Nobody likes goodbyes
Last night, the campers played the Pirate Game; the object of it is to find the hidden “treasure chest” without getting caught by the pirates, who were really just the staff. Whoever is the first to find the “treasure chest” wins the game and gets to keep the contents. Frank won everything inside the chest and shared it with his dorm mates. It contained boxes filled with candy, little bottles of bubbles, and t-shirts.
The counselors this week have really aced making the games fun, especially last night. During the Pirate Game, the campers usually jump from the dock at the deep end of Lake Agape, but this week the counselors were “shake ‘n baking” the campers and throwing flour bombs at them. Shake ‘n bake is when a person gets thrown in the lake and then rolled in the sand. The flour bombs are made with tissues, flour, rubber bands, and water. The flour goes inside the tissues and the rubber band is used to close the top; the water is used to just soften the tissues enough so that when they are tossed at someone’s back the tissues break open, covering that person in flour. The campers had a blast; some kids even found a few unbroken flour bombs on the ground and threw them at the counselors. Everyone was covered in flour by the end of the game. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any pictures since I was one of the pirates, plus I didn’t want the camera getting wet or worse, covered in flour.
Today is the last full day of Jr High 2, and the last day is always everyone’s least favorite day. However, the campers didn’t let that stop them from having fun. In chapel this morning, the campers all received a Certificate of Extreme Love to tape to their backs. It displays and certifies the love and appreciation of that camper from each person who writes on it. The campers wrote really nice sentiments on each other’s certificates. Before chapel ended, each camper removed the certificate from his back to read what his peers wrote about him. It was a nice way to start the last day. After lunch, the campers all wore the shirts they decorated yesterday for the group photo; prints will be available to order online.
During free time, the campers took part in a volleyball tournament and a basketball tournament. The Spikers, an all-counselor team, won the volleyball tournament. Some campers had a bit of a problem with the all-staff factor, but that didn’t stop the team from competing. Unnecessary Force won the basketball tournament; they played hard but it was all in good sportsmanship. Tonight Danny Zayas is leading worship and Emily Heckman’s son is playing the drums.
See more photos at the Junior High II Picasa page.
Wrapped up in His love
Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North talks about John and being wrapped in God’s love during their Monday night concert. Video by YouTube user alyssssssaaaaa.
An interesting series of events
Last night there was a carnival with popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, a dunk tank, fun photos, wagon rides and music. After enthusiastically diving into all the entertainment, the campers relaxed on the wagon rides under the cool, clear night skies. And then it happened: pirates stole Julio’s mysterious trunk full of goodies. This meant only one thing—a slew of wet campers walking the plank as they played the Pirate game; but a camper’s gotta do what a camper’s gotta do.
Today is the last day that Tenth Avenue North will be here to worship with us, but they aren’t letting that put a damper on their silly shenanigans. This morning during chapel, the campers again had to scramble around to see who had the clothespin. Unfortunately for Corey, it was clipped to his pants. At first Mike Donehey had Corey pretend to play the saxophone like Frank did earlier in the week. But, when Mike asked the campers if they thought it was enough they all shouted no! So the mother of all things gross, the reason for why people don’t want the pin, became Corey’s new challenge.
Mike brought out the Happy Shake ingredients and Corey’s face twisted up into an “OH NO!” expression. Mike pureed a combination of French fries, hamburger, apple slices, and orange soda and poured it into a McDonald’s cup for Corey to drink. He was only able to drink 1/4th of the vile smelling drink so Julio elected Bill Richie, the craft director’s husband, to drink the rest. Bill said it was chewy but he still managed to down the rest of the shake. As a reward for drinking the shake, they each got to spin the wheel of prizes. Corey received a free treat at the snack shop, while Bill got a free Tenth Avenue North bracelet. What a way to start the day! I’m sure Corey won’t look at a McDonald’s Happy Meal the same way ever again.
