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Camp Counselor Program
Year after year moe. and Umphrey’s McGee have anchored Summer Camp’s schedule, but the addition of Trey Band has made this year’s lineup one of the most scene oriented to date, not to mention Yonder, Keller, STS9, plus Medeski, Martin, and Wood. The only other bands that could possibly fall into this topnotch jamband echelon would be Cheese or Bisco, so the good people at Summer Camp HQ decided that EOTO and Conspirator would have to fill that void. I have seen all these acts multiple times, most of them at Summer Camp, and they are the reason I fell in love with the scene so many years ago.
In case you are living under a rock, Cornmeal’s Saturday show will be one of the most talked about sets of the weekend. Their fiddler, Allie Kral, has announced that this will be her last show as a member of Cornmeal. This band has been a staple at Summer Camp for almost a decade and many Scampers, like myself, have completely fallen in love Allie over the years. Even though this is not the last we will hear from Cornmeal or Allie, for that matter, this set is bound to be a tear jerker for many a fan.
This lineup contains at least a dozen other bands that make me dance, but in all honesty, I return to Summer Camp every year because I’m an Umphreak. Summer Camp provides 6 sets of Umph, a handful of side projects, plus sit-ins that make Memorial Day Weekend UMforgettable. My first Umphrey’s show was at Summer Camp in 2004, so I guess it is only perfect that I will be celebrating my 75th Umph show at Summer Camp 2013. I’m predicting a few new songs, maybe a new cover, and a ridiculous light rig that will bring facemelt to a whole other level. Prepare to get your minds blown people!
Now for my Sunday variety pack…..
Both electronic and jamband fans will enjoy the way DJnoDJ fuses these two genres by layering their talents in order to duplicate our most beloved tracks. If I still have enough fuel left in my tank early Monday morning, this is where you will find me.Needless to say, I can’t wait to experience Summer Camp as a CIT! I guess it’s my job to remind my fellow campers to be safe, stay hydrated, and see as much music as possible because this year’s lineup is INSANE! With that being said, hollar at your CIT if you see me around! I love making new friends, especially at Summer Camp!
Well hello fellow campers,
For the past couple of weeks now, I have been counting down the days to this. It’s finally here. Soon, whether young or old, veterans to rookies, or just a hometown kid looking for something to do, you’ll definitely find it here! The 13th annual Summer Camp Music Festival has finally arrived and its about to be one hell of a time! Since this is my first official blog, I want to take a second to thank everyone that helped get me here. Joe Connors, big ups to you for recording everything and taking the time out of your day to do so! Brittany Noonen, thank you for continuing to push me through it even when I felt like I didn’t have a chance to make it! Judy Geick (Mom), a round of applause is in order for you for raising me from the boy that I was into the man I’ve become. Michael Michels (Dad), thank you for never giving up on me, and never letting me do less than what I’m capable of. Fred Geick (Step Dad), thank you for always taking me in as if I was your own. You taught me a lot about who I am and really helped shape me into the person I am today. Also, a shoutout to everyone that voted for me to help make this possible! Hometown kid representing scamp? WHAAAAT!!? The first time that I ever had the pleasure to go to this lovely festival was 7 long years ago.
From the moment that I arrived and stepped foot on to the patches of sand and dirt, I had no idea what to expect. I saw things I had never seen before. Things that others rarely see. A rare spectacle called compassion for a stranger. People everywhere were so generous and thoughtful, kind and caring. Someone who I had never met before that shares the same passion that you have, attitude you carry, and spirit you live. Walking into Three Sisters Park 7 years ago changed my aspect on humanity. It gave me hope that maybe one day everyone would feel this magical, overwhelming power that you have once you enter the festival and leave with it for the rest of your life.
