Color War

[Skater Bubbles]

So my camp doesn't have color war and I am trying to understand all of it so if you guys could fill me in on what exactly it is, how your camp does it and why you all love it so much!

Thanks, Bubbles

[Dave]

The main reason I love it is because it gets the campers really into the activities, even activities they usually don't like.

At our camp, the entire camp is divided into four colors: red, yellow, green, and blue. Each team is given a theme. Last summer we were the yellow team, and our theme was Star Wars. (Each team last year had a movie for a theme.) During the first few days of the week, you go through camp like normal, except if your bunk wins an activity then your team gets points. (You don't lose points for losing though.) On the last day of color war (which is the second-to-last day of camp), the four teams come together and compete against each other in various field games. Then they do their cheers and songs. The winners are announced the next day.

[Flower]

I love color war!
We start ours with Breakout. Our Breakout is a creepy/sort of scary skit put on by the counselors that usually starts about 10 at night. For the whole week or two before we drop little clues about the topic. It's so funny to listen to the kids try to decide what's a clue and what's not and what they mean. For the few days before Breakout /everything/ is a breakout clue. The skit always ends with the need for a war, a color war! The admin end it by giving that little speech. By this point all the counselors and girls are in the field. The directors each have nametags for one team. The counselors for the fifteen year olds go to find the captains in the crowd as their name is ready out. All the 12ers are crying by this point and cheering loudly for whoever gets captain, which is a huge honor. Then the leuitenant, also a 12er, and the sargent, a thirteen year old, are called out. After that, every girl in camp is called out by name to come join their team.
We have two teams, green and grey, and each also gets three advisors from the counselors. The rest of the counselors are purple team.
For the three and half days of color war we don't have regular activities. Instead the girls are given a schedule of where to go for what competition. They play all types of games from the summer, individual and group, for points for their team. There's a swim meet, dance competition, boat races, and so much more. Each evening is whole team competition. The first night they run the bases for the best time as a whole team and do tug of war. The second is a track meet. The third is relay, and the last night is skit night. Skit night is a huge deal and can give teams enough points to win. Each team writes and practices all color war to present a skit, an alma mater, a fight song, and a cheer. Purple team all votes by ballot. Before the summer, the amount of points each is worth is written and put in an envelope to save for that night, it changes each year. Then we go to the campfire and cry (because camp is close to ending). After the points are tallied they come out and read the winners from each part of skit night and light in flame the color war winner. There's a big thing that says GRE and then a Y and an N. After a moment they light the letter for the other team as well.
During color war, the kids sit by team in long lines, kind of Hogwarts style. The captain and advisors sit together at smaller tables so they can plan while they eat. The purple team gets to sit all together, which is so much fun. The kids are only aloud to sing if they're doing it all together between the two teams, usually for happy birthday. The purple team can sing all it wants though, and usually gets into singing all the songs as loudly as possible.
Each team also makes a banner to be voted on for one of the competitions. We don't have color war themes like disney or anything. Instead the banner is about something at camp. The winner is hung in the dining hall and the other gets hung in the library. It's so cool to have the dining hall decorated with all these felt banners with such great saying about camp, or lines from camp songs.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Your posts make me miss overnight camp. I have tried to do color war at day camp, but it's just not the same.
________
TLR200 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_TLR200)

[Indigo]

We don't have color war either... It sounds interesting, though!

[camper]

I JUST POSTED A WHOLE LONG ARTICLE ON COLOR WAR!!! it better have worked...lets see...if not i'll come back and repost it here.

[camper]

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Many longer session camps and some shorter session ones, sleepaway or day, have a version of color war or olympics...and some of you might want to try to start a color war for your camp. Ours has soooo much tradition and spirit in it. It's really emotional when a PC chief gets up on a chair to make a goodbye speech to the camp at the end of the war, thanking everyone who made the war special for her and her friends, or when a counselor chief gets up on the chair and talks about making her dream of the team she's been dreaming of since she was in the youngest age group as a camper a reality. Another special thing is seeing a girl in the youngest age group wearing a blue or grey shirt that she wrote "let's go blue/grey!" on and cheering at an activity using her counselor chief's megaphone. Not to mention seeing the teams at sing on the last night, singing the songs so passionately that they've worked so hard to learn for 4 days. Nothing compares, in my opinion. Here's how color war at my camp works, hopefully you can follow it lol:

AUGUST 1ST CHEERING- Color war is spoken about all summer at my camp, and the color war songs from previous years are sung in the mess hall all summer, but the official buildup for the war begins on august 1st. That is when the oldest girls at camp(the PC's) start the camp in cheering for the war at a meal.(1,2,3,4, we want color war, 5,6,7,8, we don't wanna wait, plus other cheers that our camp specifically has). To the rest of the camp it is a secret surprise as to how and at which meal the PC's will cheer. the cheering on the 1st is only for 1 meal, to get the idea of the war in everyone's heads. after that, it is stopped for a few days until the war gets closer.

