The fourth week of Camp was another exciting and successful one!  Camp is now in full gear with all of our swim, sports, and arts programs, as well as specialty activities and special events. Campers are in their instructional swim groups, sports leagues are in motion, as are all our regular program areas.  Visiting Day programs continued in earnest this week, with the Pawnees, the Chickasaw boys and girls and the Comanche boys.

Our 2019 Summer Charity Event began on July 15. This summer we will be collecting non-perishable food items and delivering them to the Feeding Westchester organization.

You may be surprised to learn that children and adults from all walks of life go hungry, in every community across Westchester. Your neighbor, your child’s classmate or even your coworker may struggle to get enough to eat. Hunger is here – right where we live. Although many in Westchester are wealthy, wages remain low and stagnant for the working poor. And with fixed expenses like rent and childcare on the rise, groceries are often the first line slashed in a household’s budget.

When you think of Feeding Westchester, you may think of truckloads of donations, secured by major partnerships with corporations and foundations. So it may surprise you to learn that old-fashioned community food drives remain foundational to our work. Those bags of non-perishable food actually provide us with much-needed essentials that would otherwise be unavailable. And this is where you come in!

This week, all of our Camp families and staff members have been bringing in a non-perishable food items, but nothing in glass, which were collected off the buses each morning and then delivered e to Feeding Westchester.

As a thank you to everyone, all campers will receive a special Thank You bag that will include a special Camp Hillard T-shirt and other items. All staff members will also receive the special Camp Hillard T-shirt.

Thanks to Camp Hillard families, we have been very successful with our annual charity events over the past 24 years. With your help and generosity, we will make this year’s fundraiser the most successful ever.

For more information on Feeding Westchester, please visit feedingwestchester.org.

This week was also highlighted by a new Special Event for the oldest Hillard campers; an extended evening for the Cherokee and INA Boys and Girls which included a special Dinner and a Dance Party in Bunk 14.  The Campers enjoyed finger-licking delicious fried chicken and a Build It Yourself Hamburger Bar complete with all the toppings you could think of!  It was such a fun evening!

Speaking of food, can we talk for just a minute about the food at Camp Hillard?  It really is pretty fabulous. A great deal of time and thought is put into the Menu planning prior to the Summer Camp Season.  Some of the more popular lunch offerings include Hillard’s Famous Cheese Pizza, Nachos Grande with Cheese,  the insanely popular Chicken O’s (think a chicken nugget shaped like a donut), Mexi-Beef Tacos served with Salsa and Sour Cream,  Asian-inspired Chicken with broccoli, to name just a few.  In addition to the Daily Menu, a variety of items are readily available so as to accommodate all camper’s tastes, preferences and dietary needs.  Mid-day snacks and afternoon refreshments are also served daily; Fresh fruit, String Cheese, Sun Chips and Pirate’s Booty, just to name a few.  Ice cream and iced pops are served on an alternating schedule in the afternoon; the new Philly Swirl Iced Pop has been a delicious, refreshing addition to the Refreshments Menu, in addition to Crumbled Cookie Cones, Sour Blueberry Pops and Fudge Pops.  There is no better way to end a busy Camp day than sitting down with friends and enjoying a cool and refreshing treat before boarding the bus to go home.  

We enjoyed a variety of fun events at the pools this week.  Pawnees, Chickasaws and Hurons participated in a tropical Swim Luau on Wednesday; the Main Pool complex was transformed to a Hawaiian paradise of palm trees, pineapples, coconuts and limbo sticks!  Campers enjoyed exhilarating rides on the Alligator floats, relaxing floats on the watermelon inner tubes, underwater treasure hunts and more.  On Thursday, Middle and Senior Campers took part in Hillard’s Famous Wacky Dive Contest; Cheyennes and older showed off their cannonballs and belly flops for a team of Celebrity judges who provided exciting color commentary during the Event. 

Friday was our Annual Song and Cheer Contest and Tribal Color Day.  All of the campers and counselors sang their hearts out!  The judges are feverishly studying their notes and the Awards will be announced during Monday morning assembly.

The boys and girls attending the mini-sleepaways departed on Sunday morning.  One again, the boys and the girls will be visiting Camp Pontiac in Copake, New York.  Randi and Bruce, the INA girls and Boys Divisional Head Counselors, are very excited about joining the campers on their mini-sleepaway.

It is hard to believe that Monday is the start of the second half of the summer season.  There are still so many great activities and special events on tap.  Our Instructional swim program is in full swing and theater practice continues for Visiting Day and evening performances. 

Swim races, s’mores roasts and ice cream parties are scheduled for next week, and Thursday is our We Are the World celebration!  There will be a Dance Party for all Tribes in the Gymnastics Pavilion, International games and activities, and a very special musical performance by the Creative and Performing Arts Staff in honor of this extra special event!

For more details specific to your child’s group, please read our Weekly Tribal Newsletters which are found in the Enrolled Camp Families section of our website.  Have a great weekend!