I’m super excited to be writing these blogs for everyone this year so you too can enjoy some of my events with me. Should I go and see Moe or Big Gigantic; Moonshine, or Sunshine; do I want Lays BBQ chips that haven’t been opened or do I stick to what I know and dive into the ant infested French Onion Sunchips because honestly I hate BBQ chips and they really suck! I don’t like making life decisions like this. Thankfully I won’t be alone on my decision making and journey into freedom this year. With me will be my lovely girlfriend of which will be her 3rd year at the festival. My best friend Jon and his super rad girlfriend Katie will also be partaking in the festivities this year. His cousin Fisher and brother Adam will be there. All of whom are virgins to scamp. Other cool cats with us will be Timber and her boyfriend Nick. Pope and his girlfriend Steph and many many more. I cant wait to meet all of you this year and take tons or pictures and write more boring things for you to read and spit on! So until then… HAPPY CAMPING EVERYONE!!!
If you’ve gone to Summer Camp (or any festival) before, you know there’s probably the person that’s a little too organized with the planning…. nice to meet you, that’s me. But this year, I didn’t send out my usual spreadsheet of packing reminders and to-do’s to our campsite – which is all boys – and it was both missed and requested! So, from your friendly over-organized CIT, here’s my comprehensive go-to packing list. I didn’t include food, since everyone does that a little differently… plus we have fantastic food vendors, and you should support them. Hope it helps you out!
For the Campsite
- Tarps
- Lawn chairs
- Grill
- Camping stove
- Propane
- Lantern
- Radio
- Bugspray
- Sunscreen
- Sleeping bags
- Pillows
- Blankets
- Sheets
- Towels
- Flag Pole
- Car A/C Charger
- Flashlights
Don’t Forget
- Ticket
- Underpants
- Toothbrush/paste
- Shampoo
- Cell phone charger
- Umbrella
- Sunglasses
- Condoms (better safe than sorry)
- Rain Jacket or Poncho or Garbage Bag
- Empty water bottle (to fill @ filling stations)
- Camelbacks
- Deodorant
xoxo, CIT Abby
YMSB at Canopy Club (photo: Michael Kaiz Photojournalism)
Can you believe Summer Camp 2013 is ONLY 44 days away? What do you think of the lineup the crew put together this year? Pretty amazeballs if you ask me. The festival mainstays of moe. & Umphrey’s are again front and center holding down headlining spots. But they share some pretty rarified company! The Wood Brothers and The Wailers were late adds that pleased many a camper. The only thing left to figure out is where everyone will be slotted with other great acts like Trey, Thievery Corporation, STS9, Avett Brothers, and YMSB.
The Wood Brothers (photo Michael Kaiz Photojournalism)
photo Michael Kaiz Photojournalism
Thievery Corporation is gonna rock the red barn late night.
I caught Thievery’s NYE show out in Vail as the ball dropped and we rang in 2013 at Dobson Ice Arena. Their mix of house electronic beats along side a live band with amazing female and male vocalists has been heard around the DC area for years. I’m thinking that the late night set with ZEDS DEAD is going to easily rival last years by Pretty Lights. Be sure to get your tickets to the RED BARN late nights while you still can. If not don’t worry they’ll have another set placed strategically throughout the awesome weekend at Three Sisters Park.
Lebanese Blond by Thievery…calling it for one of their sets.
What sort of collaborations will we see this year at Camp? Will Trey get down with moe.? Will Yonder and Cornmeal team up? These are the questions that get people excited, and with 44 DAYS to go…let your imagination run wild.
Keller and Al team up and heat up Moonshine stage.
Speaking of who is bringing rage sticks or totems this year? Last year saw some pretty unique creations, and I for one am gonna be scouting for the famous “STOP & GET DOWN” sign along with a host of others. I may give out prizes so be on the lookout for me and when you do see me throw up your best “rage face” for the picture.
This sign is my favorite…FGC likey it a lot too!
Flowers for Janis
I’m really thankful that this year i’ll have time in addition to covering the festival to hang with my band pals Family Groove Company, Old Shoe, Henhouse Prowlers, Afternoon Moon, Chicago Farmer, The Giving Tree Band, The Ragbirds, and Zmick. Friends are what makes the festival experience that much more special and its been almost a year since I hung out with my fellow CIT friends and Camp Counselor from last year. That’s a year TOO long for sure.