TAPPING- Also around august 1st is when the counselors that are going to be "in" the war as counselor chiefs, assistant chiefs, keymen, and artists for the scenery are "tapped," or told in secret by the director of their position in the war. Ahe campers do not know that this is happening. After those counselors have all been tapped (1 chief, 1 asst., 3 keymen, and 1 artist for each team) there is a meeting for them w/the director after lights out that night, where the chiefs reveal the themes they have chosen for their teams to the other counselors in the war, (example Blue Nickelodeon and Grey Toy Story, Blue Under the Sea and Grey Explorers, or Blue Africa and Grey Wonderland). It is then the job of the artists to begin planning the scenery to go along w/the theme to decorate the walls of the mess hall and social hall. It is the job of the chiefs to order their team tshirts for themselves, the assts, keymen, artists, camper chiefs, etc.

MUSIC- After the tapping meeting, each counselor chief meets w/our piano director to discuss the songs they will write their color war songs to for sing on the last night of the war. Alumni who have been counselor chiefs before also talk to the chiefs and help them pick and write songs. Each chief has to write a march, new alma mater, and cheer, plus choose an old alma mater from a previous color war.

SCENERY PAINTING- To make the scenery process less difficult for the artists, each night after taps until the war the counselor chiefs, assts., and keymen go to the paint shack under the mess hall to help the artists paint the scenery. The campers don't know about this, it's another secret...obviously, since they don't know who the involved counselors are! The people "in" the war have to make sure to talk to their co-counselors and their groupheads to get someone to cover for them. the campers usually think they're just on a night out. They usually don't get back until like 3 AM or later.

CHOOSING THE PC CHIEFS- Sometime in the beginning of August, before the war, a lot of thought by the director with help from the PC grouphead and counselors goes into choosing which PC's will be the camper chiefs of each team. The PC chiefs are chosen based on leadership, kindness, and behavior throughout the summer and the ones before that. the PC chiefs do not find out they are chief until the war breaks. each team has 1 chief and 2 asst. chiefs. It is a huge deal and a huge honor to be chosen to be chief or assistant, and girls get so nervous about it!

MAKING THE COLOR WAR SHEETS- Once it has been decided who the camper chiefs are, the director must make the color war sheets, the list of who (including every counselor) is on each team to "appear" when the war breaks. Each grouphead is in charge of making their teams, balancing athleticism and strong personalities. Once each grouphead has made their teams, they get together to switch people around so that all sisters are on the same team. On the PC list, the chiefs and assts. are the 1st names. It's harder than it sounds!!! A lot of thought goes into it, it takes a few days to get it straight.

CHEERING- The cheering a few days after August 1st is the "real" color war cheering, cheering, starting the same way including many of the same cheers. The difference is that it continues at every meal until the war breaks.

THE BREAK- This is the start of the war. It can be as simple as placing the color war sheets on each camper's bed while they are at a meal so when they get back they just see them, or as complicated as hiring a celebrity to throw out the sheets or having them dropped from an airplane. Be creative w/this, it can be almost anything. The most important part is the 3 booms from a small cannon that make it official. When the war breaks, everyone finds out what team they are on, the themes, and who are the counselors and PC's in charge of their teams. There is a lot of hugging and crying, especially the PC's, those who are chief and those who aren't, because PC color war is just so special to them and they've waited for it forever.

OPENING CEREMONIES- Where the director officially begins the war by introducing the people in charge to the camp and reminding everyone that although we will be divided into Blue and Grey for the next 4 days, we are still a family, and we respect and help each other, regardless of teams, just like always.

MESS HALL SCENERY HANGING- All of the counselors in charge of the teams meet after taps to hang the new scenery up and decorate the mess hall.

THE 4 DAYS OF THE WAR- in the mornings during color war, each age group is separately playing their own color war activities, which are the sports, 2 activities per morning. u can pretty much pick any sports for the kids to play. an official color war judge is at each activity and reports scores once the morning is over. after the morning activities each team meets for a song rehearsal where they learn and practice the songs that the chiefs have written for sing. after lunch, there is a whole camp color war activity. for example a track meet 1 day and a swim meet another day. after that, there is another song rehearsal. after dinner each night, the PC's play some of their color war games in front of the whole camp, 1 night is basketball, another is volleyball, etc. the last afternoon of the war is spent entirely w/song rehearsal for both teams.

SILENT MEALS AND INSPECTION- During color war, the campers don't eat w/their bunks as usual, they eat at assigned tables within their teams, made once the color war sheets are made. Each table has a couple of kids from the team in each age group and 1 or 2 counselors. The counselor and PC chiefs, assistants, and keymen on each team eat together, 1 table for each team, at the front of the room. Meals are silent, talking results in the judges deducting points from the talking team. The only speaking is at the end of the meal when one of the people in charge from each team gets up to make a speech. at the beginning of the war they're pump-up speeches, and at the end they're sentimental, thanking everyone for a great war and talking about how much color war means to them. after the speeches there is lots of cheering, and then the scores from the morning/afternoon/evening are read, followed by the dismissal of each team separately. Also, during the war, bunk inspections are for points. 1 team cleans the inside and 1 cleans the porch and grounds(it switches off every inspection) and the judges come around and deduct points from the team that didn't do their jobs.

