All of the armchair meteorologists at Owego have been closely following today’s forecast, and they woke up this morning feeling positive! Though puddles of water and lots of mud still remain after two straight days of torrential downpours, the sky cleared up and we were gifted with a hot, sunny day.

Owego Raid got underway following inspection. Over three rounds of play, each tribe competed to knock down the cups of water belonging to the other tribes. There’s some strategy involved, but that is the main object of the game. Round one had the Juniors gathering tennis balls on the Upper Field and depositing them in their tribe’s milk carton. The Seniors, Hi-Seniors, and counselors from each tribe ran from the Upper Field to one of four locations in camp to collect poker chips and bring them back to their Head Coach. The farther the location, the more valuable the chip. Once your chip was deposited, you could run back to collect another. Thus, many know Owego Raid as “that game where you run back and forth.”

At the conclusion of the “Raid,” the chips were counted up based on color (different colors are worth different amounts of points) and each tribe had a point total. The points were used to purchase plastic cups, which were filled with water and placed on benches. The Juniors then used the tennis balls they collected to try and knock over the other tribe’s water cups. For every cup your tribe has standing at the end of game play, you get a certain number of points.

This cycle repeats three times, with different divisions filling each role. Lots of running. Lots.

After lunch, the tribes spread out to their campsites to work on their shelters and to start prepping for this evening’s campsite meal. The meal team from each tribe reported to the dining hall, where they spent a few hours slicing and dicing, seasoning and mixing, until their meal was ready to be carried out to the campsite for cooking. Each tribe was tasked with coming up with a menu and a list of ingredients. The meal team prepared and cooked the food, both for their tribe members to enjoy and for the judges to sample and score. The amazing thing is that all of the food was cooked AT THE CAMPSITE, over an open flame in a dirt oven DUG OUT BY THE CAMPERS.

While the meal team prepped the food, the Juniors took time out from campsite work to gather in the picnic grove for cake decorating. Each tribe had a vanilla sheet cake that was baked by the Owego kitchen staff. The Juniors were responsible for icing and decorating the cake with their tribe’s name and other important symbols. The designs were creative, and executed in a clever way. There was a campfire made out of crushed graham crackers, Kit-Kat logs, and Swedish Fish flames! After judging, the cakes were enjoyed by each tribe for dessert. Well done, Juniors!

Following meal judging and dinner, campers showered and changed into longs and longs for the main event. Rope burn. Three nights in the making. A little thunder in the distance, but nothing serious. This was happening. Tonight.

Over the past 4 days, the tribes have been collecting wood at their campsites. Each tribe had amassed an impressive pile of sticks by today, and some of it was even dry! Once the older campers and counselors had completed the monumental task of carrying these massive piles of wood to the Upper Field, it was showtime.

The rope burn teams from each tribe sorted through the piles of wood, separating them into larger branches, smaller sticks, and kindling. Each tribe was given a box of matches and nothing more. The air horn sounded. Sorting time was over. Kyle gave the signal. It was fire-making time!

The teams of Hi-Seniors from each tribe got to work. Once the flame flickered to life, it had to catch the wood and spread. Then it had to grow, with the help of additional wood and oxygen — provided by members of the rope burn team laying flat on their stomachs, blowing into the base of the fire. Smoke billowed everywhere. As the flames expanded and climbed towards the rope, the crowd cheered wildly. “Burn that rope!” and “The rope, the rope, the rope is on FIRE!” were shouted above the crackling sound of the flames.

In the end, it was the Mohegan tribe whose rope split first, making them the official winners of rope burn. Mohegan was followed by Yahi, Modoc, Shakori, Ojibwe, and Creek. It was a magnificent effort by everyone involved, and a breathtaking event to witness.  Congratulations to Mohegan!

Tomorrow is the big finale. The song comptition and the Final Flame ceremony. A new Frontier Week champion will be crowned. And it might rain.