Dear CSL Community:
It is with great pleasure that I write you the day after Color War 7. For those of you who are not familiar with its history, the all out 2-team, 2-day format for the August program began in 2007 and dramatically altered the landscape of the CSL experience from that point forward. Since that time, the program has evolved in a lot of ways, but still has maintained the original structure of 2 teams competing with each other in absolutely everything we can and cannot imagine. As it turns out, Red and Blue were each successful in winning half the time in the first six years, setting up the proverbial ‘Game 7’ in 2013.
The number 7 has a great deal of meaning at CSL. It represents a generation of sorts as seven years is how long a camper will be a camper if they start in C1 or O1. Of course not all campers start so early, but the significance of the program has led it to being deeply-entrenched in the culture of Camp Seneca Lake.
We definitely did not have anything like it when I was a camper. There have always been Mass Programs with a tight theme (which we still do in July session), but the ferocious intensity and most importantly the simplistic approach are what really make Color War. This year more than any previous, the planning committee which began the planning process in March set out to build a program that would ensure the staff and campers on each team would have full creative discretion as well as plenty of opportunities to go head-to-head in every single form of competition. As such, the program included seven Best-of-7 athletic series’ (Female Camper/Staff Water Polo, Younger Male Floor Hockey, Younger Female Nuke’em, Male Camper Basketball, all age GaGa, Speedball, and Staff Basketball) that went on throughout the program with just short, 10-minute games that build in excitement and intensity throughout the two days. Amazingly, all seven series’ went to at least a sixth game with four reaching the ultra-climactic seventh game. Speedball even went to overtime in Game 7.
Beyond the athletics, there were plenty of opportunities for the teams to let their imaginations run wild. There five prepared performances with very basic prompts: Dance, Vocal, Instrumental, Wild Card, and Younger Triple Threat. The teams thus filled in those prompts, bringing energy and excitement to new levels when they performed in the O-Rec toward the conclusion of the program. In addition to the Showdown performances, the engineering and artistic minds had an extraordinary opportunity in the form of constructing a monument next to the M-Field, the birthplace of Color War in 2007. The monuments were built to be permanent reflections of this program and its significance at CSL. They had to encompass the seven elements of Color War that the teams have worked on in big projects since the start – Fire, Water, Movement, Reflection, Glow, Sound, and an X Factor of their choosing to represent the freedom for creativity of Color War 7. They were presented right toward the conclusion of the program in the darkness of the M-Field performed by a representative from each Tusc year since 2007 when it began to recognize all that has happened since its birth.
And most notably, the “signature” events of Color War went to new heights, literally. Almost every Signature included an aerial component to represent the idea of looking up and its significance to our community. This included fire races to light flying luminaries, a huge game of battleship on the M-Field with thousands of water balloons flying through the air with the intention of landing in huge garbage cans (called “Aerial Warfare”), knocking over 55 gallon drums with thousands of tennis balls (called “Operation: Destruction”), a full track meet, including Tusc Ironman and Ironwoman, and among the most intense, epic events in the history of Color War, The ultimAPACHE. This 100-leg Apache took place on Camp Road with every leg starting near the Camp Gate and running up to a designated marker, right back to the starter’s line as the teams lined the road, waiting for their leg. There was also the Inferno Race, which included building fires before Tusc campers were tasked with putting them out.
There was so much more from bread making to ice cream making to art restoration to many other athletic, creative, and intellectual events throughout the three day program.
When the dust settled and the Blue team successfully retook the all-time lead at 4-3, it was clear that everyone had won and everyone had grown and everyone had gained. One of the highlights of the program included the 34 CSL in Israel participants assisting the 20-person planning committee in executing what was absolutely the most exhaustive and detailed program in the history of camp. To be certain, a new standard has been set not just from a Color War standpoint, but in the sense that the level of engagement, focus, and effort from every single person over the last few days will be a new whale to hunt.
If you were not fortunate enough to be a direct part of this program, the whole thing was shot by a professional filming team who is currently in the process of editing a feature documentary to be released in the Fall. The trailer for it was shown right toward the end of the program and can be found athttps://vimeo.com/72274553.
See you in Color War 8? Will there be a Color War 8?
Well, the first plaque to go up in the New Wing of the Dining Hall was an all-time Color War score tally of sorts and even with seven plates now gracing it, there is plenty of room for more.
We will see.
Lots of time to go in 2013! Keep following us and don't ever leave Camp Seneca Lake.
Ari Baum
Program Director
