All summer, at the end of each session, every camper received a patch - modeled very closely on the old "W" patches we got in the 60s and early 70s.
As I reported with some excitement before the summer, the directors here (led by Dan Weir, I think) worked hard to revive this tradition, creating a "W" patch for the campers of Wawayanda and an "H" patch for the Hird kids. As before, a number of each indicates the numbers of years the camper or staff member has been here. A star indicates 10 or more summers. They're smaller than the old ones, but otherwise look the same: same nice felt, some design.
Well this didn't really hit me until this morning, when departing staff also received their patches. And I myself was given one. It's only been about 33 years since I got my last one. That's a lot of time passing between the same simple but powerful symbolic gesture. As I got mine I was standing next to Lee Griffin, a counselor (and son of a friend). This was Lee's 9th year so he got his H-9. Separated (in FV years) by a mere 36 years, we chatted and realized we felt the same way about all this.
Well this didn't really hit me until this morning, when departing staff also received their patches. And I myself was given one. It's only been about 33 years since I got my last one. That's a lot of time passing between the same simple but powerful symbolic gesture. As I got mine I was standing next to Lee Griffin, a counselor (and son of a friend). This was Lee's 9th year so he got his H-9. Separated (in FV years) by a mere 36 years, we chatted and realized we felt the same way about all this.