Part of last year’s Camp Counselor/CIT crew & our fearless director.
Let’s see besides seeing Widespread Panic this weekend at UIC. I’m heading out west on tour with Old Shoe as they play a few Colorado dates at the end of April. If you are around Fort Collins (4/17), Steamboat Springs (4/18), Denver (4/19), or Nederland (4/20) make sure you look up where they are playing on that Facebook thing and get on down to check them out pre SC2013! I’ll even share a tasty local beverage with you (if you are of age of course). Until we meet again at Camp keep your eyes peeled for the schedule and when its released start planning your romp through Three Sisters cause a good time starts with a good plan!
Allie Kral and FGC
The moment Charlie Otto sauntered onto the Vic stage, politely asking you to listen to a tape he wanted to play, you were magically looped back to 1984. Not Orwell’s 1984, but David Byrne’s where big suits, spandex clad fly girls, and lamps are perfectly acceptable dance partners for the evening if the mood strikes.
I love lamp
This Must Be The Band is one of the only Talking Heads cover bands in Chicago. More importantly they also are the most adept at conveying an accurate representation of the actual band members down to their mannerisms. Charlie Otto is to David Byrne as Day-Lewis is to President Lincoln. He simply owns the characters likeness so much that one can almost forget who is onstage until, out of costume, Otto reminds taking a few requests once the performance portion of the evening is complete.
Otto in Byrne’s famous suit
Byrne (Charlie Otto) opens wearing white shoes with the familiar drum cadence of “Psycho Killer” and is alone onstage with his acoustic and boom box. As the gunfire puts him into a spastic whirl stumbling like the last scenes of “Scarface” he is joined by the core members of the band in each of the first four songs. With each successive song, Byrne is cumulatively joined onstage by Tina Weymouth (Jamie Jay) for “Heaven” (with Lynn Mabry (Tawny Newsome) providing harmony vocals from backstage, second by Chris Frantz (Alan Maniacek) for “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel”, and third by Jerry Harrison (Jim Dinou) for “Found a Job”. Performance equipment is gradually wheeled out and wired up to the bare stage between and throughout the performances, as Talking Heads continue to be augmented by several additional musicians, most of whom had extensive experience in funk: back-up singers Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt (Kasey Foster), keyboardist Bernie Worrell (again played by Dinou), and percussionist Steve Scales (Pat Sweeney). The first song to feature the entire lineup is “Burning Down the House“. The energy when the first lyrics burst onto the full fervor crowd is palpable. Lighting is key and TMBTB nailed it on one of the most important tracks. Certainly the song built to a crescendo perfectly and the crowd responded by singing the chorus throughout. The audience also held a fixation upon a singular white balloon as they toyed with it which fit the evening’s jovial atmosphere. Like Byrne it flitted about on a whim seemingly unable to find a comfortable resting place. Otto truly captures Byrne’s idea that music should be experienced and not just listened to and TMBTB’s devoted fan admiration can be viewed as a sign they represented to the highest level of flattery.
He was running…
Byrne leaves the stage at one point, to allow the Weymouth–Frantz-led side-band the Tom Tom Club to perform their song “Genius of Love“. There was much funky love laid down by Jamie Jay and Alan Maniacek, and the dressed to impress Wedding Singer themed crowd let loose their inner 80s in a spectacle not soon to be topped.
Without a cast and crew equally dedicated to representing the others involved the project would fall flat and not have as great an impact. Many can sing and act like Byrne, but few groups are lucky enough to interact with a full band while blocking the stage movement in perfect choreography. Every run in place, arm condor swing, and crawl on the floor with a microphone move are executed without a forced feel. One thing I read Byrne wanted to achieve by giving a full view of everything happening on the stage was to ensure that interactions between the performers would not be lost with choppy camera shots. TMBTB is not mimicking the movement onstage, they become it and live it live through the audience.
