Today was full of moments that remind us why all the work we do here is worth it. When we lined after dinner for our weekly campfire we were greeted with the most vibrant double rainbow we’ve ever seen coming right out of our lake, and the campfire that followed was definitely blessed with its magic. The stars of the night were campers, and acts ranged from incredibly well-performed original ukelele songs by Junior Girls to hilarious repeat-after-me songs from Inter Boys, to the finale – a soulful solo of Hallelujah from a new-to Arowhon Inter Girl who had the crowd in utter awe.

We presented our first round of 10 year jackets and the 5 girls who spoke talked about their last night as curve girls where they spent over 3 hours on the curve dock doing a compliment circle where each girl complimented each other girl in her year (apparently a total of 552 compliments were given that night). Tonight on stage they took turns complimenting each other again in front of the full camp and never has it been so apparent that the friendships formed at Arowhon are like none other in the world.

But the highlight for me was watching the interactions after the campfire – seeing campers and staff swarming around the performers as they left the stage, vibrating with pure pride and joy for their friends’ accomplishments. On my way to staff snacks tonight I popped into Arts and Crafts to see why the lights were still on and found 3 counsellors using their free time after the kids went to bed to make decorations for a camper in their cabin whose birthday it is tomorrow and yet again my heart was warmed by the commitment of our staff and the genuine love and care they have for what have now become “their kids”.