When was the last time I went two weeks between blogs? Sorry about that. My excuses are that I’m actually being productive on my dissertation and Facebook Scrabble. (I was totally addicted to that game last week, but the fun is starting to wear off.)
The big news is that I visited Camp Wigwam (pics), my old summer home (which my Uncle Bob actually owns), a few weeks ago. I arrived just in time for the end of Color War, which is when they split the camp into teams of about 60 (plus ~7 coaches) for four-days of intense competition. Hard rains had delayed the tug of war until the afternoon, which meant that I actually caught the end of that event. Grey, head-coached by my cousin and my friend Colin, came into the tug leading by about 30 points. But Red took 4 of 5 tugs (each worth 5 points) to make up half the margin. That result meant hat Red would have to also go 4-1 in the final afternoon of sports competition to go into to Song and Cheer night (the final gathering) with a slim lead.
But, before I reveal the result, an aside about the head coach selection. My cousin Jesse and Colin have about 20 years of Wigwam Color War experience between them. They were facing, over on the Red team, a first-time counselor and first-time coach…in essence, zero Color War experience for the head coaches of Red. Considering that when I was the head coach of Grey I had the coaching situation stacked against me (perhaps rightly so, as I did have a lot of Wigwam coaching experience), I thought this matchup was quite ridiculous. However, I was impressed that although Grey had led this year’s competition throughout, Red was in striking distance come the afternoon.
I referred the Group 1 (i.e., youngest campers) soccer match in the afternoon. This contest was another mismatch, as Red had about 4 really good soccer players (impressive for nine-year-olds) and Grey only had one player that could actually somewhat control where the ball went. It was utter domination: 8-1 in favor of Red — 5 point Red, no points Grey.
So, Red had some momentum, but the other groups did not come through for the novice team. Grey won basketball and tennis, and a win in street hockey would ensure that Grey would win Color War comfortable. I saw first-hand Jesse’s skill at getting his players to attack with ferocity while not losing control, as Grey showed much more heart than Red on the street hockey court.

So Grey won the last round of competition, entered Song and Cheer with a 30 point lead, and out-sang/cheered Red to pick up another point in the final event (though everyone knew it was over at that point). The judges left the room, everyone chanted “It Just Doesn’t Matter”, and embraced:

Two more notes about Color War. One great tradition is that after the last sports events (and just before S&C) both teams get together and “bury the hatchet” — literally. The hatchet signifies the start and end of Color War. Also, in a Wigwam first (which is saying something given that the camp was founded in 1910), we had a female head judge! Female staff (there are usually about 10) don’t always get involved in the sports programs, but Amy plays college basketball and got right into the Wigwam sports spirit. She seemed to do a great job, though I heard that the Appeals panel (think Supreme Court of Color War) handed down two terrible decisions. But, I also heard that she was on the dissenting side on the more egregious decision of the two…maybe she needs to work on her persuasive skills :) Anyway, I’m all knocking down gender stereotypes: well done Amy!
I spent the night after Color War ended catching up with old campers. Turns out my trouble kid from 1999 (he was 7 then) has graduated to robbing liquor stores now. He says I was his favorite counselor…but I couldn’t have been that great of an influence! I took one more shot at straightening him out that night, but I doubt it did much good.
Next, it was off to Old Orchard Beach with the Wigwamers, where the campers/coaches got a well-deserved rest. I teamed up with my cousin to beat three other counselor teams in mini-golf: we won $30 split two ways from them. Jesse was key in giving us the lead (two holes-in-one in a row!), but I saved us on the 17th and 18th as my cousin began to falter. A great Team Strauss effort :)
Fast forward a few weeks: last night I had a non-Politics game night (yay for seeing people outside of the department). I would like to thank all the women in my life (Miranda, Chu, and Chicklet) for demonstrating how to host a party. The end result: fresh carnations and a strawberry-lemon cheesecake. Jeanne said it’s the “best bachelor cake I’ve ever seen.” So thanks to all my hosting-mentors — I hope you agree it’s paid off: