EBR Camps Blog

If this Color War had one message, it would be the blending of old traditions with new ones to create an experience unparalleled by any other!

We began the war right away by holding our traditional indoor games outdoors on our new basketball courts.  The lights shone bright as we ran and cheered for blue and grey.

Yesterday, we played group games in the morning.  In the afternoon, the Lower Camp played capture the flag and tug-of-war while the Upper Camp had a swim meet.  The main event of the day; however, was the much anticipated PC basketball game.

The night of the PC basketball game is always filled with honor and pride as the PC girls are individually introduced at dinner and given their Chief Lehrer Upper Senior Basketball Game t-shirts.  The PC’s see those who came before them wearing these shirts throughout their camping years and are excited to receive theirs.  This year, instead of heading to the social hall for the game for evening activity, we made our way to the outdoor basketball courts once again.  To officially begin the ritual of PC games on these courts, we had a special ceremony complete with fireworks and the national anthem.  Then, the players were announced again to cheers of the entire camp.  The grey team was victorious in an incredibly well-played game that truly honored the new tradition, with a score of 46-42.  At the end of the game, the PC’s cut down the nets to keep pieces as a memento of the night.

While it did not seem as if the weather would cooperate with us this morning, we were able to play all of our morning games.  The highlight was Senior soccer, which we introduced with a “world cup” style procession of the PC’s and Lower Sophmores, representing our oldest and youngest campers.  In the afternoon, we had a spirited full-camp tug-of-war.

At this time, we are getting ready for our Senior volleyball games this evening and the war is incredibly close with only about 20 points separating Blue and Grey- and our main event, Color War Sing, is still to come tomorrow!

The Blue and the Grey are here, everybody give a cheer…

For those of us who have experienced the anticipation of a Blue Ridge color war, we know that it’s that “what’s going to happen next, can’t take our shoes off, every sound makes us run outside,” kind of feeling!  The past few days have certainly reignited this sentiment in our returning campers and created it in our new ones.  The cheering reached its peak yesterday afternoon after the girls witnessed Equinunk’s Color War break.  Now, it was our turn for fake-outs, tricks, and, of course, the real thing.

The buildup continued last night.  We had our CBR dance showcase, followed by our weekly camp cast.  The end of the camp cast was interrupted by a “special report-“ video interviews with all of the groupheads, Lizzy, Nicki, and Lori recalling their memories of past Color Wars and advice for the PC’s about what was to come.  The interviewees also gave their predictions of when the war would break- some even said they thought that it would break that very minute, stimulating a huge reaction from the crowd.  At the end of this fabulous fake-out, which was organized by the CA girls with Mel Cameron’s assistance, it was brought to our attention that there were 2 interviews missing from the video- Sheryl Kamen’s and Julie Dorfmans’s.  It was decided that we would see their interviews live in the morning.

As soon as reveille blew this morning, campers could be found on bunk porches waiting for the next sign of Color War.  To our surprise, we were treated to a fantastic morning Zumba class at the flag pole led by our Zumba specialist, Julie Dard.  The class added to the hype and helped us get into the spirit even more with an activity that we all know and love.

Cameras in hand, we headed to breakfast.  Finally, it was time for the missing interviews.  Julie and Sheryl stood in the front of the mess hall with the camera on them.  Of course, the interviews wouldn’t have been complete without a traditional Camp Cast ending- “Back to you Lori!”  Julie and Sheryl said that together, and silence hung in the air as we waited for Lori’s dismissal.  However, instead of her voice, the first blast of the cannon was heard…then the second…then the third, signaling the official start of Color War along with papers flying through the air.

Now, we are deep into competition between the Blue Storybook, Led by counselor chief Lauren Lazarus, and the Grey Sesame Street, led by counselor chief Sophie Foster.  The Storybook theme will focus on how we create our stories at camp through kindness, friendship, and the magic that can only be found at Blue Ridge.  The Sesame Street theme will focus on our strong sense of family and working together to help others be the best that we can be.

After our traditional opening ceremonies, the fields were alive all afternoon and the beginning rehearsals of what is sure to be a beautiful Color War sing could be heard from the social hall.  Tonight, we will begin a new tradition by holding our “indoor games” outdoors on our gorgeous new basketball courts.

Over 250 points have already been scored with many more to come.

Make sure to follow the action during Color War on Twitter and Facebook.  We will update you as often as we can.

We look forward to many special moments in the next 3 days of Blue and Grey 2014.