Beach, Glorious Beach

Aquinnah trip

July 4th parade!

The night before the 4^th of July, counselors were up until the wee hours of the morning making costumes and floats. They dreaded the wake-up bell, wishing they could be with the sandman for several more hours. This was impossible because everyone had a big day ahead. There we still plenty of work that had to be done in the morning. Power drills and saws were spinning rapidly to cut wood for props and floats. All of us were rushing in the craft cabins to put the final touches to our costumes.

Our theme for the parade this year was through the five decades of Camp Jabberwocky. Mimsy was the 50s. Faith transformed herself into a juke box. Both Nancy Connelly and Nancy J. joined their wheelchairs to become a beautiful Cadillac, and they were able to afford the nearly $5 per gallon gasoline. The folks, including myself, from Jub Jub were transported to the 60s. I was Paul McCarthy. Spin doctors advised Manny what to say as President Kennedy to his fellow Americans on the parade route.

At 4:45, after a two and a half hour wait and more preparations, all of us started to get very excited knowing that the parade was going to begin in 15 minutes and we won for the Best Float. Then we took our places.

Rick’s band started to play signaling to us to march. Mrs. Lamb, aka Hellcat, who founded Camp Jabberwocky rode on a throne on the float waving to the crowd. Parade watchers cheered as we past. President Kennedy, Manny, didn’t have politics much on his mind because Marline Monroe (Julia, Pete’s counselor) was pushing him. The beatles and their friends sang ‘The Yellow Submarine’ to entertain the crowd. It was a joyous day!

Horseback riding

One of the activities we can do even when it's not a perfect beach day is horseback riding. And so we do. Kendra is happy to be out in nature
Nancy is showing off her skills that she honed in the winter months.
Seth is riding. Yee-ha!
David is excited about everything, but has calmed down enough to bond with the horse. Peaceful times.
Jason spends a sweet moment with his horse. He doesn't ride, but his care for the animals knows no boundaries
Pete Stanzler is getting ready to show 'em what she's got.
Sierra looks stunning atop her horse with jewelry and all.
Scottie's ready for his close-up
Seth again, wondering what he is about to get himself into...

Horseback riding one of the more peaceful camp classes. Those of us who go take full advantage of the opportunity to reflect and become one with the graceful movements of the horses.

dance party!!!

Ernie Boch picnic

As Jabberwockians were traveling to the 15th annual Boch’s picnic on Sunday, the weather was gloomy. But Mother Nature had a change of heart - the sky turn deep blue when we arrived. The Bochs warmly greeted us. I think many of us ignored Sully’s advice for not eating too much, but the food (which included popcorn, clam chowder, hot dogs, and hamburgers) was too tempting. We ate in a gigantic white tent. Some campers and counselors were joyfully rolling down the green hilly lawn. I think next year there should be a traffic cop on the hill because there were near collisions. No one could resist the hot tub. While relaxing in the warmth of the tub, one of Boch’s friends and Jason, a camper who was picking on his air guitar, were singing and playing songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. The beat and the vibrations of the music enticed all of the campers and counselors to dance. Manny, the elder playboy at Jabberwocky, danced with all the women, and I followed his example. Sadly, 4:00 o’clock came quickly and the festivities ended. When we were driving from the driveway to leave the Boch’s mansion, we all waved and shouted “Thank you” to the Bochs and their friends for a delightful fun- packed day.

Paul Remy

The famous Jabberwocky bus in front of Ernie's gigantic mansion.

What a fantastic fountain.

Here is everybody rolling down a hill. Thank goodness there were no collisons.

A smile to remember.

Hot tub fun!!

David couldn't resist karoke.

Everybody is dancing to YMCA!

What a way to relax.

Studio night

Taylor sets the scene for a magical night of entertainment when studio night begins. After it came out of its' hat, Taylor sang to the bunny and kissed it so that he too, could relax and watch the show!

The night was filled with dance - Christina and George felt the groove

Bubba was the star singer. For an added twist, the music had a Christmas theme, "Jingle Bell Rock'

camp family feud

Friday night we played Camp Family Feud. We split up into teams and tried to guess what the "Survey says". Some were just general questions, like you might see on the actual show. Others were strictly camp related. For example:

This question generated a lot of audience participation and buzz. Who would make the cut??? Strike one... strike two....

We have a winner! The top 5 counselors Kendra has a crush on all got their 15 minutes of fame!

Saturday

Hi again, Faith here.

I know you must be surprised to be hearing from me again. And if i'm to be honest with you, i'm a bit surprised to be on here again myself so soon. But i've been bitten by the bug again, and as far as i know, no one has written today - though that may change - so here i am.

it being a weekend night, we're staying around camp tonight. the island is so good to us - allowing us to be a part of events and movie shows and such - throughout the week that we try to stay in on the weekends when possible. More room for other islanders to spread their wings.

which leads us to our traditional saturday night tradition: studio night.

for those who don't know, studio night is sort of a Jabberwockian version of our own talent show. It's highly encouraged that everyone participate - and is more fun that way.

friends are welcomed to come watch us, and sometimes they do, but more often than not we entertain ourselves: dancing, singing, putting together crazy little skits.... things are often very light-hearted and off-the-cuff, and the spontaneity is part of the magic of the evening.

tonight, because of Jojo's imminent arrival, our studio night will be presented in her honor. This fact in and of itself gives us lots of fun material from which to choose. Should be a very interesting time.

Alright folks, seems like one of our more talented writers would like to share his thoughts with you, so i'm about to sign off.

thanks for sharing this time with me. i hope to see you all again soon

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

So hello!

