FROM YOUR CAMPER FRIDAY

A Summary of Green and White

by Aiden Rutman + Dylan Goldberg

       The Annual Mah-Kee-Nac Green and White color war got off to a rocky start due to inclement weather.  Despite the setback, the morning after an amazing breakout was full of excitement. We started our first set of mini-competitions, titled “The Event,” in which both teams were broken up into thirteen member squads. As the morning progressed, they went around participating in various events such as “Dish Soap Pong” and inflatable obstacle courses. Results from “The Event”  gave the Green team a one minute lead. Next, the campers headed over to the dining hall for some doughnuts and cereal. After that, Green and White squared off in the annual “Flag Find,” in which many flags (Both Green and White) were scattered around campus, and each camper had to run and grab a flag for the team and return it to the starting line. Following this event, Green added another 80 seconds to their lead, making it a total of two minutes and 20 seconds.

       Soon after the Flag Find, the whole camp waited patiently on the lacrosse field for their team captains to explain their assignments for “Head2Head”. ”Head2Head” is an event where campers played against each other in many different sports. After “Head2Head”, the whole camp waited outside the fieldhouse to partake in Royal Rumble dodgeball. Royal Rumble dodgeball is similar to regular dodgeball, except for one twist: the names of each member of both teams is picked out of a hat, signaling that member to enter  the fieldhouse and begin the game. A terribly unlucky coincidence occured as the names for the game were being pulled out of the hat. Nearly 30 members of the Green team were called before one member of White was called, which proved to be an immense disadvantage for the White team. Although Mini-Mak-er Andrew Pearlmutter, aged seven, was able to survive a 1v10 at the end for nearly fifteen minutes, it wasn’t enough, and the Green team won yet another event.

       The event before lunch was “One minute”. In “One Minute,” both teams play one minute of four different sports.  These sports included soccer, volleyball, basketball, and hockey. Once “One Minute” was done, the whole camp had lunch (Once again, no winners were declared, but rumors circulated that Green Team won that one as well). The Dining Hall served chicken tenders and french fries. While most campers were enjoying their lunches, the Senecas were up at nature, tirelessly practicing their fire-building skills.

       The First event after lunch was “The Circle”. This is the event where Green and White break up into fifteen teams and race each other. The teams start on opposite ends of the circle and run for 30 seconds as they attempt to pass each other. After some questionable strategies, a few injuries, and the revelation of some incredibly fast campers and counselors, White won their first event of the day. They gained 90 seconds back and cut the Green team’s lead to 3 minutes and 50 seconds. With White finally catching a break, everyone went down to the lacrosse field for the next event, “All or Nothing.” Campers and Staff are once again broken into groups and participate in mini-events, such as “Tug of War”, “Musical Chairs” and “Beach ball volleyball.” At the pool, the two teams faced off in synchronized swimming and the “Belly Flop” competition. The Green team was lead in synchronized swimming by Junior Luis Saro, in their reproduction of “How far I’ll go” from Moana. The White team, lead by Seneca Max Monson, performed a water themed “Star Wars” battle. After a superior performance by the Green team, they won that event, adding more time to their lead. Next, they went on to the hilarious belly flop portion. After some awesome performances by Zach Erber (entering to “Milkshake”) and Harrison Taylor (entering to “Wrecking Ball”), the Green team once again took the cake. Well there was White team, down by an insane amount, walking to the dining hall for dinner. White team Seneca’s (including myself) skipped most of dinner to strategize for the fire and practice even more. After spaghetti and bolognese for dinner, the camp did the annual Karaoke competition. Nothing out of the ordinary, as T-Mush and Max Monson lead the white team to a win, gaining them back a slight amount of time. After that, the campers went down to the lacrosse field for the “Rope Race”. This is quite possibly the nastiest, most disgusting event that anyone will ever do. Campers go around camp, getting covered in syrup, eggs, old spaghetti with green dye, and other foods that will make people cringe. Green Annihilated this event once again, and gained an extra five minute head start for the last event, “The Rope Burn”.

       After some extra speedy showers by the Upper Senior campus, they all set out to gather wood for the “Rope Burn”. They were given 15 minutes to gather as much as they could. Well, this was it, the last event! The Senecas were tasked with starting a fire with flint and steel in order to  burn a wet rope 10 feet above them. The final lead for the green team was 13 minutes and five seconds, more than double what had ever been had in the past 31 years of competitions. People near the White team could see the emotions flaring, especially from the Senecas. They could hear the chant: “History on three! History on three! One, two, three, HISTORY!” After both teams had a raging fire, the Senecas on the sidelines could do nothing but lock arms and pray. And then, it happened. Green Team’s rope snapped. They sprinted to the color war rock, while devastation raged throughout the White team. Tears were shed, while everyone hugged the Senecas. It was an especially emotional moment for all of them, since it was their last color war as campers. Even the Green team Senecas cried. And they won. Cherokee Charlie Lesch said, “Guess what I’m putting on my schedule next week? Nature. I’m not letting this happen again.” And then it was done. That marked  the end of Green and White 2018.