Circle F has helped me become the person I am today in so many ways. There is something special about this place that makes me want to come back summer after summer. I truly think it is the long lasting friendships that I've made over the years from kids I've met across the world. This place has taught me the meaning of responsibility, friendship, and respect. These three values have played a huge role in my life every day. My experience as a camper has been outstanding, with this experience I hope to become a counselor so I can make an impact on the lives of future campers. I wish every child could have this experience.
Andrew Green
5 year camper
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Last Monday of 3rd session
Hello families,
How did we get here already? It really feels like all our campers just checked in. I can't believe we will be seeing you this Saturday for pick up. Thank goodness, many campers decided to stay for 4th session! It won't be so hard to say good-bye.
Many campers went to Busch Gardens yesterday and had a great time. They got off the buses with big smiles and many stories to tell. The campers that stayed at camp had a wonderful day, as well. We had a longer morning thought about how camp helps you to grow, become a better person and become more responsible. Campers and counselors then broke into smaller groups to discuss how camp has changed them and helped them to grow personally. Each group picked a representative to speak for their group. WOW!It was very inspiring to hear them talk about learning to be more tolerant of others, being more responsible, to be more of a team player, taking others feelings in to account not just theirs and so much more. Of course, it brought a tear to our eyes realizing what an amazing time for growth camp can be. We knew it but it was very moving to hear the campers talk about it. After Siesta we had a counselor hunt where the campers have to find counselors and get points for each one. I was so proud of myself...they didn't find me. Following the hunt it was to the beach for Beach Bonanza Relay. Two teams had to bury 3 campers in the sand, fill a cooler with water using a good bucket and a bucket with holes, paint a team member, swim holding hands and the final leg was a canoe race. They had so much fun nobody cared which team won. We had a general swim before the camp favorite for dinner...PIZZA! Everyone got a good nights sleep after such a busy day. You have a fantastic week. I know we will. See you Saturday between 9 and 12. The Horse Show starts at 10.
Diana and the gang at Circle F
How did we get here already? It really feels like all our campers just checked in. I can't believe we will be seeing you this Saturday for pick up. Thank goodness, many campers decided to stay for 4th session! It won't be so hard to say good-bye.
Many campers went to Busch Gardens yesterday and had a great time. They got off the buses with big smiles and many stories to tell. The campers that stayed at camp had a wonderful day, as well. We had a longer morning thought about how camp helps you to grow, become a better person and become more responsible. Campers and counselors then broke into smaller groups to discuss how camp has changed them and helped them to grow personally. Each group picked a representative to speak for their group. WOW!It was very inspiring to hear them talk about learning to be more tolerant of others, being more responsible, to be more of a team player, taking others feelings in to account not just theirs and so much more. Of course, it brought a tear to our eyes realizing what an amazing time for growth camp can be. We knew it but it was very moving to hear the campers talk about it. After Siesta we had a counselor hunt where the campers have to find counselors and get points for each one. I was so proud of myself...they didn't find me. Following the hunt it was to the beach for Beach Bonanza Relay. Two teams had to bury 3 campers in the sand, fill a cooler with water using a good bucket and a bucket with holes, paint a team member, swim holding hands and the final leg was a canoe race. They had so much fun nobody cared which team won. We had a general swim before the camp favorite for dinner...PIZZA! Everyone got a good nights sleep after such a busy day. You have a fantastic week. I know we will. See you Saturday between 9 and 12. The Horse Show starts at 10.
Diana and the gang at Circle F
Friday, July 24, 2009
Time is flying by...
Hello families,
It is so hard to believe that one week from tonight will be banquet and you will be arriving to pick your children up next Saturday. It really feels like your campers just arrived. I think they are surprised at how fast the time is going by, as well.