Faith here. Surprise!

Camp has been going on for a few days now. I know family and friends are wondering what we're up to. So i'm going to do my best to briefly catch you up on our many adventures.

First though, let me just say: a lot of you probably know that Arthur - one of our fearless leaders - is yet to arrive. He and his family are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their newest member: due any day.

The lag in this blog is partly due to his absence. Arthur used to stay up until the wee hours faithfully to have a daily entry so that our loved ones would know of our adventures of the day. Sorry folks; I just can't do that. A gal needs her beauty rest after all! :)

So the blog may not have daily entries, but a group of us are trying to set up a schedule where we can take turns posting - and keep you as up to date as possible. Please pardon our lapses in the meantime. What may be cool though, is that you'll be able to hear all of our different voices and perspectives through our individual writings. Who knew?!

ANYWAY...

Camp started on Monday morning. We were welcomed home by islanders, and tourists that shared our boat (and therefore disembarked with us0 looked in bemusement at the counselors who greeted us in Vineyard Haven dressed in full costumes with wigs and instruments and ....

Monday afternoon showered, so it gave us all some time to settle in and say hello. Our tradition of Monday night drumming at the beach with Rick's band seemed in jeopardy, but the steady rain had stopped and Rick was up for the adventure, so... we packed up and off we went.

The hamburgers and hot dogs, veggie burgers and 'not dogs' were up and running. The raindrops started. Rain? No worries. We're at the beach anyway; wetness is to be expected, isn't it? :) We ate confidently.

But then came the thunder. And shortly thereafter the (breathtakingly beautiful, but that's just me) lightning. Not good. Not good at all.

So the new counselors helped load the bus and vans in record time, and we all traveled home again. Ah the adventures have begun.

Tuesday brought us a bit more rain, so our evening activity changed from a birthday celebration downtown with ice cream to a movie in the studio. Don't worry, the birthday girl still got cake!

We saw Hairspray. Something I had never seen before, but now love. You can imagine how strange it was for me NOT to be singing along, when other people around me were chiming in, but i adjusted. and happily so.

Wednesday the sun snuck out long enough for us to have our first official beach day. The water was cool, but wonderful. There was a parasailor above that seemed to be there just for us. He was so close that it seemed if you stood on someone's shoulders you might be able to beg a ride if you had a long enough rope.

I think everyone had a good time.

And Wednesday night brought us to the movies - public, this time - where we saw 'you don't mess with the Zohan'. As should be expected, Jabberwocky made a spectacular entrance into the theater, and added our own level of drama.

Thursday morning found us with an invitation to ride on the Mad Max. It is a sailboat (catamaran?) we have been fortunate enough to ride the past several summers. This year there were more of us than the boat could hold, so those of us that didn't go for the ride spent a few hours shopping and sightseeing in Edgartown. I hear that a good number of brave Jabberwockians were allowed to drive the Mad Max aways... I can just hear the chaos and laughter in my head; can't you?

Later in the day we held our own memorial service honoring Virginia Hackney - a long time Jabberwocky friend and confidante - in the late afternoon. It was nice to be able to share our personal memories of our friend - and some group memories too. Virginia was a maverick, and is still alive in us all. We feel her spirit everywhere on this island. Virginia was, and still is, a gift to us all.

Dr. Steve read a poem written about Virginia that can be found in her remembrance book. I don't have access to it here, but perhaps if he is willing, he will scan me a copy and then i can share it with all of you. It is light, and sweet, and funny... and just what Virginia would have wanted.

Also last night a small group of us went to see a play called The last 5 years. A very good play (in my humble opinion). However, i did hear that those of us that went missed some VERY funny stories - as the story telling tradition still thrives here.

And today is Friday. breakfast, music, classes, lunch... and a beach trip - thwarted halfway there by pesky and persistent rain. Die hards travelled on: I have been here writing, sharing with you.

These are the big highlights in bite-size form. Our dear Jojo arrives tomorrow, and with her we hope she brings the sunshine to match her eternally bubbly personality and energy.

In random tidbit form:

Sierra Wheaton's nail salon is up and running. She is so popular, that she now takes reservations. Even some of the male counselors have hopped on the bandwagon, getting multi-colored pedicures in time for the fourth of July.

Fourth of July: Seven days away. our theme for the parade? we have not yet made a concrete decision. One of the ideas floating around is The Wizard of Oz, but... why would any Jabberwockian have a concrete plan so early in the game. Right?

We have a new camper who prefers to be called Bubba who adores Christmas music. I have a feeling that this summer somehow we truly will have Christmas in July!

Skipper is making his usual rounds on the island; shaking hands and smiling wherever he goes. Everyone knows Skipper. He brings his own light to any situation.

We have yet to see Hellcat. I am trying to be patient, but i am very much looking forward to her recitation of the Jabberwock poem. Always a summer highlight, often imitated, but never mastered. Fret not, Hellcat. Imitation remains the highest form of flattery.

Honestly that is about all i can muster at this point. There is more (there always is), but the dinner bell is about to ring, and traffic here is getting intense.

I do have access to some photos of Camp thus far (thanks to dr. steve), but have not yet unlocked the magic of posting photos on a blog. I promise they are soon to come, but it will have to be another day.

It's been a joy to be with you again. i don't know when i will be the one to write for the blog again (i'm not sure how the rotation schedule will go0, but thank you for allowing me to share some of the magic of our time here at our second home with those of you who are a part of our typical homes.

Until the next time,
I hope you will find beauty where you look,
Like we try to do here... always.

Faith