Shadows and light
True to the DVD version TMBTB played three tracks “Big Business”, “I Zimbra”, “Cities” before inviting the stage crew back onstage to take applause and join them for a song and a few requests. The umpteenth installment of their annual gig recreating “Stop Making Sense” sold out before the doors opened ensuring TMBTB has “Found A Job” at least for one evening each year. Otto’s side project Savvy is scheduled to play Martyr’s 11/30 along with Dozens and Magic Box.
This past Saturday, the boys of Gomez (hailing from the UK) made a stop in Chicago during the US leg of their tour. In case you missed them at Summer Camp in 2009, Gomez is a five-piece British act consisting of Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitar), Tom Gray (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Paul Blackburn (bass, guitar), Olly Peacock (drums), and Ian Ball (vocals, guitar, harmonica). Fun fact: Gomez records most of their music in Chicago.
Source: Gomez Facebook page
Now, for non-Chicagoans, this will take a bit of explaining as they were headliners at the annual “Garden Walk” (yes, really).
Here are the basics of the garden walk: All day in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, people open their doors to their homes so you can walk around and see the gardens. It’s adorable. For those who don’t care that much about gardens (myself included) you simply go to the 3 blocks that are roped off for music, food, and booze. It’s a good old-fashioned Chicago street festival, and you get to see pretty amazing bands for 10 bucks.
Gomez went on right at 8pm sharp, and after seeing over 15 Gomez sets in my day, I’m not exaggerating when I say the setlist was the best I’d ever seen. Why? Well, Gomez is hopping on the user-submitted setlist train, and has been letting the fans pick the music all summer long. You can hop on their website before the show, pick 5 songs you want to see played, and submit. It looks like this:
To all those in Chicago who went on and submitted… great job. We were treated to songs I haven’t heard live in years – or ever – packed one after another in a set that truly showed the range of what these guys can do. It was pretty clear who the Gomez fans were in the audience… being a street fest, it was a mix of about 1000 people ranging in age and knowledge or interest in the band. But as the night picked up and the rare songs kept playing, there was a very clear set of 400-ish people that were are sharing the same amazing experience. A particularly heavy round-up of songs off Five Men in a Hut and Split the Difference proved that Chi-town has a strong tie to Gomez and their deep collection of amazing music.
Check ‘em out, Scampers. You have 2 more chances – Buffalo, NY tonight and Indy tomorrow, before they hop back across the pond and we wait for next year.
Chicago Farmer sings “Nothing Better to Do”
For a small town man from just south of Peoria, Cody Diekhoff sure has adapted to life as Chicago Farmer. The one man folk singer was an appropriate choice to open up for The Ragbirds as just a few days earlier his reincarnation folk hero Woody Guthrie celebrated what would have been the legend’s 100th birthday. There was plenty to celebrate for Cody as well as he and his wife Kymber recently had a milestone anniversary of 5 strong years together. Although he jested that he never liked love songs having only penned 8 (6 being about revenge he mused) during this special evening he dedicated a few sweet stories of the time they met, and even one song about “true love” in “Nothing Better To Do.”
His fast talking approach on stage lays in stark contrast to the pace of his upbringing in Delevan, a town of just 25 people. Still his lyrics, like Guthrie’s, are timeless and can be taken in by folk of any size town as his set at SPACE in Evanston demonstrated Sunday.
He tells the audience “Who On Earth” came after he was asked to write a protest song to stop mountain top coal mining in West Virginia. Being that he was from the flat lands of southern Illinois he drew his inspiration partly from the Occupy movement with lyrics that hit home like “it seems poor criminals are kept on a leash, and rich criminals are catch and release.” While his message is politically charged he is never polarizing. It seems as if he simply wants to make you think about what’s right in the grand cosmic scheme of things. Who makes the rules and why should someone get ticketed for going 57mph. Arbitrary rules set by folk no different than you he figures determine right and wrong and access to the pearly gates.
