Sharptop Cove, Week 1

Sharptop Cove

Alrighty, so I haven't had access to a computer throughout my SoS. So I'm going to sum up my month at Sharptop Cove in four posts. I know its a little crazy posting them one after the other, but these are just some experiences pulled out of my journal from each week I was there.
Week 1:The first week at camp flew by because everything was so new. It started out on Sunday June 20. We woke up at 7:30 to be trained on our assigned jobs. I knew I was on the ropes team, but I didn't know what ride I would be working all month. So, that morning the team met in the gym and were assigned to or jobs. I found out I would be working the Tower. The Tower is a 55ft. climbing wall on one side and a repel wall on the other side with a small platform on top to transfer from one wall to the next. For the next couple of hours I learned how to belay someone up the rock wall, transfer them at the top of the tower, and repel them down the repel wall. It was pretty scary knowing that just the next day I would be working the Tower and have high school kid's lives in my hands. So, the next day I worked the top of the Tower. That's right, 55ft up for 6hrs straight. Working the top is awesome because you get a lot of kids who are really afraid of heights and you get to help them face their fears. One girl came up and started to cry because she was so happy that she made it. I was so proud of her. I've never worked so hard and had so much fun doing it in my life. Here is a quick overview of my schedule for one week:

Sunday: breakfast at 8:30, Chores (for me was collecting frisbees from around camp and out of the lake with a canoe), camp sweep (getting ready for a new camp week), lunch, making water balloons for the night event, free time, dinner, camp tour (showing the kids what the camp has), then the night event, which for Monday night is the obstacle course. This is a picture of me on the dining hall roof, showcasing the ropes team. I'm the middle person. Monday: Breakfast, chores, devotional, lunch, and then working the Tower (transfers on top), dinner. Then, Monday night's event is the hoe down and we pass out ice cream sundaes to the campers.

Tuesday: Breakfast, chores, devotional, lunch, and then working the Tower (repel side), dinner. Then, we don't work the event on Tuesday nights so we have a little bit of free time.

Wednesday: This day is called "the day that never ends". I do all the regular stuff (work the belay side). Then after dinner we do and event called Tableau. This is where we dress up in old western attire and act out a particular scene. For example, I was in the wedding scene, so my job was to get married:

Now, when the campers first see us in our scenes we are frozen, then a gunshot brings the scenes to life and we act it out for about 20 seconds. Then, the gunshot goes off again and we have to freeze wherever we are. It just so happens that in my scene, my groom picks me up in his arms to "take a picture". Well, on the the last week we ended up being frozen in that position for a while.
Now, after the campers see us all dressed up, they are told to get western outfits on for dinner. While they are eating dinner, us summer staffers are setting up and entire carnival in the gym, complete with games and food. This is why it is the day the never ends, because carnival doesn't start till late, and we end up finally getting everything cleaned up at 1:00am.

Thursday: This is day is a little more relaxed for me, because, like Tuesday we don't run the night event. Oh and I work on top of the tower again.

Friday: The beginning of my days are always the same, as you have probably noticed. The event for this night is Banquet. All of the campers get dressed up and eat a fancy dinner. We also get dressed up, just to go along with the camp. Then, that night is Work Crew night. Work Crew is all of the high school kids that come and work at camp. They work at the dining hall, the laundry, and they clean. On work crew night they are assigned to a camper cabin and they go and tell their life story to that cabin. So, our job is just to show our support for them through out the night, so one thing we do is clean the dining hall for them and set up for the next meal.

Saturday: This day is hectic. Camp rides close early and the campers have to pack and clean their cabins. We do and all camp sweep in which we do our chores for a second time that day and also help the campers get checked out of their cabin. They eat dinner and then leave around 7. After they are gone, we help clean the dining hall and then we get to break for the night and have the whole camp to ourselves =)

The next day is Sunday and we do it all over again. So yes, I was married 4 times in 4 weeks.