Today, something new happened.

We had the one and only “pool torchlight” of the summer. Rather than conduct Torchlight in the Coliseum, we did the entire ceremony in our fun pool.

Rather than run up with torchers, the torchlighters slid down the slides. The campers cheered, splashed, laughed and splashed some more.

But that is not the truly unique event. We have done this in previous summers. The unique happening occurred during the pool party.

The entertainment included a counselor belly-flop contest. Each cabin had their counselor attempt a belly-flop with the winners getting a sleepover in Town Hall with a movie (separate nights for the winning boy cabin and the winning girl cabin). Both the winners exceeded expectations, showing a meaningful level of commitment.

The picture I share with you is something I did not expect to see.

The campers managed to persuade Susie Ma’am to do a belly-flop herself. I was completely certain that this would not happen, but Kate Hutson (our director of new campers) managed to convince Susie Ma’am to do it. Her jump came so quickly that I barely managed to get my camera ready to take this photo.

Take a moment to appreciate that technique. And the expression on the counselor’s face.

I am oddly proud.

After years of happily deferring when called, we were now in the fray.

Of course, with her going, I was also called into service. I am sad to report to my readers that my belly-flop was . . . well . . . a flop. I jumped from the 5^th step (the highest), but my survival instinct overrode my “give the kids a great show” instinct and my jump was more like a pathetic dive. Several campers gave me high 5’s but I could sense them thinking “nice try, but you are no Susie Ma’am”.

Steve Sir