The reason for his success I believe, nay reckon, is accessibility. During “Workin On It”, he teaches a lesson on how to speak like a “folk singing hillbilly from the upper midwest side.” He gets the crowd into the refrain having them repeat in hillbilly dialect “Im-ma/ Werk-in / Ah-oOn / It” that brings the room together and sets a comfortable tone for the evening. What he can’t teach them, however, is what he has learned during his journey. He does his best, however, to relate it spinning yarns about how upon his first time playing Subterranean’s open mic night a bum asking for change offered him some instead after seeing the look on the artist’s face. He “busted the roof” off of all 8 people in the place and gave the CD proceeds from the evening to the vagrant who gave him an even better gift in the song “Hero”. Those days are long gone as he now has an contingent of loyal fans to keep him company during his travels.
A casual off the cuff jokester one moment he never strays far from his humble roots or foundation of family, and honest people doing a respectable days hard work. In these days where prefabricated pop rules the airwaves…that in and of itself is a breath of fresh air. With his in-laws front row “looking up his nose” as the Farmer put it, he surely made them proud, setting the table for the main act The Ragbirds. Oh and he threw in “Illinois Anthem” that recounted the tales of a wayward ex just for a good measured revenge song. Gotta love that twist Cody puts on life.
The Ragbirds soared at SPACE
The Ragbirds are a world music act out of Ann Arbor that put a folk spin on life with their music. With the positive infectious floaty voice of Erin Zindle front and center they easily captivate a room. Good storytellers never force a subject of discussion on an audience and neither does Zindle. Quirky but cosmically centered she suggests that her band’s music comes from inspiration from the moon, but that maybe she is personifying the moon as herself.
Juxtaposing and analyzing her stance on self psychoanalysis the band launches into “The Frame.” What’s nice about the group’s playing style is they pull from different musical elements and play multiple different instrument arrangements. Rare does one see the electric kalimba much on stage and it complements the rangy swinging number greatly.
In “Lemon Grove” Zindle shares that the winter is a great time to store lyrics until they can be put to melody in warmer weather when the music comes to her. This number proved just that. It of course is also about the moon. Curious tunnel vision on song influence aside one can’t help but grin and let it melt away as the Ragbirds perform the old african tribal dance “Moribayassa” which the lyrics are featured by the sirens in the movie “Oh Brother Where Art Thou?”
Zindle likes a good dance. On “Tarantella” she bounces and strums a variety of instruments next to her guitarist brother T.J. and percussionist husband Randall Moore. She tells us its important to sing and likes times where she can be alone with her thoughts to create. Old tales use to say ancients believed dancing got poison out of the soul and they urge those feeling brave to try their hand for the tango influenced number with Zindle on violin.
A great version of The Talking Heads “Nothing But Flowers” kept Zindle with bow in hand. It felt right to hear the earthy group cover a song recounting Eno’s dystopian future. During the set they also expertly teased the Beatles “Norwegian Wood” and a number of Paul Simon tunes. With a number of summer tour dates still left make sure to catch both these acts the next time they are around.
Chicago Farmer plays Whippersnap Music Festival in Rockford. More can be found at http://www.chicagofarmer.com/shows/
The Ragbirds can be seen in their homestate of Michingan. Complete tour schedule is at http://www.theragbirds.com/.
Dave Weckstein
One: The Music Never Stopped ; Ramble On Rose ; Cassidy ; Brown Eyed Women ; New Minglewood Blues ; Friend Of The Devil ; El Paso ; Jack-A-Roe ; Looks Like Rain ; Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain
Two: Samson And Delilah > Bertha ; Estimated Prophet > Drums > The Other One > Stella Blue > Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad > One More Saturday Night
Encore: U.S. Blues
Filler: Next Time You See Me > Johnny B. Goode
The past harmonizes. Everyone on Earth has a doppelganger. Both axioms proved to be true upon my second time seeing the Grateful Dead reenactment group, Dark Star Orchestra. As I stared onto the stage at guitarist Rob Eaton’s mouth gaping Bob Weir face, I thought to myself, “how was tonight any different than if i’d been born a child of the 60’s and gotten here through a more natural twist of fate?”
