Happy Anniversary, Camp Skylemar! It’s our 75th year of spending the summer with the greatest guys in the whole wide world.
Part of our summer-long celebration includes a giant brass raffle drum, with a ping pong ball for each camper and counselor inside. Whenever Nick Shep takes over the microphone after the meal, everyone hopes it’s to pick a ball which correlates to someone getting a prize. Tonight’s winner of Skylemar swag was Barrett B (B17)!
75 years sounds like a long time, but something happened tonight that’s a first in Skylemar history. Here’s how it went down:
It started to rain during Spirit Night, so we moved into the Pavilion. From there Nick described this week’s Cool2Care chain recipient as one who has always been extremely respectful, kind and cognizant of how to be a great Skylemar community member. This week’s honor goes to Coop E (B18)!
Bunk 27 led Spirit Night, which started out as it traditionally does. Athletic Director “DT” (Danny Thomas) gave the sermonette, and talked about what he was grateful for during his 9-year run at Skylemar. He said, “I’ve learned many things from our fearless leader Shep. One I remember is when you speak in public and have the opportunity to shout out to your significant other, you should.”
DT then offered a touching tribute to Luci, his best friend. “We’ve grown so much together here at Skylemar, so I think it’s only fitting that we take this next step together, along with all of you”, he said looking out in the audience.
As he took her hand, the crowd responded with giggles of hushed excitement…. “Is he gonna?”…. “Whaaaat??”….. “No way!”…. “Oh my gosh….“ Is he going to?”…. “That’s crazy!" -- and then….
He bent down on one knee, pulled something out of his pocket and the audience cheered so loud we could hardly hear him say it…."Luci Shepherd, will you marry me?”. She said, “YES” and the crowd went wild! Leaps into the air, high fives, hugs!! It was as if they had all won the lottery!
Then came the engagement party -- mini-pizza, mozzarella sticks, pigs in a blanket and best of all, Shirley Temples! Cheers to the happy couple! Tonight was one of those evenings so energized with excitement and celebration, that we hardly remember the spectacular Maine day we had earlier. The brilliant sunshine found activities going on from one end of camp to the other, and everywhere in between. The magic waters of Trickey Pond may have been the most welcoming place to be, but that didn’t stop us from hosting three Intercamp round-robin tournaments here today (10U Basketball, 11U Tennis, and 12U Soccer) and sending out three other teams as well (13U & 15U Tennis and 14U Soccer).
In Tennis, highlight performances were turned in by Toby, Ari M, Nathan A, Will G, Jack L and Sconsett.
Both Hoops courts saw plenty of 10U action all afternoon. Lance dominated the backboards in two games, and Elijah E played great D all over the court. Spencer O provided much of the offensive spark for our club.
Right alongside on the Hockey court, JJ kept us in the first game’s defensive battle with outstanding work in the cage. Jordans G and H led an explosion on offense in a big 2nd game win.
And finally, the 14U Soccer team continued to show marked improvement in just a few days of play under Coach Paul’s guidance. In the opening round, Elias G and Leo F led the way, then Leopold’s debut in the net and some great defensive work by Lucas V and Ignacio held a very tough opponent scoreless after allowing an early tally in a come from behind 2-1 victory. Finley hit the upper right corner to tie it, and then Sherman scored the game winner midway through the 2nd half for the win.
Definitely a day and night to remember!
