 Welcome to Day 3! The day began with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs, and fruit to nourish and prepare the campers for the best day at camp… GRILLED CHEESE DAY! After our breakfast, some of the youngest unit explored their creativity in art by constructing graduation caps for Café Swift! While the rest of youngest unit ventured out to the lake. The weather was absolutely perfect for a morning of hiking and canoeing out on the lake. Everyone enjoyed their time out in nature, especially canoe races, splash fights, and singing songs out on the lake.  The middle unit continued to build meaningful friendships with their cabin mates and counselors during Shaboogie, and had a great time playing soccer for camper’s choice! Campers also had the option to head to the art shack to get decked out in orange and red grilled cheese day outfits! They even got to paint some of their counselors who were taking on the roles of the grilled cheese and tomato soup mascots. Grilled cheese day was a huge success, and cheers of “G-R-I-DOUBLE L-E-D GRILLED CHEESE!” sounding throughout camp. A delicious grilled cheese lunch ended with a super fun dance party with a conga line.
The evening wrapped up with youngest unit heading out to their overnight program and middle and oldest unit enjoying a delicious taco dinner. After dinner, middle unit had a blast playing "The Game of Life" while oldest unit competed in the pentathalon. The fun filled evening came to a close just as a light rain storm lulled the campers to sleep. With just two more sleeps at Camp Swift, the campers are looking forward to their last full day at camp tomorrow. Look forward to our updates throughout the day on social media and for us to go live at 6:30pm for Cafe Swift and our final night program, the Swift Carnival!
 Day 2 was one for the books! We started off day two with cheerful chanting and jolly laughs. The amount of energy the campers had before breakfast was incredible and it made us super excited to see what that energy would be like once they had food in their tummies! (Breakfast, by the way, was eggs, bacon, hash browns, and fruit, which the kitchen cannot seem to cut fast enough - the campers are eating up bowl after bowl of freshly cut watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and more!) All day long, the cabins participated in hours and hours of fun activities, from swimming to soccer they really did it all! We took a quick poll of our campers on what they're favorite activity was so far, and here is the result: ROCK WALL For many of our campers, their first time visiting the 20+ foot rock wall can be both exciting and a bit intimidating. We work hard to train our counselors and volunteer staff in the art of inspiring our campers to try new things (even if it seems a little scary at first). Why do we do this? Because there is nothing more exhilarating for a camper than when he pushes himself beyond the confines of his comfort zone to successfully climb to the top of the wall and ring the victory bell! The trust and support amongst the campers and counselors at this activity is so apparent at the rock wall, with everyone cheering on the climbers as they work to get to the very top of the wall. It really is one of the most inspiring things we have ever seen!  After an activity filled morning, the camp enjoyed homemade pizza, fruit, and the crowd favorite - salad bar! As lunch wrapped up, the lodge (cafeteria) broke out into a Wavin’ Flag dance party before we celebrated a very special day - one of our camper's birthday! In the afternoon, youngest unit had some unique cabin time including a fashion show and their very own Camp Swift style escape room where they were able to utilize crucial communication and teamwork skills. Oldest unit and a middle unit cabin headed out to the lake for canoeing and hiking today! Canoeing allowed the cabins to practice teamwork and trust as well as gave them a chance to learn a new sport in the outdoors.
After a long day of hiking, dancing, climbing, drawing, and more, campers filled their stomachs with delicious hamburgers and another visit to the delicious salad bar before heading to their night programs and then to a restful night filled with dreams of all tomorrow has to bring including...GRILLED CHEESE DAY! Don't forget to follow us on social media (@SwiftYouthAZ) and tune in at 1pm for all of the cheesey fun! Second Session 2019 has officially begun, and already it is shaping up to be a super fun and eventful week! Our wonderful Support Staff of adult volunteers arrived around lunchtime on Monday to start preparing Camp Swift for the campers’ arrival. They prepared all the activities and programs and set up the camp for the week. After a bright and early start on Tuesday morning, the counselors finally arrived at camp! The unit heads introduced the counselors to their co-counselors and to the rest of their units. The counselors spent the rest of the day getting to know their fellow unit members and becoming familiar with the camp routine. Meanwhile, Eric Slosky, director of staff, made sure that everything was running smoothly. Kelsey Rendelman, director of special programs, organized all the preparations for Camp Swift’s unique and educational activities. And Scott Lorsch, director of fun, energized everyone with our daily dose of camp spirit. Since 1980, Swift Youth Foundation has been providing youth with great experiences that teach them to reach their full potential, and this session of camp is no different. Wednesday morning, 142 happy and eager campers rolled into camp to the cheers of counselors and Support Staff alike! The campers quickly met their new cabin mates and counselors, and were introduced to the theme of camp: college! This year’s college theme was super exciting because everyone can follow the path to their full potential.  After a delicious lunch of Pasta Bolognese, campers shopped at Krazy Keppies, a free store fully stocked with clothes and other necessities to make sure campers have everything they need! Then, the cabins jumped straight into the rest of their day, which was packed with activities such as swimming, Ga-Ga ball, art, cooking, hiking, and scaling the rock wall. Each program not only tied-in to the college theme by emphasizing the path to reaching our potential, but also helped the cabins become close and make new friends. At dinnertime, Youngest and Middle units lined up outside the lodge to cheer and sing camp songs, then they enjoyed a nutritious burger and taco dinner. Youngest unit competed in the Pentathlon program, and Middle unit played the Game of Life. Meanwhile, Oldest unit headed to the campfire for the Overnight, where they star-gazed and had a cook out of hot dogs and s’mores. Finally, the campers headed to bed to get some rest for another busy day tomorrow!
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August 2019
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