Time is obstinate — it can twist and contort, but ultimately remains constant in a relative state of mind. On this particular hazy post liberty influenced weekend, as the Chicago heat toned down from triple digits outside, inside the Park West Theater Dark Star Orchestra did their best to raise the temperature by recreating one helluva Grateful Dead set whose original audience experienced during a time and space at the Auditorium Theater on 5/13/77.
One could contend the spring of ’77 is arguably one of the best runs to be a Deadhead and if you looked around the venue last Saturday and judged by who was onstage and in the audience you might have surely thought you stepped into a wormhole that transported you back 35 years to that golden era. This particular show saw the band perform the very first “Jack-A-Roe” and had a wonderfully rare first set close with “Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain.”
Those who tell me they don’t like seeing bands that only cover one specific group with no original tunes have their right to an opinion. But imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, why wouldn’t you want to close your eyes and let your mind expand on a cosmic journey from one of the legendary groups that influenced thousands? Oh and who, by the way, changed the course of history along the way creating an entire genre. You’d have to be on a close minded ship of fools to believe you couldn’t enjoy DSO even one tiny iota.
The likeness both in playing style and appearance is palpable. During “Cassidy” the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It didn’t matter that it was Jeff Mattson and not Jerry Garcia to me onstage because this was my reality — not 1977 Dave. Besides I would like to think Jerry would like his music to live on through such a dedicated group of musicians. A Deadhead is the harshest critic when it comes to judging an audible incarnation of a legend. The artistry and skill in one’s craft needed to be able to pull off such a feat is beyond comprehension. Not one person dancing and whirling in the crowd that night knew or cared. Original hippies and neo-hippie clad youth all shouted the chorus to “Goin Down The Road Feeling Bad” with the same exuberance.
Lisa Mackey, who plays the role of Donna Jean Godchaux, returned from a brief hiatus for the bands Colorado stint. She donned her trademark headphones, spun, and whirled, lending vocals to “Stella Blue.” Later as the set closed she provided a treat on harmonica for “Next Time You See Me.”
The highlight of the show, chalked full of classics as it was, however was “The Other One” jam. Coming out of “Drums” people exploded when Rob belted out the first verse nearly 13 minutes after the song began. The past run in Chicago had DSO playing the Vic which while having a larger capacity room diminishes the intimacy factor slightly. Park West was perfectly suited to cater to a crowd that appreciated the musicianship more than the ability to consume. The high domed ceiling where the disco ball hung allowed for those with laser pointers to add to the spacey spectacle. Past and present collided and for one more Saturday night in one of the best Grateful Dead cover bands 1900+ shows it harmonized to perfection.
Hello there fellow SCamper Dudes and Dudettes!
So the best weekend of the year has come and gone. I can’t believe it – it feels like it was a dream. I honestly am in disbelief of everything that has happened. I am SO happy that I decided to enter the Camp Counselor Contest, it was a last minute decision and I submitted the video on the last day at 8pm. From there we made the first 12, then we made the next round of 6. What many people don’t know is that I decided to make a second video for the following round in which I was going to do “tricks” as I jumped out of a tree. Well in making that second video I landed wrong after I jumped and suffered a concussion, four days of the worst migrains I’ve ever had, a bruised knee, a bruised jaw, a deep cut in my neck that wouldn’t stop bleeding for a day and a half and I chipped 3 teeth and lost half of one of my molars. Can anyone question whether I am dedicated to Summer Camp? The few weeks trying to win the contest was super stressful – I had everyone I possibly could spreading the word and voting…friends and family from as far as Argentina, Spain, Italy and Colombia. All the pain and hard work paid off though and we made top three and then finally won. It was amazing. The day they announced it, I had adrenaline constantly running through my blood and I couldn’t sleep; after coming to Summer Camp for 6 years I was going to experience my favorite festival in a way I could have only dreamed about.
