Briarwood Bugle 2017-Week 2

Check out our latest Briarwood Bugle! You can read it below or see it in glorious color and with photos here.

The Briarwood Bugle 2017-week 2
June 26-30 2017

FROM MIKE AND MATT
“We the People, in order to write a more perfect Bugle . . .”
We had another great week this week, with art and sports and swimming and leagues and gaga and Crazy Hat Day and bunk show practice and trips (Hershey Overnighter! Rebounderz! Rice’s!) and on and on. It is a gift for us to be able to see the smiles and hear the splashing and laughter every day.
We’ve got lots more on tap for next week. In addition to our regular spectacularness, Olympics start on Monday, the CITs go to Dorney, the Super CITs go to the beach, we’ve got a new round of clubs, Upper Camp starts intercamp sports and much much more! Join us! And if we can editorialize for a moment, we are very lucky to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Have a great weekend!

Notes from the Lifeguard Chair by Rob Resnick, Briarwood Pool Director

Greetings from the pool staff! Camp is off to a great start and our campers are improving rapidly. Water safety is a major part of what we do at Briarwood and our lifeguards here have more than 80 years of experience lifeguarding here (yes, seriously). We get a lot of questions about deep water testing for kids as well as some other items so we thought we’d write a quick note here.

• Lower pool deep water testing requires treading water for one minute, front crawl 15 yards, back crawl 15 yards, jump in and swim under water 15 yards.
• At the upper pool, due to the depth of the water, the upper pool deep water test is for level 3 and up.
• No snorkel goggles at free swim.
• We know that some campers complain about instructional swim. Parents, please encourage your camper to keep trying. It’s an important life skill and we’ve been teaching it well for years!

SOME FRIENDLY BRIARWOOD REMINDERS

• If you want to reach your camper’s counselor during the camp day, call the office at 215-598-7143 and we will gladly relay your message. Please do not TEXT or CALL your child’s counselor directly during the camp day. Our counselors are busy watching children and we have asked them not to check their phones during the day.
• Don’t forget about our Open Visitation Policy—Camp families are welcome to visit any camp day through the end of week 7 between 10:00 am and 2:30 pm.
• Early and Late Care is available from 7:30 am—6:00 pm sharp. Please call the office if you will need this service.
• While it never rains at Briarwood, in the event of a passing shower, please send your camper with the appropriate rain gear should the forecast call for rain.
• Apply sunscreen daily prior to coming to camp.
• Did you miss a Bugle? You can find all of this summer’s Bugles on the front page of our website.

COMING NEXT WEEK TO BRIARWOOD…THE OLYMPICS!!!

On Monday, July 3rd and Wednesday, July 5th campers in lower camp, upper camp and senior camp will participate in the annual Briarwood Olympics. Each camper has been assigned a country team. While not mandatory, campers should feel free to show team spirit and dress in the following colors:

Canada-Grey
England-Blue
Mexico-White
Spain-Yellow
Italy-Green
China-Red

THE BRILLIANT BULLDOGS BY JIM IVERS

Hello, my name is Jim Ivers and I am the Senior Counselor for one of the 4th grade boys’ bunks, the Bulldogs. This will be my second year at Briarwood, and first as a counselor. I am fortunate to have 2 Junior Counselors working with me, Jake Paul and Alex Kieffer. Both have been at Briarwood close to 8 years now, and the kids absolutely love having them be a part of our bunk. Our bunk consists of 19 kids who come every day ready to have fun, and utilize all that Briarwood offers. The Bulldogs have enjoyed the many activities Briarwood has to offer like: basketball, football, softball, swimming, boating, nature, archery, ropes, clay building, etc.
Over the past two weeks, the Bulldogs have made some highlight reel moments that deserve to be acknowledged. As a bunk, we racked up 42 holes in one at mini golf in one period! Caleb, Chase, Tyler, Ben, and John all accounted for multiple holes in one. In ultimate rugby Ryan caught 6 touchdowns for his team, and lead them to victory. In football Max, Dylan, Ben, and Landon all made impressive catches to try and lead their teams to victory. At archery, Roshan and Saul came within a couple inches of nailing a bullseye. The bunk has also enjoyed fishing while at nature. Ben, Marcus, Brody, and Alex all caught their first fish for the summer! Finally, at ropes almost every child climbed up the rock wall and took the plunge down the zip line, and came running back wanting to go again.
The Bulldogs have been an amazing bunk to work with and it’s only week 2! I can’t wait to see what the next 6 weeks bring us. All the kids in this bunk exemplify what Briarwood represents. Every day this bunk goes home happy, healthy, tired, but they come back the next day rarin’ for more!
Jim Ivers SC, Jake Paul JC, Alex Kiefer JC, Ethan Lee Super CIT, Luke Molden CIT and Jackson Gottleib CIT

The Dazzling Gazelles by Devyn Sax
It has been a great two weeks with the Dazzling Gazelles!! We have already made so many memories, too many to name. The girls have been total rock stars at every activity! From sports, arts and crafts and swimming, these girls do it all!! We had a few homerun hitters in wiffleball the other day which included Becca, Sammy and Kaitlyn. Additionally, we have a few stars down at the lake. Robyn and Abby know how to bring in the fish! Our newest member to camp Megan, is a huge fan of the Zoom Flume! She flies down the slippery slide and always manages to stick the landing!! Kadie is our drama star. It took no time for her to get on the stage and strut her stuff. We cannot wait to see her in the Drama show! Lastly, Taylor, Lexi and Riley know exactly what it takes to play the perfect game of soccer. From running up and down the field to scoring goals, these girls are pros! Safe to say we got lucky this summer! These girls ROCK!! The Gazelles have been nothing but awesome and we cannot wait to see what else this summer brings us!! Devyn S.C, Alli J.C, Ally Super CIT, Jadyn and Sophia CITs.

MEET THE NEW BRIARWOOD STAFF!

Danielle Juritsch joins the Briarwood Staff as a senior counselor at new games. Danielle is a graduate of West Virginia University. She is currently looking to attend graduate school during the off season. People would be surprised to know that Danielle is a three time PA state gymnast.
Carly Patent is an English Education major at the University of Delaware. Carly is our awesome tennis senior counselor at Briarwood. When not watching One Tree Hill and eating pizza, Carly is meeting politicians! This year she met Vice President Joe Biden.
Nicole Ismaili can be found firing up the kiln at ceramics. Nicole attends Savannah College of Art and Design. People would be surprised to know that Nicole can play multiple musical instruments.
Emily McLaughlin is a first year senior counselor in the Cheetahs Bunk. Emily attends Indiana University of Pennsylvania for fashion merchandising. Emily has a twin brother and loves to watch House of Cards.

COUNSELORS OF THE WEEK!

Senior Staff:
Mindy Rubinlicht

Junior Staff:
Trevor Goldstein

Congratulations!

Next Week Important Dates:
Monday, July 3rd- Briarwood Olympics
Tuesday, July 4th-Camp closed. Happy 4th of July!!
Wednesday, July 5th- Briarwood Olympics
Thursday, July 6th-1st and 2nd year CITs to Dorney Park
Super CIT beach trip
Bulldogs/Falcons-Softball, Owls/Robins-Newcomb,
Archery Club vs Camp America at Briarwood
Cobras-Softball and Doves-Newcomb at Camp America