SING- Finally, after all of the planning and practicing it's time for sing on the 4th night of color war. Each team performs their 4 songs and are judged on them. The marches are first and they are sung twice: once in a formation in the middle of the social hall and once w/the teams on the benches. Songs are "led," (which basically means conducted w/hand movements), as follows: march-PC chief, new alma mater-1 of the PC assts, old alma mater-counselor chief, cheer-other PC asst. At the end of sing the sing scores and final scores for the war are read, and everyone runs into the center of the social hall hugging and crying, it's a really emotional and bittersweet night, b/c when the war is over camp ends 2 days later.

There are many other little traditions in our war too. I want to hear about everyone else's color war!!! if you have an explanation similar to mine (but probably shorter) share it with us!!! also if you have any great color war stories. I do but i'll wait to share them.

[camper]

forgot to mention, thats what i just posted as an article....weird that i thought of this at the same time you did skaterbubbles...enjoy!

[Skater Bubbles]

That is way funny camper!! What a coincidence that we totally posted these at the same time!

[who_stole_my_loofa]

At my camp each area has a Captain and a Spirit Leader. In the oldest age group they have a Captain and 2 Spirit Leaders and the SLs are campers. There is always a theme like Retro Red vs Rockin Blue or White Warriors and Blue Bandits. First session is always Color war(red and blue) and second session is always Maccabiah(blue and white). However in 2004 they switched it up.. everyone was pissed!

The Captains and SLs find out about a week before when it is(it's usually the last Sunday of camp) and they start planning everything out. They write a song for Competition, write new cheers and most importantly make their costumes (there's lots of other little planning). All Captains and SLs have really elaborate Capes and costumes and they match eachother. Meanwhile the ULs and area leaders prepare for camp by planning break, opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies and MC skits(between the songs in comp).

Color war usually breaks at 5AM the day of, but it's been known to ocassionally break the night before at a campwide evening program. Usually the horses are painted and they ride them through the bunk hills and the SLs run in the cabins and wake everyone up screaming. The night before the counselors paint their campers while they are sleeping with the color of the team they are on. When the kids get up they get dressed in their colors and go to the upper athletic field for opening ceremonies.

During opening ceremonies the theme is announced and skit is performed, the rules are announced and creed is said. We also light this giant menorah and each candle symbolizes something like loyalty or teamwork.

After ceremonies depending on age group you go to meals- everyone sits with their teams not their cabins and meals are completely silent except for 1 cheer per team at the end of the meal.

After meal time activities begin- they can be anything from gaga, volleyball, horseback, rockclimbing, archery, pretty much every activity we have at camp has some sort of competition going on and the kids sign of for 2 in the morning. Then the Captains and SLs introduce their teams for the first time to their songs for competition. Before lunch they also have lake competitions. The lake competitions are like lap swim, greasy watermelon, sand castle competition, surf bikes, etc. Meanwhile everyone is still cheering. And after lake competition we have silent lunch.

Next comes rest hour(yess) and then another song practice session. After song practice they have Track and field activities- anything from balloon toss to relays and for some reason kickball is always included in track and field. At about 3:30 they have their major song practice until 5:30 usually. If the kids have time between 5:30 and 6:00 they can take a shower but usually that time is just used to change into song competition outfits because at 6:00 we have all camp BBQ.

After BBQ all song groups go back to their spots to practice one more time and then they go to the pavillion for song competition. In the youngest age group both teams do their song together and its always really cute and about "we are still friends and we love the other team" The reason they do it that way is because they don't want them to feel sad for losing. Next up are grades 4-6 and the girls go then the boys(colors separate obviously). After grades 4-6 videos are presented and they are filmed all day by campers from each area. After that are grades 7-9 and after they do their songs(the same way 4-6 does). After the girls go each team presents their glitter plaques- the 9th grade girls get to make them and it's a huge honor to be chosen- usually 6 girls on each team. Finally the oldest age group goes, they sing their songs and then they present the murals for each team- after the competition they are put up in the pavillion for like 5 years.

The songs and everything else are judged by ULs and ALs and specialists. So they announce the winners to each competition and then to all of Color War/Maccabiah. Suddenly everyone is friends again and there are no teams. And then the most exciting part of all-- fireworks!

Loofa

[Dave]

Great description Loofa. Also, that's a nice article, camper.

[martha27]

olympics(or colour war) is a huge deal and the culmination of the whole summer. 'fake out's' happen in the days leading up to it....then the real breakout! ive never seen such an excited and emotional group of kids in my life. the olympic music plays over the tannoy and then the whole camp is gathered together. they are then split into 4 teams, 4 countries to be exact. each team has a different colour, either red, blue, white or green. there are 4 captains chosen or 'crowned' from the oldest group, big big honour. then a luitenant from the two divisions below. none of them ahve any idea until their names are called!! so each team has 3 leaders to take them through the three days of olympics. it's amazing to step back and see them(and their teams) take on all that leadership, learn songs...and stay so focused throughout the whole thing! it's very hard to explain it in written form, it's great to experience it :)