I had so many things planned, so much I wanted to cover and see but the weekend seriously flew by and my aspirations were much larger than what was physically possible. However, I was able to get some awesome videos, catch some great sets, meet some amazing people, do really nice interviews, capture sweet pictures, and dance and hoop my heart out. Summer Camp is so big – there is so much going on that it is impossible to do it justice; for those of you who haven’t been – you will never know how amazing it is until you experience it for yourself.
I again want to thank the entire Summer Camp crew for creating the Camp Counselor Program. For die hard fans, it is the chance to live the festival through a completely unique understanding. As someone who goes year after year it was so special to get a glimpse of the world behind the stage. I will forever treasure these memories and will continue to attend Summer Camp every year, but now with a greater level of appreciation.
The highlights of the weekend are meeting moe. and announcing their first set, being side stage for moe., UM and Gigantic Underground Conspiracy, getting to see Wavy blow out his birthday candles, and getting a drum lesson from Vinnie. I tried to plan the best I could for the weekend, but there is just so much going on it’s impossible to plan for it all – so for the next year’s counselor I suggest you make a general schedule and stay organized. Being counselor is a great experience, but it is your duty to represent the festival and that is a huge undertaking – I knew that going into it and yet it was still even grander than I thought.
I am sad that Summer Camp 2012 is over; but I am already getting excited for Summer Camp 2013. From my first video entering the SC Counselor contest I claimed that Summer Camp is the best festival ever, and it is. The line up is amazing every year and the people who make it happen are all so awesome and nice. Thank you Summer Camp, thank you fellow SCampers, and anyone who is considering coming next year – it will be the best experience of your life.
Keep Striving for Peace, Love, and Unity Fellow SCampers,
Camp Counselor Maria
Seems like a good one time use item : /
Monday 10AM - Made it out of the tent graveyard post festival zombieland that was Chillicothe’s Three Sisters Park. Our neighbors must have partied too hard because they left a completely intact upright 15′ X 15′ enclosed canopy at their site. We provided the land with these tiki torches which were nice ambience, but rather unwieldy to transport back home. I heard a ton of stuff gets donated to local charities so i’m hoping they end up on some townies back porch next to a hammock or something.
Monday 3PM - Arrive home, immediately eat a large Chicago Bagel Authority bagel, shower for 40 minutes solid, and begin to sleep a ridiculous amount of time before unpacking the rest of our leftovers from SCamp. Inventory excess was had on tie-dye duct tape, and Armor vienna sausages (which we are planning to give away to some hungry soul at the next festival since they have the half life on par with Twinkies). Pay it forward with the sardines as well! Karma and brownie points or caramel brownie bites are all good.
Viva la tie-dye duck tape y Armor Vienna sausages. Both stand up to the feats of strength.
Tuesday 1AM- My sleep schedule is all wonky so I write a bit about my groups Sunday fest activity and upload video blogs until I get tired again around 4AM. I remove the dirt that somehow escaped the 40 minute soap barrage earlier and it starts to hit me. Another year is in the books for Summer Camp. Some of us go back to the real world. Some of us go on to the next festival. However, for one brief weekend we were together celebrating our veterans as well as the fact we are able to be with dear friends and hear wonderfully crafted music.
As I reflect back on my first Summer Camp as a CIT I am thankful for the camaraderie shown by all my new friends. Maria Iriart, Abby Mager, Jason Harper, Mo Miller, Tiff Narron, and Alex Fornes are some good folk and despite life getting hectic we’ve all said we’re going to try and keep the band together for next year. Holly was a great Camp Director who was a blast to see do her thing flying all over the place. I was able to meet Jay Goldberg the first night on the way in and shake his hand and thank him for keeping such a great festival vibe and not letting it get out of hand. I’ll surely benefit from this experience simply by expanding my group of friends that share the love of Summer Camp.
CIT Dave
