Last evening was the annual Family Night at SYEP camp held at Camp Mary Orton. Towards the end of camp, every camper’s family is invited to spend a fun evening experiencing some of the things their children do at camp. Swimming, BINGO, and COSI experiments were big favorites last night. There was also a slideshow of photos taken by the Guild’s photographer, Michelle Jordan, and a small art gallery filled with dedications to nature and camp.

Of course the best part was the food! Hamburgers, hotdogs, cole slaw, baked beans, and watermelon. Yum. Yes, I am a college student and no, I could not pass up free food! Otterbein professors like to joke that all they need to do to gain attendance at school functions if provide free food.

The most exciting and entertaining part of the night is when the campers put on skits. Duck Wars has been a tradition for many years. Age groups of kindergarten to middle school aged kids, are divided into families and each family does one skit. Most families started off with the chant,

OH….
Wasn’t it a bit of luck
That I was born a baby duck
With yellow socks, and yellow shoes
I can do whatever I choose.
Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
GO … DUCKS!

But after the chant, all the families perform a different REMIX filled with dancing, stomping, clapping, joking, and cheering. And let me tell ‘ya – they dance a heck of a lot better than I can!

Getting to experience Family Night and Duck Wars last night was incredible. It was fun and it was interesting. I got to see kids interacting and having fun with each other and making friends. I didn’t go to camp when I was a kid and watching how much fun at camp they had really made me wish I had attended some kind of day camp. Family Night is probably the highlight of my Fellowship experiences thus far.

-Stephanie