During the summer of 2007 as we steered toward the first two-team Color War, none of us ever thought it would grow to what it has become. The last two days have been exhilarating to say the least. As the smoke (and ice) clear, what we went through as a community is only beginning to sink in. When conducting the interviews on Sunday night for the Tusc break, one question asked of everyone was “Describe Color War in one word.” Just about every response was, well, a lack of response. Describing what it actually is at its core is very difficult and it just became even tougher after Color War V.
It feels like weeks ago that we all sat in the Fire Circle ‘celebrating John Golden’s retirement’ only to be surrounded with snow, ice, and fire. Yes, Color War V was incredibly fun; it was undoubtedly competitive. But as a camp we sought to achieve more than just fun and spirit of competition – these two days were Camp Seneca Lake at its absolute best. The staff and campers working together on projects that were completely unfathomable even to them when they began. But last night, we walked through beautiful chalk murals, 6 foot tall paper mache snowmen, and then extraordinary buffets prepared entirely by each team. And then finally, we walked through the entrance of the fire circle which had breathtaking ice sculptures designed by each team on each side.
There is no question that these last two were special and that every single person in camp was consumed by the fiery competition of Color War. But there was something bigger, something deeper happening. I have always said in the five years since Color War began that the Red versus Blue is really just a mirage; even though each team is doing everything possible to bring their team to glory, is our entire camp that is ultimately brought to glory.
We really started planning for this program a year ago in the immediate aftermath of Color War IV with some of our ideas from that evening fully realized over the last 48 hours. It is amazing to think we only had eight people running Color War I – there were 58 running Color War V to say nothing of the two teams of 167 people (119 campers, 48 staff). Of those 58 were seven people not employed by camp this summer who graciously volunteered their time to come help us put the program on, including five timeless CSL alums, who were all participants in at least two of the first four Color Wars: Rebecca Baum, Phil Silverman, Andrea Kovalsky, Paul Stecklein, Jason Feldman. Sean Taylor of Iceography oversaw all of the ice sculptures and designs throughout the program, graciously donating his time and labor throughout. Pat Holland came in and worked with Neil Pickus in filming the entirety of the program and have over 80 hours of footage to edit. My dear brother, Brian Baum, continued to provide unrivaled support as he has since the start of Color War though he was actually able to finally be physically present for one.
The LIT’s – two of whom were blogging throughout the program, and three of whom were taking photos throughout – played a major role in the execution of such a labor-intensive program, contributing throughout in whatever ways were needed. The program would not have happened without them.
Then, of course, was the planning committee who started meeting formally over email in March and then extensively over the last few weeks to create and ultimately execute the vision that was realized over the last two days. Max Krieger (Logistical Coordinator, who has been on the planning committee for all five Color Wars), Marc Field (Operations Director) who is a full-time lawyer in Great Britain but graciously used his vacation time to be at camp in August), Sam Wechsler (Signature Coordinator), Carrie Evans (External Resources), Jake Massa (Inventory and Operations), Margot Weiss (Scoring), Rachel Kosoff (Internal Coordinator), Neil Pickus (Media Director), Isaac Messina (Creative Director), Amy Massa (Medical Correspondent), Jack Chiappinelli (Ground Support).
There is no monetary bonus for these people for all the extra time they put in to make this program possible, but the payment immeasurably came last night when the Fire Tower was lit to unveil the winners of Color War. Tears across the camp, out of sadness for losing, out of jubilation for winning, but more for having done something meaningful and substantial as a community.
It was more than just a Color War just as Camp Seneca Lake is more than just a camp.
Ari Baum
Program Director
(more details in the form of stories, perspectives, photos, videos, and the full documentary will be available in the coming days)
