Camper of the Week

I know I’ve been promising for a while to explain Camper of the Week, or if you’re of the wiser (read: older) generation, Best Camper, to all you readers who are unfamiliar or for those of you who have struggled all your life to explain the importance of having your name on a piece of plywood hung up in the dining hall of a little camp in the mountains of New Mexico. If you were a camper and ever wondered how camper of the week was chosen, keep reading…I will reveal the secret process. If you really don’t want to know, skip a few paragraphs and then continue reading and enjoy the photos.

Camper of the week was the biggest deal at Brush Ranch. I’m sure other camps do something similar, but it was a really, really, big deal. Like…huge deal. Seriously. How can I emphasize it more? I really can’t, this is getting ridiculous.

“Traditional Camp,” as we called it was a 4 week session of camp and there were two sessions each summer, “first term” and “second term.” Each week, one male and one female camper were chosen by their peers and by the staff as “Camper of the Week.” The counselors who taught art were tasked with designing and painting the boards where each name was written. There were 2 new boards each summer, one for the girls, one for the boys. These boards were hung up in late May each year (during the lovely manual labor period before camp started) in the dining hall and displayed all summer. The most recent boards were propped on the mantle of the fireplace that was the center of the dining hall, they were not to be missed! The process for selecting Camper of the Week was a mystery to me until I joined the staff. Here’s how it went down: Each camper submitted the name of one of their cabin mates each Sunday. These names were then taken by the counselors to the meeting held on Sunday afternoons during rest period. { Sidebar: During those meetings, the older campers would be put in charge of the younger campers. These meetings would sometimes last for HOURS. As a camper I remember this being the best time…hardly any supervision, no required time on our bunks, pretty much just friendship bracelets, hair wraps, and blanket forts (I’m sure this was a bit different in boys camp)… for 2 hours or so! I LOVED Sunday afternoons. I will say that one of the reasons I loved it so much was that it was a time where the younger campers really got to interact with the older (much cooler) campers. } Every single camper who received a nomination from their peers was talked about in that meeting, and it didn’t matter if the person only received one vote or 10, they were all discussed as possible Campers of the Week. Granted, by discussed, I mean that it was sometimes a resounding, “NO,”  from the entire staff, but still…everyone got a chance. The nominees were usually narrowed down from there until there were 3 or 4 left and then there was an anonymous vote by secret ballot. This vote included cabin counselors, anyone who supervised activities, camp directors, and other administrators. The votes were tallied, the winner announced, there were usually lots of smiles, and then the meeting was over. Everyone who voted and was a part of the meeting was sworn to secrecy, and this secrecy was taken really seriously! The counselors would head back to their cabins where their campers would spend the afternoon trying to find out who was Camper of the Week.

That afternoon, the art teachers would lock themselves in the art shed and paint away. The first Sunday of camp was when the board was unveiled for the first time, with much anticipation from the more seasoned campers. Sunday evenings was Vespers, and this is where the big reveal happened. The entire camp gathered to reflect on the week that had just passed and to take a breath before starting the next week. There was always a touching program often with poems or songs and a few inspirational words. I wrote a few posts about Final Vespers which happened the last week of each term. Those posts can be found here: one, two, and three. At the end of Vespers, my parents would stand up with the Camper of the Week boards. The boards were facing away from the crowd, always leaning up against their legs. Then one of them would begin describing the Camper of the Week. The descriptions began vague enough that each camper thought it might actually be them! Then they became more and more specific until it was almost obvious who was being talked about and then they would turn the board around while simultaneously ripping the piece of paper covering the persons name and say, “And Camper of the Week in Girls Camp is Kelly Rigsby!” (I decided to use Kelly’s name because she’s my cousin and I knew she wouldn’t mind, also, she got Camper of the Week probably 1,000 times, so…they did say that exact phrase a few times throughout the 90s!) And then clapping and crying and general happiness always engulfed the crowd. I cannot remember a time when the staff made a mistake selecting the Camper of the Week. It was always right. Always.

Below is a gallery of many of the boards. We sold most of the boards on eBay several years ago and the rest were lost in the move, but the memories are alive and well! If you have a board hung up in your house, send me a photo and I’ll create a gallery.

Also, please be on the lookout for a BIG Brush Ranch announcement here and on the Brush Ranch Facebook page (if you’re not a member of the Facebook group already just search Bruch Ranch Camps and request to join) in the coming weeks. I’m talking big y’all, this is something you don’t want to miss!