Tonight we are having our "Luau Dance" at the Cantina and on the beach. It is always a very popular event. The campers love playing on the beach with their friends and listening to the music play. One of the highlights will be watching a beautiful sunset over the lake. I know it is one of my favorite evenings. On Sunday, about half of the children will be going to Busch Gardens and the children here will be participating in Build a Boat. They will be put into groups and given 3 large pieces of cardboard and 2 rolls of duct tape and must work together to construct a boat that will hold 2 campers. They also name their boat and make up a cheer for it and the team. Following all of that will be a boat race. The winner of each race will then race the other winners. Hopefully, the boats still float!! I need to leave you now to join the campers at the dance. Directors like to have fun, too, especially with your children. They are amazing. Thank you.
Enjoy your last week of quiet,
Diana, Murray and all of the gang
It is so hard to believe that one week from tonight will be banquet and you will be arriving to pick your children up next Saturday. It really feels like your campers just arrived. I think they are surprised at how fast the time is going by, as well.
Tonight we are having our "Luau Dance" at the Cantina and on the beach. It is always a very popular event. The campers love playing on the beach with their friends and listening to the music play. One of the highlights will be watching a beautiful sunset over the lake. I know it is one of my favorite evenings. On Sunday, about half of the children will be going to Busch Gardens and the children here will be participating in Build a Boat. They will be put into groups and given 3 large pieces of cardboard and 2 rolls of duct tape and must work together to construct a boat that will hold 2 campers. They also name their boat and make up a cheer for it and the team. Following all of that will be a boat race. The winner of each race will then race the other winners. Hopefully, the boats still float!! I need to leave you now to join the campers at the dance. Directors like to have fun, too, especially with your children. They are amazing. Thank you.
Enjoy your last week of quiet,
Diana, Murray and all of the gang
Monday, July 20, 2009
What a beautiful day!
Hi everyone,
I can't believe the temperature at camp today. The sprinkles began during flag raising and got somewhat heavier during 1st and 2nd session. The kids played soccer in the rain, waterfront played games on the beach, rockwall did a low ropes course and all of us put on long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts! We were so cold. I know you are thinking...WHAT??? It is now 2:45pm and I am still wearing my long sleeve t-shirt. It is the first time in 16 summers that I can remember it being this beautiful at this time of day. It is amazing. Everyone is on their way to their 3rd activity and feeling fantastic. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the temperature is about 78. I hope you are enjoying your day as much as we are. Nature is so wonderful.
Your Circle F Family
I can't believe the temperature at camp today. The sprinkles began during flag raising and got somewhat heavier during 1st and 2nd session. The kids played soccer in the rain, waterfront played games on the beach, rockwall did a low ropes course and all of us put on long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts! We were so cold. I know you are thinking...WHAT??? It is now 2:45pm and I am still wearing my long sleeve t-shirt. It is the first time in 16 summers that I can remember it being this beautiful at this time of day. It is amazing. Everyone is on their way to their 3rd activity and feeling fantastic. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the temperature is about 78. I hope you are enjoying your day as much as we are. Nature is so wonderful.
Your Circle F Family
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Can this all happen in one day????
Hello families and friends,
When we say at camp that a day at camp is like a week in the "real" world, we are not kidding. Even after 16 summers, I am astonished at how much we can pack in a day. We always think that a Sunday without a field trip will be nice and relaxing. Hey, a director can dream can't they! Anyway, we started with each cabin having a picnic breakfast at their cabin. The weather was beautiful and everything seemed so peaceful. Of course, I was lulled into a false sense of...this is going to be a nice quiet day. Our first visit was nurse Joy filling us in on the latest at the infirmary. Nothing out of the ordinary for camp...whew! And away she went to deliver morning meds to each cabin. The administration tries to talk about the happenings and plans for the day while answering phones, questions from campers and counselors. On Sundays, the cabins do a big clean up. They clean out their trunks, change sheets, and do a good cleaning of the cabin. At 10:30 Mike gave a longer morning thought about positive thinking and how it can affect your life and make it so much better. Also, stressing the importance of reacting to situations with a positive attitude instead of getting angry. You feel soooo much better when all is said and done and you may change the way others feel as well. Great message for all of us! All of that and an all camp clean up by 11:00. WATER BATTLE was on!! There was water hoses, water guns, water balloons, buckets of water and a whole lot of mud! The team who has one dry person at the end, wins. Off to general swim to get all the mud off before lunch. After lunch it was siesta. While the campers rested Devin was busy getting events ready for Carnival for the afternoon. We had a huge water slide, a bounce house and a giant double slip and slide. Set up on the basketball court was softball throw, putting contest, basketball throw, bean bag toss, archery and drawing with sidewalk chalk. There was so much to do. The campers had a blast.