Planned recreation was Ga-Ga Ball, where the campers attempted to be the last one in the ring. They were allowed to hit the ball with their hand and had to dodge the ball, but they were out if it hit them. Great fun! Some of the other campers played a game called Ninja, where they used their hands to “slice” their opponents’ arms. Once the craft shop opened during free time, the campers used duct tape, bleach and vinegar to create designs on shirts. Some of the patterns were really cool looking. By the way, the winners from yesterday’s Corn Hole tournament were Jonny Ellett and Ruben Juarez, Tenth Avenue North’s bassist and merchandise stand operator. Wouldn’t you know it that the one who came up with the tournament in the first place would win it?
See more photos at the Junior High 2 Picasa page.
Extreme change of plans
Since today was sleep-in day, Mike Bill changed the schedule a bit. The campers all had a chance to take part in three different sessions. These included a challenge course with Julio Nieves, a music class with Danny Zayas, and a work session with Mike Bill. Though the campers gained much from all three sessions, they especially liked helping Mike in the work session. The campers helped Mike Bill had recreate the Chapel by the Stream near the camping area. Some of you Delanco old-timers will remember the chapel from long ago. Mike’s work session is a perfect example of what 1 Timothy 4:12 says: “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” The campers got to be a part of something great that will last for a long time.
Planned recreation was eight-way soccer; the players used eight nets instead of two, but the same rules applied. Team 3 won with the least amount of goals scored against them. During free time, the campers participated in a Corn Hole tournament; Corn Hole is a game where you have to get beanbags into a hole cut out of a board that’s raised on one end. As for the winner, you’ll have to check back tomorrow since the tournament is still ongoing.
See more photos at the Junior High II Picasa page.
On our feet praising God
Let me just say that last night was amazing! Tenth Avenue North rocked the house; everybody was on their feet praising God and enjoying the music. After the concert, night games took place. The campers had to find various stations set up around camp. Each station had a black light plugged into an extension cord that alerted the teams to the clues hidden there. Each clue was written in code and had to be taken to the decoder so the campers could move on to the next step. Counselor Ian Gattuso’s team was the first to collect and decode all of the clues. The clues led them to find hidden messages in the dining hall by holding a black light up to one of the walls. The hidden message said to read Ephesians 5:8, thus making Ian’s team the winners. It sounds complicated, but the campers were able to figure it out and have a blast while doing it.
Today started out nice until the humidity set in; however, the campers didn’t let that spoil their day. During morning chapel the campers played Gorilla, Man, Gun. It’s just like Rock, Paper, Scissors, except it has a song that tells you what to do; “Gorilla beats the man, man beats the gun, and the gun beats the gorilla, but if you tie you die.” Nobody does any actual dying, but you do lose if you tie. It came down to the final two: a camper named Sanchez and Mike Bill, one of the deans. Sanchez lost, but he still got to spin the wheel of prizes. The wheel of prizes is a flash animation that works like the wheel on Wheel of Fortune. The camper gets whatever prize it stops on. Tenth Avenue North also did their infamous “who-has-the-clothespin” game. A clothespin gets passed around camp and the campers have to clip it to another camper without getting caught. The goal is to not be the last one with the clothespin clipped to you. Fortunately for Frank, the camper with the clothespin, the challenge wasn’t too bad. Frank just had to pretend he was playing a saxophone along with the music coming from the amps.
Unfortunately, it started thundering and pouring during lunch. On the bright side, the campers met in the Tabernacle where they played an interesting game using the days of the week as team names. Each time a day of the week was called, the campers had to sit in rows according to their team name. For example, if Saturday was called out, the team with that name would be in the front row, while Sunday was in the second row, Monday was in the third row, and so forth. After the game ended, the campers got to watch Disney’s Rio and eat popcorn. When the movie finished, the rain stopped and the sun was out, so the campers had a half an hour of free time before 4:30 check-in. That’s when the counselors count their assigned campers and everybody gets ready for dinner.
See more photos at the Junior High 2 Picasa page.
Welcome to the blog for Delanco Camp, an inter-denominational Christian camp in Tabernacle, N.J. If you have questions, would like to contribute, advertise or want to share a story, memory, old photos or testimony of your time at camp, contact Blog Editor Matt Ralph at matt.ralph@delanco.org. Upcoming Events
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