With arms crossed and smiles gleaming, our beautiful Tripp Lake seniors gallivanted across campus as they made their grand entrance into their long anticipated Senior Party, also known as Sparty. The Inter I paparazzi crew swarmed them from under the trees, all the way to Cliff House where the usual gymnastics space had been transformed into a dreamy vibe including twinkling lights and camp themed tables. The sweetest photos of the seniors from over the years were displayed along the walls and tables. It’s hard to believe these confident and cool seniors were once shy and unsure juniors. Well, there’s quite a few who were probably never shy. Our kitchen staff prepared a delicious dinner along with a table spread of at least 10 different desserts. In addition to the administration and senior bunk counselors, the seniors invited a number of key staff members that have been influential in their experience over the years. Each staff member and bunk counselor prepared a heart-felt speech which was shared with the crowd. Both the senior Is and IIs are crucial to the Tripp Lake camp experience. They’ve each shown up as role models this summer for our younger campers and continue to lead our girls in the Tripp Lake traditions and songs that have been passed down from generation to generation. 1AB’s bunk counselors played the video they’ve been working on for them all summer and it was nothing short of magnificent. The night ended with everyone present sharing in traditional songs in a circle with arms crossed. We’re grateful these incredible campers chose to come back to Tripp Lake this year and we’re so glad they had this special night dedicated to them.
Across activity areas today, campers were finishing up art projects in the shops to bring home, perfecting their forehands on the courts and flying high above the trees on our ropes course. If you made your way onto the ropes course woods this morning, you would have heard loud screams and cheering echoing throughout as the Inter Is took turns rotating through the flying squirrel high element. The flying squirrel swings you high above the trees until you release and drop quickly in a swinging motion. It gives you that stomach dropping roller coaster type feeling, which can be a hit or miss with some. These girls love it though and we could hear them loud and proud from all over camp!
The first white cap of the summer was given out today to Sadie A. The white cap is the highest honor a camper can achieve in our instructional swim program here at Tripp, and it requires years of skill development and practice to obtain. The campers working towards this cap take it very seriously and although attainable, it’s still incredibly difficult to earn. That’s what makes the revealing that much more meaningful. The girls who reach this achievement never know if they have passed to the prestigious white cap until it’s announced for all of camp to hear in the dining hall. Through screams of joy, all the campers surround the new white cap and shower her with love and affection as she receives her coveted candy covered cap. The swimming staff writes a song for her and performs it for all of camp. It’s one of the most exciting and emotional things that can happen to a Tripp Lake camper! We anticipate a few more this summer and we can’t wait to experience the joy all over again.
Team tables are in full swing this week! All the seniors from each big team choose themes at every meal, where they sit together as a team and spend the entire time in what can only be described as a “cheer-off” against the other teams. As you can imagine, the girls go all out with their dress-up themes. We’ve already experienced a country western theme as well as a fancy one. We also had our first “Team Feast” fake-out of the summer at the end of lunch today. For someone who has never been to Tripp Lake before, this can be difficult to describe. “Team Feast” is a very important event that happens towards the end of each summer. The 4 Big Team Captains are blindfolded by counselors and taken off property for the day while their team managers set up their character backdrops. Up until this day, the captains have no idea what their fellow seniors have chosen for them and won’t know until right before they return to camp. We like to stage fake “Team Feast” days leading up to the actual event in order to create more excitement and energy for the campers. Today’s fakeout ended with some pies to the face around the flag pole for all the campers to witness. It was hilarious and made everyone more excited for the real thing.
Our evening concluded with an incredible performance of the musical, “Wonderland” by our exuberant AJs. They’ve been working hard for weeks to perfect their performances and it really paid off tonight. They had the whole crowd clapping and swaying as they danced around the stage all decked out in their carefully curated Wonderland outfits. The best part was watching the JRs rush the stage at the end to hug and congratulate their AJ sisters on a job well done. Tomorrow is Tuesday Trip Day and all the age groups other than our Seniors will be headed off camp.
Kind Regards,
Leslie and Katie
