To celebrate a successful first week of camp, family members visited Jõekääru last Saturday, July 9th, to see campers perform various skits and dances they had prepared throughout the week. Known as perepäev (“family day”), campers put on an entertaining display of performances ranging from synchronized acrobatics to traditional Estonian folk dances.
“I think the performances were a good comeback after spending so much time away from camp for so long,” said Bronwyn Pajo, who's working at Jõekääru for the first time this summer. “Everyone was really excited to showcase Estonian culture.” Angelika Moore, who's spending her first summer working as a Jõekääru counsellor, agreed with Bronwyn: “Everyone here is really proud to be Estonian… Being able to share our culture through song and dance is super rewarding.” Needless to say, the show did not disappoint.
One performance worth highlighting was by the intermediate boys' cabin. Campers wrote and performed their original rap songs, some in English and others in Estonian lyrics. The boys said, “We got ideas on how to rhyme in Estonian from the camp's songbooks, and the counsellors also helped us.” Clever and playful in style, their verses prompted hearty laughs and cheers from the audience.
Another memorable moment from the first week of camp was the much-anticipated dance, which happens every Friday night to bring the week to a close. Stephen Jenkins, who's also spending his first summer at Jõekääru as a counsellor this year, said it was quite the time. “It was very fun. [All the counsellors] were adding their favourite classic camp songs to the queue; the energy was great!”
Some campers were familiar with perepäev‘s action-packed antics. Others are spending their first summer at Jõekääru. Overall, their experiences have been incredibly positive.
“It's really been a full circle moment,” said Angelika. “When I play games with the campers and can see that they're having a good time, I'm like, wow, that was me at one point! Camp has always been a second home to me, so I hope I can make that true for the kids here this year, too.”
Since he was five years old, Kalev McCarthy has travelled from his hometown Chicago to spend his summers at Jõekääru. Now, he's working there as a counsellor for the intermediate and senior boys. “It's great building connections with the boys in our cabin and seeing them get along with each other.” Stephen, who was Kalev's co-counsellor during week one, added that “we're like a little wolf pack.”
Even though the first week of camp has been action-packed, the fun doesn't end there. Upcoming themes include sports and adventure week, prom week, and volleyball week.
When asked what she was most looking forward to, first-time counsellor Annika Lepik said she's been planning a fun “night game” for the campers. Each week, counsellors wake their campers (excluding the junior and younger intermediate kids) from their slumbers to play camp-wide games (including capture the flag and man-hunt) across the camp's property.
These are not just ordinary games, though. Whether a counsellor has been abducted by an alien or a zombie outbreak has spread, counsellors always add a unique twist to make the night games exciting and memorable for the kids.
“Night games are always the most fun when the campers are super engaged with them,” said Annika. “I want to do something hardcore. I have a few ideas and some glow sticks, so I already know it's going to be awesome.”
After two long years of not running in-person activities, the first week back at Jõekääru has been a success for both campers and counsellors alike.
This article was written by Natalie Jenkins as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.
