Let the fun and games begin!

Ghana 🇬🇭 Canada 🇨🇦 Italy 🇮🇹 Australia 🇦🇺

OLYMPIC DAY is HERE at Pine Forest Camp!

Campers and their high-energy leaders, decked out in bright colors, were hootin’ and hollerin’ as they cheered each other on! First there was the solemn opening ceremony with a flaming Olympic torch and pledge. This was followed by some rousing competition.

It all ended tonight in an intense flaming rope-burning contest on Mitchell Field. Tomorrow it’s all day track and field competition, swim meets and an all-camp Steeplechase.

Let the Olympic Day spirit soar!

We’re MIGHTY glad to welcome more Pine Forest Camp EXPLORERS this weekend. Featured below: Last week’s Play Day group of future campers. We swam! 🏊‍♀️ We played! 🏀 We ate delicious camp food! 😋 Get ready, Explorers, for the best breakfast ever! Bagels and lox! 🥯 We hope to see everybody next summer. Thank you for coming up to experience the magic of camp with us! 💙💛

Yesterday was another action-packed day here at camp! We started the day with deliciousss pancakes, and then many campers were off to participate in Greeley games (which – in addition to many sports – included swimming, fishing, and gymnastics this time!), and then we ended the night with a unique and really fun all-camp evening activity: creating a song together! 

We have professional singer/song-writer visitors for the week – Krystal Oliver and Andrew Lipke – from “Stand Up and Shout” (the John Legend-produced documentary!) who serenaded us with music, and then allowed us to get involved! All together, campers learned about the parts of a song and then worked together to choose a song topic, brainstorm, and write lyrics! We were all singing along by the end – we had a blast! 

And last night was just the beginning! Over the course of the week, campers have the opportunity to work in small groups with Krystal and Andrew to continue to learn more in depth about songwriting, creating music, and performing! We can’t wait to hear what they come up with!

The second annual Steve Brooks Ping Pong Tournament has officially wrapped up! Throughout the first few weeks of summer, junior and inter boys have been participating in this informal tournament. Anyone interested was added to the bracket, and during free time campers could find each other to play a quick match. The other day, campers gathered round the game deck as two campers faced off in the championship. Who won isn’t as important as the amazing sportsmanship and excitement we saw from campers across boys’ camp! It was a close match, and there were many hugs and high-fives when it concluded. 

Meanwhile, many campers have been playing hard on the fields and courts during our Top Basketball and Top Soccer programs the past few days. They’ve been working hard to improve their skills, and it’s paying off! Top Golf and Top Gymnastics is also underway, and our gymnasts and golfers have made some trips out of camp to work on their skills – so fun! 

And what better way to end these epic, action-packed days than with extra time in the pool?! With these hot, sunny days, we’ve had extra time to swim, which has been perfect! Yesterday you could hear cheers and chants throughout camp as campers and counselors worked together to move in sync and create an epic whirlpool effect in the pool. Woohoo! 

We’re continuing to soak up EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of regular programming and fun like these activities. Before we know it, we’ll all be wrapped up in the excitement of Olympic days!

Have you seen our WEEK TWO video?!

Over the course of the summer, every lower camp bunk has the chance to go on a bunk overnight. When their night comes, they pack their bags for an adventure! After dinner time, they head out to our PFC yurt where they set up their sleeping bags, toss a football or frisbee in the open field, and start a fire where they roast marshmallows and have a s’more or two!

It’s a real bonding experience for campers, and they love it! The overnight counselors have a special tradition that they do with each bunk: they bring a speaker out with them and have each camper choose a favorite song. As a bunk, they sit together and listen to each camper’s chosen song. They can share why they love it and what it means to them – maybe it reminds them of a favorite memory, or a person they love. Before they know it, it’s time for flashlights and sharing stories in the yurt before they’re fast asleep!

Happy 4th from PFC!

We’ve gotta admit, of all of the special days at camp, the 4th of July is one of the best! The fun starts from the moment we wake up, and it doesn’t stop until the fireworks are over. Our PFC tradition is that our oldest girl campers – the hi-senior 10s – wake up early to get decked out in their red, white, and blue, and then run around camp waking everyone up. There’s music, there’s excitement, and…there’s A LOT of energy at 7:30am! Campers pop out of bed and get dressed for the day, and PFC becomes a sea of red, white, and blue! There are wigs, face paint, hair spray, tutus, fun headbands…and so much more! 

4th of July breakfast does not disappoint! French toast, blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream fill our American Flag plates. To top it all off, we have delicious Krispy Kreme donuts. Are you drooling yet? Later, for lunch, we BBQ in true 4th of July fashion.

Our afternoon starts off with an epic counselor parade, where counselors dress up as American icons and parade around camp. Then, our junior, inter, and senior campers have a carnival full of fun games (run by our hi-senior 10s!), time to swim in the pool, and time to climb and play around in giant inflatables – what a blast! Meanwhile, our hi-senior 9 campers spend the afternoon having a 4th of July Lake Luau. 

After a delicious dinner of southern fried chicken, we reconvene as a camp at Netsy Playhouse for the infamous 4th of July Talent Show. Campers and counselors have been practicing, and trust us – this will be the show of the century! There will be singing, there will be dancing, and there will be SO. MUCH. MORE!

And of course – the 4th of July would not be complete without fireworks. From the show, we’ll all head out to Mitchell Field together to OOOOH and AHHHH over amazing fireworks, before our heads hit the pillow and we rest up after an EPIC day. 

No better place to spend the 4th than PFC!

Wow – lots of excitement these past few days! Throughout the summer, we have special guests and events planned, and yesterday was one of them! Professional drummers from Path to Rhythm came for a visit, and had campers jamming out in interactive drum circles, where they led chants and made music together. We had a blast – lots of good vibes and great music coming from Hughie Hall!

In other exciting news, Mickey’s book club is officially up and running, and campers have enjoyed discussing The Wild Robot (lower campers) and Restart (upper campers) while enjoying milk and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

And that’s not all! Once a summer, campers get to enjoy a special grove breakfast at “Barbie’s BBQ” in the grove, where they have a delicious meal that might include breakfast sandwiches, red velvet pancakes, and more! Yesterday, some of our senior bunks went and reported back that it was “AHHHMAZING!” What a treat.

At camp, we talk lots about good character! We celebrate acts of kindness and friendship everyday. On girls’ camp, we have our Good Vibes box, where campers can pop in little “love notes” to share something that they love and appreciate about other campers or counselors. These get read aloud at line-up so we can all feel the love and good vibes together! Girls’ campers also officially received their G.I.R.L.S. bracelets. These represent gratitude, inspiration, respect, love, and support. The bracelet is a great reminder to live by these characteristics all summer long! 

On boys’ side, we focus on The L.F.B. Way: Leadership, Fair Play, and Brotherhood – a tribute to Lee Forest Black. When boys’ camp gathers for line-up, counselors, camp leaders, and fellow campers can share about any campers they noticed that day exhibiting those characteristics, and those boys earn a special bracelet. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the big and small moments of kindness, brotherhood, and leadership that may otherwise go unnoticed. 

Throughout the summer, there will be many other ways we’ll continue to develop and celebrate these characteristics!