Camp Journal - Leysin, Switzerland

23 August, 2008

This is it -- all the campers leave today.  There is a farewell dinner for counsellors tonight and most of them leave tomorrow.

The Grand Salon, which was decorated for the Prom last night looked like this this morning --

and that is just one corner of a rather large room.  The first departures left early this morning on the Aigle-Leysin cog railway, first to Aigle and then to the Geneva Airport.  About 30 campers left just after breakfast on a bus to Geneva.  Departures will continue throughout the day -- some by train and some being picked up by parents.

Remember -- it's fun to practice random acts of kindness!!

Today is the last day of Village Camps,  Switzerland for 2008. It has been a great summer with a record number of great campers. Two short weeks ago as we began session four, they were looking just a little bit lost but now they are collecting e-mail addresses and making promises to remain best friends forever. Campers and staff will soon be scattering all over the world.

Parents, thanks for trusting your children with us. We hope that when next summer rolls around you will once again consider Village Camps, Switzerland - or, perhaps, one of our other camps in Austria, England, France, or Ireland

Eight weeks ago we had our first arrival day and today is our fourth and last departure day for 2008.  It has been a great summer -- good weather - bad weather - warm days - cold days. However with a great staff and great campers things always seem to go well.

We have had a lot of fun and we have done a lot of different things. We hope you have enjoyed our newsletter as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you.

Joe Rikley

Camp Director

Village Camps, Switzerland

  Click on the link below to see photos for 23 August, 2008

   Gallery Folder 23 August, 2008 

22 August, 2008

Big day today!! Lots of things going on at Village Camps, Switzerland.

Graduation Day for Language Campers

Awards for tennis and multi-activity campers

Special meal tonight -- and then Prom Night with some skits, dances, songs and finally some dancing

The Photo Gallery has pictures from Prom Night -- we will post Graduation pictures tomorrow.

Today was the last full day of Session four at Village Camps, Switzerland. Tomorrow is departure day and camp will be over for summer 2008.  Graduation day is a chance for campers to be recognized for their achievements over the past two weeks.  The language classes had a full graduation ceremony in the Grand Salon and other camps had some way of telling campers that they had done a good job.

The afternoon was devoted to a number of activities around Leysin and, most important, packing for departure tomorrow.  Campers being escorted are given instructions on where and when to meet.  Banker Wendy has all their money set up in envelopes for them and Mr. Phil will be at the airport making sure that everyone gets to the right place at the right time.

Tonight is a very special night - the dining room is decorated (with decorations made by counsellors and campers) and, instead of standing in line to get their food, the campers' meal is served to them by the counsellors. After the meal there is a talent show including a chance for the campers enrolled in the Dance Club to show what they have learned. Then some dancing.  Can't have a prom without a King and Queen -- in our case we have four sets -- one pair for each of the colour/age groups.  The person in the photos below without a crown is the lead counsellor for that colour group.

 

 

   Click on the link below to see photos for 22 August, 2008

    Gallery Folder 22 August, 2008 

21 August, 2008

At Village Camps, Switzerland, the world is our campus and to celebrate the diversity in our population (campers, counsellors, teachers, and staff) one day each session is designated as International Day.  The Spotlight story below is about this day -- a favorite of everyone at camp.

There are two photo galleries again today -- the main gallery has pictures of the various skits and songs performed by the campers and also a number of pctures taken at the High Ropes Course in Aigle.

The second photo gallery has pictures of food prepared by the campers -- and representative of the area in which they live.  I'm sure that many of you parents wold be surprised at how much fun the campers had working in the kitchen.

It's nice to be important but more important to be nice!!

Today was International Day and a chance to highlight all the different countries and cultures that are represented at camp. Last week the campers had a chance to choose the country they would like to work with. It could be their home country OR one that they would like to learn about.

Over the past several days the campers have been busy preparing skits, signs, and authentic cuisine from various countries and regions such as Australia, Latin America, Russia, the USA and Canada, Arab Nations, Switzerland, and Italy.  The Junior Camp - the Greens - picked their usual location -- GREENland. The camp dining room and (adjacent) Grand Salon were set up with a table for each country (or region) with a selection of food representative of that country -- all prepared by the campers and counselors.   

