The Best Camp on Earth Chickami. That’s the name of my camp. When I hear that word, thousands of memories rush through my head. I love that camp, and I have been going since I was five years old. It is a very fun and cheerful camp. The counselors are cool and the other campers are really nice to hang out with. The groups of campers at Camp Chickami are named after trees, and you are put into a certain group based on age and gender. When you’re a younger camper, you are called a “pine.” There are many pine groups because there are so many younger campers, as well as older campers. There are the white pines, pinyon pines, sugar pines, ponderosa pines, and scotch pines. Most of the pine groups are mixed-‐ gender until you’re older (about eight years old), which is when you are separated by gender. When you are fourteen, you can become an L.I.T. (leader in training). I really want to be an L.I.T. Even if it means I’m no longer a camper anymore, I would still be able to be at camp. I like camp because you can act almost as if you are a different person. Even though you are still you, you can do things you wouldn’t normally do. For example, you can be as loud as you want at camp, even if you are usually a shy, quiet person. You can also be brave enough to get up to do something during a camp assembly-‐ like the time I did gymnastics in front of the WHOLE camp when I was nine years old. I felt nervous at first, and I hadn’t really wanted to do it. But after people started cheering, I felt better and less nervous. You can be different because at camp, you hang out with a completely different group of people; kind of like going to a new school. The campers at Camp Chickami are always entertaining. One summer, in my group called the Maples, there was a girl who liked to be called Pigeon, which was a little weird. She had a very strange laugh, but she was funny. Then there’s Sofia, one of my best friends. We do everything at camp together. We go swimming in the pool, even though she has always been the better swimmer. We hide together during games of Relivio, sit on the bus together, and everything else. There are so many things to do at Chickami; such as catching frogs, playing four square, swimming, doing all kinds of arts and crafts, playing sports, doing archery, playing Relivio, doing drama-‐related activities, and a lot more. Relivio is a very important part of Camp Chickami. It is a traditional camp game. It is basically a hide-‐and-‐seek tag game that is played with a group of campers
against another group of campers. One group runs off and hides, while the other group waits and then seeks. There is a sand pit, called the “Relivio pit”, where you go if you are “caught”. The people in the pit must stay there until another person on their team runs through the pit yelling, “RELIVIO!” You may think that this game sounds easy, but it’s not! You have to have plans and strategies in order to be successful in the game. Another special thing about Chickami is that the terms “chowder” and “chowderhead” are used daily. There are used as an insult, but not in a hurtful way, of course. Every Friday at camp, there is a counselor that is “Chowderhead of the Week.” The counselor is brought into the middle of the camp assembly to be “chowdered.” The chowder is usually mud, dirt, or other smelly things, such as chunks of food. It is poured on the counselor, and even though it smells really bad, it is a very fun camp experience! “Ew!” we exclaim, as we walk by a big pile of it on the ground. We all have to cover our noses as we walk up to the buses to leave for the day. The last day of camp is always special, though. The counselors plan a whole-‐ camp activity for the day. One year, it was a game of Relivio that was played with counselors against campers! We always get popsicles at the end the last day of camp, and eventually it is that time again, where most of us get a pain in our hearts and tears in our eyes. We then pull each other in for hugs, and have to say goodbye until next summer. Chickami is awesome and it is really hard to have to leave it and say goodbye to the people there at the end of summer. I will never forget about this unique camp, especially all the memories it has brought.