Director's Corner - Monday, August 5
Monday, August 5, 2024
Here and Now
Here and now
I promise to love faithfully (Faithfully)
You're all I need
Here and now
I vow to be one with thee (You and me), hey
Your love is all (I need) I need
Today was a day that campers and staff look forward to all year long: the Wisconsin State Fair! This fair is an excellent out-of-camp trip for many reasons. It offers a unique experience and a break from our routine.
Going to the fair allows us to enjoy a wider range of culinary experiences than we might normally have. Of course, no matter where we are, we’re still in the Beber community, so we kept our food choices kosher and nut-free. We absolutely did not keep it fried food-free, though!
The fair offers a plethora of activities and sights for campers to enjoy. There are spirited pig races, cow milking, and barns filled with prize animals, including cows, pigs, goats, chickens, dogs, and bunnies, all for their viewing pleasure.
Campers and staff can enjoy games and rides, including the ever-popular Giant Slide, where they climb several stairs, hop on a burlap mat, and whiz down a bumpy slide to the bottom. The scenic Sky Way allows campers in groups of two to traverse the entire fair from high above, providing a beautiful aerial view of the fairgrounds.
The Wisconsin State Fair is also home to the world's largest traveling Ferris wheel.
Shopping is also a crowd favorite at the fair, with marketplaces and booths selling interesting trinkets and wares. The indoor Expo Center features rows of booths offering a variety of gadgets and products for campers to choose as souvenirs. Some favorites include animal shirts, Jibbitz, glittery eyeshadow, and fidgets. Some campers even tried the water massage, massage chairs, and comfy outdoor swings.
The fair is especially exciting for those who were first session campers in the past but are now CITs or first-year staff. They get to experience the state fair for the very first time, along with those of us who may have been five, ten, fifteen, thirty, or more times!
Highlights of this year’s fair food included Island Noodles loaded with veggies, different flavors of milk, cheese curds, deep-fried Oreos, frozen bananas, and cream puffs. I like to try some of the new and “Sporkie” award-winning foods at the fair and sampled the Dirty Chai Cinnamon Roll Lumpia, Corn Rib Elote, Deep-Fried Lemonade Bites, Asian Sticky Tots, Frozen Pickle Lemonade, and a Cool Ranch Deep-Fried Pickle. It definitely was a fair filled with all things pickle this year.
I personally think that Island Noodles is partly funded by Beber campers and staff, as every time I passed by, there was a long line of us waiting to grab a container of their delicious noodles.
Campers are divided into small groups with their friends and one to two staff members, who walk around with them all day. There are scheduled check-in times at a meeting location where leadership staff members are present all day with medical supplies if needed. Getting close to 500 people in and out of the park is an impressive feat, but it looks like a well-oiled machine thanks to the hard work of our operations, program teams, and leadership staff.
No matter how much fun the fair is, everyone is always glad to be back at camp after a long day of sunshine, dairy products, and pig races. We returned to camp in time for long showers, flagpole, and dinner. Surprisingly, campers still had room for sloppy joes for dinner.
After dinner, we had some GA time where campers burned off some of the extra calories consumed today and spent time with their friends. Tonight, Makor’s evening program was finishing the movie The Incredibles, after watching part of it at their Dive-In movie during Makor Mania. Kesher had a lip-sync battle, which was super fun to watch as the campers took their entries seriously, complete with choreographed dance moves. Ramot played a game of Pass It Up, which the campers really got into; their energy after today’s trip was impressive.
With so few days left of camp, we had our share of late-night adventures after the evening program. It’s amazing to see campers enjoying camp the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, not worrying about the limited time remaining. Late-night adventures are truly a part of what makes the camper experience so special because they’re often unexpected and the activities are outside the norm of our daytime schedule, giving counselors a chance to get creative. I think there’s even some competition between bunks to come up with the most creative and fun late-night adventure. Tonight, we even had a night climb at our newer challenge course.
We still have two days of hobbies ahead of us, on top of Beber Fest on Thursday, so we are far from done. In fact, I don’t even think of us as being in the homestretch because I just want to focus on the “Here and Now” where we still have our community together, our activities in full swing, and so much to look forward to. Meanwhile, I’ve had my last cheese curd until next year’s state fair, and I look forward to the days ahead. Stay tuned for more…
P.S. Congratulations to the following who knew that song “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” is from the musical Oklahoma.
Franci F
Eleanor K
P.S. - Today’s question: Who sang the song "Here and Now”? Email your answer to trivia@bebercamp.com for a shoutout in tomorrow’s blog!