 

The campers’ cooking skills were very impressive. The tastes of all the different types of food was something worth experiencing. After dinner, the skits and dances had everyone engaged and laughing. With so many nationalities represented, the results were very colourful, very loud and very entertaining!

  Click on a link below to see photos

   Gallery Folder 21 August, 2008

   Food - International Night 

20 August, 2008

 We are a little late in getting the posting up today -- had some internet problems -- but we finally got everything up and running.

I know that we did a Spotlight story on Secret Friends just two day ago (18 August) but today we were visited by the cast of Star Wars -- they came to us from a galaxy far, far away to participate in the All-Camp meeting and to be part the Secret Friend section of the meeting.  They were so good that we have set up a new Spotlight story for them and even have a number of pictures in a special photo gallery.

The main Spotlight story is on two of the "clubs" that are part of the very popular Multi-Activity camp at Village Camps, Switzerland.  The main photo gallery for today had pictures from both of these camps.

Tomorrow is International Night -- so today (and tomorrow) lots of campers are in the kitchen preparing food from their country or region. Others are practicing skits and songs to present to the rest of the camp -- but, more on that tomorrow.

Hope you are having a wonderful day -- I know that we are!!

When campers registered for the popular Multi-Activitity camp they were asked to pick one of three "clubs" that would be the focus of their stay at camp.  The three clubs are Outdoor Adventure Club, Sports Club, and Dance Club.  This way campers could concentrate on certain types of activities every morning, that are more aligned to their interests, while equally enjoying access to a wide variety of other afternoon activities for a well rounded, fun holiday.

 Sports Club

With the numerous sports facilities in Leysin we are able to offer our Sports Club campers a chance to play, develop skills in, and discover a multitude of sports activities. Some of the choices available are football, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, squash, basketball, street hockey, and several others.

Eric is the leader of the Sports Club

Outdoor Adventure Club

The Outdoor Adventure Club is designed for campers of all ages and provides campers with a chance to stretch their "comfort bubble" in a fun and very safe environment.  The activities for this club include orienteering, outdoor living skills, mountain biking, rock climbing, exploring the high ropes course, and white water rafting. This club is supervised by "Climbing Dave."

In the afternoons and evenings, the campers in the Multi-Activity Clubs join in the other camp activities or, at times, carry on with the pursuits that they enjoy so much.

  Star Wars

            Secret Friends

Today was a very, very special Secret Friends segment for the All-Camp meeting.  With a total disregard for the expense, Village Camps, Switzerland invited Luke Skywalker and the major characters from Star Wars to be in charge of the Secret Friends box.  (O.K. it wasn't the real characters but they were a reasonable facsimile.

A number of the characters took turns reading the secret friend notes.

 

 

19 August, 2008

Once again there are lots of things going on at Village Camps, Switzerland.  The evening rain was a heavy one and caused the cancellation of the camp fire at Prafandaz that was scheduled for the Red Group.

The Spotlight story today is on the very successful Tennis Camp at Village Camps, Switzerland.

The Photo Gallery includespictures from Tennis Camp and pictures from Archery and Ice Skating

If you see someone without a smile -- give them one of yours!!

• Main Journal page
• Journal Archives
• Photo Albums
• Links to Journals & Info
• (Admin login)

• Session 4 - Day 14 (23 August, 2008)
• Departure Day at Village Camps, Switzerland
• A Note from the Camp Director
• Photos for 23 August, 2008
• Session 4 - Day 13
• Graduation Day and Prom Night at Village Camps, Switzerland
• Photos for 22 August, 2008
• Session 4 - Day 12 (21 August, 2008)
• International Night at Village Camps, Switzerland
• Photos for 21 August, 2008

• Daily News [56]
• In The Spotlight [65]
• Daily Photos [57]
• Counsellor Profiles [0]

• RSS 0.90
• RSS 1.0
• RSS 2.0
• Atom