of fanfare and dress.  The staff, and our Aides, worked hard after hours last night to decorate the dining hall and have everything ready for the morning.  The morning begins not with the bell first, but with exceptionally loud patriotic music for the wake-up instead.  The subsequent ringing of the bell is really pro-forma after Jimi Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner cuts through the morning stillness.  The music continues to resound through camp during the clean-up process and then moves into the dining hall for a super fun morning.  This morning we had a “tattoo table” where guys could get a temporary patriotic tattoo for the day as well as some face paint and stickers. You may see much evidence of this in the pictures tonight!

As the boys rolled up for breakfast, we were super-impressed with all the hats, shirts, tights, socks, and even sunglasses themed to the day’s special event. Today is normally scheduled though activities put an Independence Day theme on many of the happenings in camp. Flags were flying, songs were sung, and our friendly British counselors were good-naturedly ribbed. 

The day was also absolutely gorgeous on the mountain. It dawned clear and sunny, only to remain so for the rest of the day. Warm, not hot. A cooling breeze just when the sun felt noticeable. A clear sky with a beautiful sunset to set the stage for this evening’s firework display. Mountain top living is the best!

It’s fun to celebrate freedom in the gaudy ways, but the chance to talk about freedom is important as well. We focus on freedom of activity choice, what we want to eat each day, and how we want to live each day of camp. At camp, this freedom comes inseparably with the responsibility to make it possible. These boys will be leaders one day, and a goal is that their time here at High Rocks will help them make the important decisions and be able to guide those around them.

Tonight, we enjoyed an all-camp event that was again based on Independence Day. All kinds of field games and shenanigans were taking place, with the notable addition of a Crossing of the Duckaware involving some 300 rubber duckies…

After some snack up on the hill, the boys headed back to the cabin for a shower and to prepare for the evening’s firework show at the lake. With launches from the island and a barge platform in the middle of the lake, it is quite the show! There should be some pictures appearing, though probably in tomorrow’s batch.