By this point in the summer, you’ve definitely seen the photos. A group of campers are gathered around a picnic table, focused on the boy at the center. The boy is wearing a silly-looking yellow, blue, and red hat that resembles a giant birthday cake (complete with candles sticking straight up in the air)! Everyone in the photo looks happy and well-fed.
What you’ve just stumbled upon is an Owego birthday celebration!
Birthdays at Owego are a momentous occasion, and thus must be properly documented. We know that it can be tough to have a summer birthday. You are away from your family and friends, and it can feel like your special day gets a bit “glossed over.” But when it’s your birthday at Owego, you are the King! The Head Honcho! The Big Kahuna! We will celebrate you all day long and ensure that you feel the love from near and far!
Your Owego birthday begins at morning line-up, where you will have the privilege of raising the flag as Dave bellows, “Please respect our nation!” Your name will be prominently displayed on Brandon’s Board, visible to every individual who enters the Dining Hall. You’ll get a phone call with your family, which can include your Owego sibling and usually involves Mom and/or Dad singing “Happy Birthday” to you over the Greeley phone lines. It is a delightful treat for the birthday camper.
Your Mom and/or Dad may have already sent a birthday package to camp, filled with gifts and surprises. Lindsey and Emmy will keep your birthday package safe and sound in the office until you are able to retrieve it. At dinner time, the real celebration takes place. Your bunk will be treated to a pizza party in the picnic grove (arranged lovingly by Mom and/or Dad), and your sibling(s) will undoubtedly show up to “help” you enjoy your pizza dinner!
When it’s time for cake, you’ll know it. A faint commotion will begin to emanate from the Dining Hall. You’ll hear metallic banging, whistles, and shouts of excitement. Unit Leaders and Counselors will burst through the back door and careen down the porch stairs. They will be banging pots and pans, blowing whistles, and causing such a cacophony that campers inside the Dining Hall will be left confused and gobsmacked.
Missy will place the aforementioned hat on your head and take a bunch of photos while the Unit Leaders and Counselors stop the insanity long enough to sing Owego’s special birthday song. You and your bunkmates (and siblings, of course) will enjoy a delicious birthday cake, specially prepared by our amazing kitchen staff. As you lick the sugary icing from your lips, you’ll think to yourself, “That was the best birthday EVER!”
So next time you come across these birthday photos in your endeavor to scroll through 347 pictures before bedtime, remember how much love and care goes into these special celebrations. Birthdays at camp are fun and silly and delicious and one-of-a-kind!