It was pizza night for dinner and that caused all kinds of excitement. Add in wind, thunder, lightning, pouring rain and you end up with some amazing singing after dinner. The oldest boys lead everyone in the best version of "John Jacob Jinglehimer Smit" you ever heard. It was so much fun. We were stuck in the Lasso Lodge and having the most spontaneous good time. I even had ice water dumped on my head. All in good fun of course.(I will get even) We finally had to use the laundry van to transport kids to the Round up for our Sunday night movie. You can't believe how excited they were about riding in the van. Camp, you just can't explain it!!! We are having such a fantastic time. I hope you are too. Thanks for sharing your children with us.
Your happy camp mom,
Diana
When we say at camp that a day at camp is like a week in the "real" world, we are not kidding. Even after 16 summers, I am astonished at how much we can pack in a day. We always think that a Sunday without a field trip will be nice and relaxing. Hey, a director can dream can't they! Anyway, we started with each cabin having a picnic breakfast at their cabin. The weather was beautiful and everything seemed so peaceful. Of course, I was lulled into a false sense of...this is going to be a nice quiet day. Our first visit was nurse Joy filling us in on the latest at the infirmary. Nothing out of the ordinary for camp...whew! And away she went to deliver morning meds to each cabin. The administration tries to talk about the happenings and plans for the day while answering phones, questions from campers and counselors. On Sundays, the cabins do a big clean up. They clean out their trunks, change sheets, and do a good cleaning of the cabin. At 10:30 Mike gave a longer morning thought about positive thinking and how it can affect your life and make it so much better. Also, stressing the importance of reacting to situations with a positive attitude instead of getting angry. You feel soooo much better when all is said and done and you may change the way others feel as well. Great message for all of us! All of that and an all camp clean up by 11:00. WATER BATTLE was on!! There was water hoses, water guns, water balloons, buckets of water and a whole lot of mud! The team who has one dry person at the end, wins. Off to general swim to get all the mud off before lunch. After lunch it was siesta. While the campers rested Devin was busy getting events ready for Carnival for the afternoon. We had a huge water slide, a bounce house and a giant double slip and slide. Set up on the basketball court was softball throw, putting contest, basketball throw, bean bag toss, archery and drawing with sidewalk chalk. There was so much to do. The campers had a blast.
It was pizza night for dinner and that caused all kinds of excitement. Add in wind, thunder, lightning, pouring rain and you end up with some amazing singing after dinner. The oldest boys lead everyone in the best version of "John Jacob Jinglehimer Smit" you ever heard. It was so much fun. We were stuck in the Lasso Lodge and having the most spontaneous good time. I even had ice water dumped on my head. All in good fun of course.(I will get even) We finally had to use the laundry van to transport kids to the Round up for our Sunday night movie. You can't believe how excited they were about riding in the van. Camp, you just can't explain it!!! We are having such a fantastic time. I hope you are too. Thanks for sharing your children with us.
