Launch Day

The mornings are becoming routine. I love to head up for my morning meeting after I get myself put together. I always grab a cup of coffee in the dining hall. It’s a fantastic cup of coffee. A friend of mine owns a wonderful little coffee roaster in town. He mixes up a special blend for our staff. It really is delightful! Anyhow, after I grab my cup of coffee, I like to head over toward the kitchen to see what might be cooking up and say hello to the gang in there. I love our kitchen crew and they really do take care of us. It was another wonderful morning as I grabbed a piece of warm coffee cake that was just coming out of the oven. It was a great start to another great day. Our executive team meets most days around 7:30 am to cover the details of the day and stay ahead of the curve for tomorrow. It is always time well spent as we watch camp come alive until breakfast.

Launch Day was a huge success and a lot of fun this morning.  After working over a week on their rockets, the boys finally had an opportunity to launch.  There are some big decisions on launch day and a number of possibilities. It is up to the boys if they want to launch their rocket or not.  If they choose to launch, we let them know that a few things can happen. First, your rocket may not launch at all. Second, your rocket might launch AND you may never see it again.  Third, it does launch, and you see it start coming down, but it has rested permanently in a tree.  Finally, all goes well, but your rocket breaks up on re-entry (crashes to the ground).  All of these are great life lessons.  Success has many different faces.  I believe everyone that decided to launch had success at launch.  We lost a few. A few broke up on re-entry, and some landed in the trees.  Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed their time building and learning about the physics of rockets.  Our lead, Zach Pruett, is a science professor and really enjoys showing the boys different ways the physical world affects the rocket during launch.

Just as lunch was starting, we enjoyed a nice rain shower that dropped the temperature by almost 20 degrees.  We went from 87 to 69 in about an hour.  The dining hall just lit up with excitement after a couple of days of heat!

Tonight, Age group 3 (Shark Bait!)  headed out to Sliding Rock and Dolly’s for Chill Night!  The rest of the boys enjoyed a slightly cooler evening with some canoe fill-ups, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, and some made-up capture the flag derivation on the cabin field.

The sun was setting on another great day as the boys headed up for evening snack time and then back to the cabins for showers. They looked a little winded, but happy.  It will all start again promptly at 7:45 am tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading. I appreciate the trust you have put in us to assist in the growth and accomplishments of your boys. It’s always a privilege.

Don

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