“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
The last day of camp is always bittersweet. Though it is nice to return home after a week away, it can be difficult to go from the excitement of camp and a situation where you have been living, day and night, with a group of people that have become like a family away from your family. One of the most challenging things that occurs on the last day is that people who feel like they have only just begun to form friendships and may come from areas that are quite far away from each other realize that, in all likelihood, this is the high point of their friendship, as distance and logistics make it unlikely that they will be able to carry on such a relationship. It is particularly bittersweet for the seniors who have been coming to Stowe for years. Though we hope to have some of them back as counselors, the reality is that we only have space for so many counselors and that this is it.
Well then! After that depressing paragraph, we’ll give a short recap of our Friday activities. We got up bright and early, had a quick breakfast, and headed to Stowe High School for our final run together. The kids formed teams, with each team running a watchless mile loop in the trails behind the high school. The game was simple: the team that came the closest to hitting their announced mile time was the winner. There were some unique strategies attempted, from internal counting to attempting to belt out songs to give the runners a better sense of how long it had been. In the end, though, it was the Ridgefield girls crew of Alex B., Emma H., Rachel M., Julia H, Julia R., and Haley G. who took home the title, as they were just 1 second off their goal pace! This was a monumental victory for the squad, as they had been desperate to win something during camp but had come up short.
After this and a few extra miles for those who wanted to get something in before the car ride home, we jumped on the bus back to the Round Hearth and the kids did some frenized, last minute packing. They were given their t-shirts and we then jumped right into our awards ceremony, where we handed out awards for various campers who had impressed throughout the week. This year we had a special treat, as Grace R. and Sarah R. played the song “Home” by Philip Phillips in front of the group. Finally, we headed out the lawn to take our annual picture by the Round Hearth sign, said some tearful goodbyes, and everyone went their separate ways. #goodbyefriends
Stowe Running Camp 