Your happy camp mom,
Diana
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
I'm Doing Great
As a previous camper in 1993, and having not returned to camp until this Summer, I had a difficult transition to make. Being placed in a leadership position as demanding as Boy’s Head Counselor increased the difficulty ten-fold. Now I find myself in my 6th week here and I couldn’t feel more comfortable. Part of the reason is the great training, another is the immense help of the staff, but the main reason is the spirit of the campers. The returning campers take the new campers under their wings and guide them around camp. The older kids guide the younger kids, the English speakers help the English as a second language campers and so on and so forth. I don’t have to pull kids out of their cabins because they are already having a blast at their activity. The camp songs come natural, the programs are well-planned and taking in the scenery here is an activity all in itself. Everyone feels at home here. This session in particular, there are several campers joining us from other countries. While they may love playing soccer at home, I see many of them eager to try new things and make new friends. Just last night I dealt with a camper that has never been away from home before. He was feeling stressed, scared, and home-sick, all perfectly natural. He came to me asking to go home. The camper talked for two hours with their counselor and I and then participated in the nightly gathering with the cabin. This morning I watched him help me teach other campers the basics of fishing, hit the target in archery, and organize a rope swinging competition outside his cabin. When I asked him how he felt now, he replied, “I’m doing great.”
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The first day of 3rd session! Can it really be here already??
Hello Circle F family,
What a fantastic first day. Check in went smoothly and everyone is here. The afternoon was filled with a swim test, outdoor games and getting know our new friends. At 5:45 the dinner bell rang and finally we got to eat the fried chicken that we had been smelling cook this afternoon, yummy! The campers all made a pledge after dinner to be good, kind, follow camp rules and have a fantastic time while at camp. At 6:45 we began our cabin photo scavenger hunt. Each cabin had to take a photo of the entire cabin doing the following: hugging Swannie's tree (the huge oak on the playground), in front of the "vampire slayer's" stall (Buffy), flexing muscles with the Pioneer boys, making funny faces with the nurse (Joy), waiting at campcraft, giggling at the gazebo, playing dead at the rockwall, swimming with the head of waterfront(Blake), being hunchbacks at the bell, doing a "Charlie's Angel" pose at paintball, pointing and laughing with the girls head counselor (Mia), being short around the boys head counselor (Devin who is 6'5') and pretend to be angry with the me! So much fun and when they are all done, they know their way around camp and know who administration is. Following the hunt will be counselor skits where they get familiar with the activities and the counselors who teach them. Of course, store will follow where everyone will enjoy a treat. After everyone is done, we will call our youngest campers (Buckaroos) to bed to be followed later by the Wranglers then last but not least the Pioneers. I think everyone will sleep well tonight after such an exciting and active day. I know I will.
We have a very international session this time. It is so much fun to get to know children from other countries as well as our own. We have campers from Italy, France, Martinique, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Guadeloupe, El Salvadore and Spain. Wow, what an adventure for everyone!
It makes no difference where they are from, they are children having fun and laughing together.
Thank you for sharing your children with us. We are enjoying them already. So are the puppies!
Diana, Murray and the gang
What a fantastic first day. Check in went smoothly and everyone is here. The afternoon was filled with a swim test, outdoor games and getting know our new friends. At 5:45 the dinner bell rang and finally we got to eat the fried chicken that we had been smelling cook this afternoon, yummy! The campers all made a pledge after dinner to be good, kind, follow camp rules and have a fantastic time while at camp. At 6:45 we began our cabin photo scavenger hunt. Each cabin had to take a photo of the entire cabin doing the following: hugging Swannie's tree (the huge oak on the playground), in front of the "vampire slayer's" stall (Buffy), flexing muscles with the Pioneer boys, making funny faces with the nurse (Joy), waiting at campcraft, giggling at the gazebo, playing dead at the rockwall, swimming with the head of waterfront(Blake), being hunchbacks at the bell, doing a "Charlie's Angel" pose at paintball, pointing and laughing with the girls head counselor (Mia), being short around the boys head counselor (Devin who is 6'5') and pretend to be angry with the me! So much fun and when they are all done, they know their way around camp and know who administration is. Following the hunt will be counselor skits where they get familiar with the activities and the counselors who teach them. Of course, store will follow where everyone will enjoy a treat. After everyone is done, we will call our youngest campers (Buckaroos) to bed to be followed later by the Wranglers then last but not least the Pioneers. I think everyone will sleep well tonight after such an exciting and active day. I know I will.
