Romrec Week 2
Dear Romrec families,
WOW! That is all I have to say! I have to take a deep breath before even beginning to describe the jam-packed week your beautiful girls have had. They have been non-stop, soaking up every ounce of time together and thoroughly enjoying each Romacan moment-big and small. They have surpassed even my own hopes and goals for them in terms of how they treat one another and how they care for the younger campers. Although I have only known them for 2 short weeks, I have grown to love them so much already.
I will try to shed a little light on some of the events and activities of this past week, knowing the words cannot do justice to the emotion they put behind everything they do. But close your eyes and imagine your daughter with the biggest smile, feeling completely fulfilled by her experience as a Romrec camper. We had our annual “Miss Romaca” pageant last week, where they dressed up their OOBS in wacky costumes and even made it to the finals! (of course, in between, they are singing and dancing in the Rec Hall). July 4th was, of course, action packed from morning til night. Not even sure how they made it up to flagpole so weighed down in their red, white, and blue tutus, socks, head pieces, boas, jewelry, noise makers, and face paint…but they made it and everyone on Lake Plunkett probably heard them arrive! The celebrations began with Daniel dressed as King George (a la Hamilton) attempting to raise the British Flag-a gesture the girls, of course, quickly disputed, as they proudly raised the American flag. We had a 4th of July rap battle and plaque presentation - their rap had to include “Taxation without Representation” and their plaque was amazing, connecting July 4th and patriotism to Romaca. What a proud moment it was for the girls to stand up as Romrec and share their plaque and present it. Then we had Gold Rush-a super fun obstacle course all around camp which the girls had to complete in order to earn their “gold.” Then Romrec lead their teams in American Challenge - they were energetic and enthusiastic as they inspired their teams to help Daniel earn his “American citizenship” as they traveled from challenge to challenge (such as pie eating contests, dance routines, slang trivia, Obama vs Queen, and completing a USA puzzle). Next up, of course, was Paint Your Counselor - the girls painted hand prints on their clothing to save as memorabilia from their last time participating in this activity as a camper - it was fun but bittersweet-but they loved painting their bunk counselors (and slathering each other in paint as well :-) Our celebrations culminated with the grand finale-fireworks at Berkshire Bob’s- Romrec could not wait to sit front and center and lead the camp in traditional songs while we waited to watch the fireworks. The fireworks, as always, did not disapoint.
We were fortunate enough to enjoy a beautiful timeless Berkshire tradition and have a picnic dinner at Tanglewood and see James Taylor. Even though they only know a few of his songs, we know it was an experience they will always treasure. We even ran into several old Romacans who watched the girls in awe and envy-and enjoyed sharing stories and reminiscing with the girls.
Believe it or not-(as I said, they do not want to miss a moment together!)-the entire division participated in a cheerleading competition at Camp Lenox - they had been preparing since the beginning of camp for this competition. It’s an opportunity to do something out of their comfort zone and learn to work together as a team. They even placed (well, they should have won, if you ask me)! They had such a great time. Wednesday was our Romaca Swim Invitational - many tried out who are not swimmers but their goal this summer is to try out for everything and do the best they can-and who can blame them?! Our swim team came in FIRST!
I hope that gives you just a little taste of all things Romrec this week. We leave tomorrow for Cape Cod and Nantucket and they will relish in the down time and be thrilled to just be together-though, of course, they also don’t want to leave camp. I wish you all a wonderful weekend. May you sleep well knowing your daughter is having the time of her life!
See you next week!
Warmly,
Lori