Week six was filled with exciting travel – both real and imagined and one of the biggest events of the summer!
At the beginning of the week, our LSRs enjoyed World Tour Day. They “visited” over 22 different countries positioned around camp, sampling food, trying regional crafts, and playing sports specific to each country. That night, they held a showcase to tell all of camp what the experience was like and what they learned and loved about each country.
Then, the real trips began. The first to leave were the Algonquins (Gonks) who embarked on a one-week journey to California, They hit the L.A. area hard, doing exciting things like attending an Angels baseball game, touring UCLA and SoFi Stadium, chilling at Laguna Beach, the Santa Monica Pier, and The Grove, hiking in the Hollywood Hills, grabbing a bite at In-N-Out Burger, and, of course, hitting Disneyland all day and into the night with dinner at Downtown Disney.
But they weren’t the only ones exploring the world. Our Senecas went on a road trip to Canada, upstate New York, and Vermont. They visited colleges (McGill, UVM, Syracuse, and Cornell), hit the Ben and Jerry’s Factory and Dinosaur Barbeque, went Jet Boating in Montreal, and much more! The Cheyennes had a two-night stay in Boston and toured Fenway Park, did a Boston Duck tour, saw Quincy Market & Faneuil Hall, and more fun! While the Cherokees enjoyed an amazing trip to Maine, where they did some white-water rafting in, toured Portland, visited Old Orchard Beach and Funtown Splashtown, and enjoyed quality time together. The Mohicans headed to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Navajos headed to Lake George for white water rafting, shopping and snacking in Lake George Village, playing Mini Golf, and experiencing the Great Escape.
Back at home, our youngest campers – the TJCs – had the run of the camp. They got to spend a day enjoying a video-game-come-to-life, with a unique F1/Mario Kart special event. The boys were broken into groups and tasked with making their own working Mario Kart cars — they designed, crafted, painted, and glued their hearts out. Then they all raced the carts against each other. They also got to enjoy a TJC-Only Ice Cream and dance party in the dining hall.
By Friday night, our guys were all back together in their MKN home, and fittingly, the theme of our weekly Huddle was the value of shared pride. We talked about what it means to be proud of someone else’s accomplishments or to accomplish something as a team, rather than just individually. Then we had a special s’mores campfire just for brothers who attend MKN together. The next day and night was dominated by a beach soccer extravaganza. The tournament was exciting and intense! Participants were divided into small teams and played soccer on sand, caged in by nets that they could use to their advantage.
We also had our final Lake Swim – 31 brave participants woke up early, jumped in the brisk lake, and swam ¾ of a mile across the Stockbridge Bowl then back to our shores. We were proud to see several TJC swimmers in the pack – and that’s not an easy swim!
As the weekend drew to a close, we revved the energy up about ten thousand notches with the breakout of our annual Olympics. The annual “all-star” basketball game was suddenly interrupted by our own “Doc Brown” who ordered our campers “Back to the Future” to fix the Camp Mah-Kee-Nac Summer of ‘69 Olympic Games. The campers, gathered on the upper field, were surprised with pyrotechnics, lights, projections, and of course, the huge Olympic trophy. The theme arose because, as we went through our Olympic history, we found one mysterious year (1969) where we had no record of who had won. So, the teams will have to bend space and time to help us figure it out.
With the breakout in full swing, we announced the team Captains, coaches, and Decathletes (the captains and decathletes are always from our oldest bunk, Senecas). The countries competing this year are: Costa Rica, Malaysia, Italy, Canada, Portugal, and Norway. As soon as the teams were divided and filled, we went straight to competition – running to a basketball game, solving puzzles and more. Our next few days will be all Olympics, all the time! Check our 2026 Olympic Games page on the Totem for live updates.
That’s it for Week Six. Don’t forget, you can get MKN news every day on MKN Today. Be sure to create an account and see/read all the daily happenings at camp!