We have a very international session this time. It is so much fun to get to know children from other countries as well as our own. We have campers from Italy, France, Martinique, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Guadeloupe, El Salvadore and Spain. Wow, what an adventure for everyone!
It makes no difference where they are from, they are children having fun and laughing together.
Thank you for sharing your children with us. We are enjoying them already. So are the puppies!
Diana, Murray and the gang
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Introducing Camp Mom & Office Manager Sally!
What an opportunity! Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you could run away from home, but take your children with you? Here I am! You found me at The Ranch! I'm Sally, Mom of Trent and Dillon, six year old twin boys. I work with children in my everyday business, McGruff Safe Kids Total Identification System in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. At camp, I also get to enjoy the children, yours and mine! Camp life is another world where we start the day with a positive thought and gathering as a group to salute our nation. We're not surrounded by the negatives of the real world, like the news or the economic challenges of our days. We enjoy a life which is more simple and active. I watch my boys run from activity to activity and I thrive on an idea of "taking a village to raise a child". Parenthood can wear us down and at camp, we have a team of happy, college bound or educated, responsible groups teaching our kids to enjoy being a kid! It's a moment to take a breath and re-charge, letting them go and trusting them. It's hard and I've had some long nights trying to remember that camp is an opportunity for our children to learn a lot about who they are (without the props) and allowing them to test their limitations (mine, too!). Wow! Heavy stuff - but good stuff! Ok! I promise to be reporting to you about the AWESOME fun our kids are having and about their worthwhile challenges. Also, since I'm here each day with your children as well as mine, I see a lot and feel good about being soft place to fall if they need it.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Mid-summer campfire
Hello families,
Tonight was a very special evening for us. We had our mid-summer campfire. What makes this campfire unique is multi-year campers and counselors speak on what camp means to them and how it has helped to shape their life. You would be in awe. They all speak of the clay road, the activities, the horses but in the end they all agree it is the friends and sense of family that brings them back year after year. It is inspiring to all whether you are a first year camper or a 16 year veteran like me. What was really awesome was after we sang the Alma Mater, I encouraged any camper to speak up if they had something to say about camp. You would be amazed at how many of our first year campers stepped out from the circle and spoke about Circle F. Wow, I am so happy that they are feeling so welcome and so much a part of what we call our family. As I walked back to teh office, cabin groups were gathering by the fire and on the beach to have their evening cabin gathering to finish their day. I know that everyone had alot on their mind after tonights campfire. Your children are wonderful and having a very special experience this session. I can't believe we only have one more week together. Where did the time go?? Thank you for sharing your most precious children with us. Sleep well...I know we will.
Diana, Murray and the gang
Tonight was a very special evening for us. We had our mid-summer campfire. What makes this campfire unique is multi-year campers and counselors speak on what camp means to them and how it has helped to shape their life. You would be in awe. They all speak of the clay road, the activities, the horses but in the end they all agree it is the friends and sense of family that brings them back year after year. It is inspiring to all whether you are a first year camper or a 16 year veteran like me. What was really awesome was after we sang the Alma Mater, I encouraged any camper to speak up if they had something to say about camp. You would be amazed at how many of our first year campers stepped out from the circle and spoke about Circle F. Wow, I am so happy that they are feeling so welcome and so much a part of what we call our family. As I walked back to teh office, cabin groups were gathering by the fire and on the beach to have their evening cabin gathering to finish their day. I know that everyone had alot on their mind after tonights campfire. Your children are wonderful and having a very special experience this session. I can't believe we only have one more week together. Where did the time go?? Thank you for sharing your most precious children with us. Sleep well...I know we will.
Diana, Murray and the gang