It was a totally epic first day of Colour War and the energy was buzzing all around camp.
I was awoken at 6:30 by high pitched cheering outside my window – the Senior Bears running to each other’s cabins to find out who was on what team.
Half an hour later, hoards of brightly dressed children, adorned with tutus, bandanas, and knee socks in their team colours, paraded by my cabin chanting their traditional colour team cheers (“fire’s red and so are we, red team to victory!”, “G-R-E-E-N, green team will win again!”…).
After captains votes (where the seniors impressed us so much by supporting each other no matter who won) we played a super fun game of Scavination, where campers had to chase down staff and complete challenges to get answers to Dragon-themed trivia questions. It was heartwarming and hilarious to watch kids making human pyramids, composing poetic odes to camp, finding the biggest leaf or funniest shaped stick, and (my personal favourite) picking up 10 pieces of schmutz (the camp word for litter).
Before lunch we had a fierce tug of war battle between the teams, after which the campers cheered on the staff as the counselling team eked out a narrow surprise win against the instructors and trippers.
This afternoon we split up for the swim meet, soccer and basketball tournaments, surf and sail races, and dance and riding competitions, not to mention the speed chess games which were a crowd favourite to watch. There was something for everyone to contribute, whether talent, effort, or team spirit.
In the evening the teams performed their originally written Fight Songs before the famous Colour War Counsellor Hunt, where the staff hide around camp and campers find them for points (the higher job position of the staff the more points they are worth). This year Trip Director Lenny and Assistant Director Pearl got caught, but Mara and Max remained elusive (afterward, Mara emerged from the bush wearing a full gilly suit, apparently having chosen camouflage as a technique this year).
Seniors are now eating nachos and preparing for tomorrow’s Alma Mater songs, while everyone else is resting up for another big day tomorrow!
