Good ‘clean’ messy fun at LWA camp

Every Friday campers at the Lawrence Woodmere Academy summer camp have a special event. They had a wet and wild day in mid-July, are planning a carnival day in mid-August, and on July 27 they held their messy day.

Cheers, gasps and cries of “I need a hose,” permeated the schools campus as campers and counselors took part in some particularly messy activities. There were kiddie pools full of Jell-O and slip-and-slides coated in non-irritating dish soap, chocolate syrup, ketchup and cereal, as well as various games where campers got to cover counselors in shaving cream, pancake mix, maple syrup and more. According to boys’ division supervisor Doug MacConnell, everyone has a ball. “The counselors are such good sports,” he said with a pile of shaving cream atop his head.

Messy day has been a camp institution for several years. Ryan Young, who has been a counselor for four years, and was a camper for eight before then, said that, “It’s definitely one of the kids’ favorite days,” before sitting on a tarp called a griddle for the day and allowing campers to dump pancake mix and maple syrup on his head. “I enjoy it too,” he said, “I like getting a little messy and having some fun alongside the kids.”

The favorite “Messy Day” activities seemed to be the slip-and-slides and a game where campers would have chocolate syrup water balloons dropped on their heads if they answered an over or under question incorrectly. Ava Spinner and Hailey Haber, both 8, were the first two campers from their group on the slip-and-slide, they agreed it was their favorite activity. “My favorite part was just getting messy,” Spinner said.

LWA’s summer camper was established in 1978. The full eight-week season runs from the end of June to the end of August with different activities daily. For more information, visit lwasd.org.