While it may have been difficult for our campers to imagine returning to a regular schedule after yesterday’s holiday shenanigans, we had plenty of good things in store for them as they woke up on this beautiful Saturday morning — exactly one week into Summer 2025.

After a full week of initiation into the Owego Brotherhood, it was time to change things up a bit. And so, after breakfast and inspection, the Seniors and Hi-Seniors headed to the amphitheater by the lake for Choice Selection. Once again, counselors pitched their activities and campers scurried with their blue cards in hand to sign up for their favorites. Fell in love with camp craft last week? Try it again this week! Decided that you need to try mountain biking because your bunkmates can’t stop raving? Choose a biking period and give it a spin! At Owego, you can do anything and everything. Even our Junior campers are given the opportunity to choose some of their activities. If you’ve tried it before and loved it, that’s great. If it’s new to you, that’s even better!

The anticipation built all day long for this evening’s activity: the first campfires of Summer 2025! Typically held on Friday nights, these divisional campfires are weekly gatherings that unite us through the Owego traditions that continue year after year. After dinner and SFA, everyone headed back to bunks to throw on “longs and longs.” The Juniors gathered in Pioneer Village, clutching their Crazy Creeks and soccer chairs, and paraded across the lake to the Junior campsite. Our older campers headed for the Senior campsite in the woods behind the pool. As dusk became nightfall, the campfires blazed and everyone circled around and waited for the magic to begin.

Now, we can’t tell you exactly what happens at the campfires. That’s the privilege of joining the Owego Brotherhood. What happens at campfire stays at campfire. Here’s what we do know: There are songs and chants, funny skits, reminiscence of events from the past week, and lots of laughs. It’s what camp has always been and will always be: Boys sitting around a campfire, sharing a connection with each other and with all of the campers that have come before. Reciting the same chants week after week, delighting in knowing exactly what comes next. A secret that only the Owegan knows about, and can carry with him for the rest of his life.

Tonight, those bonds got a little bit stronger.