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Smirkus Traditions

Editor’s Note: This post was written by Camp Head Coach Doug Stewart


Last night campers and staff headed to the squishy field for a game of Smirkus KickBall. What is Smirkus KickBall? Great question. Smirkus kickball is just like any other game of kickball, except completely different. In most games involving bases, there can only be one person on a base at a time, and players have to run every time the ball is kicked.

Well in Smirkus kickball, you only have to run when you want to and there is no limit to how many people can be on a base at any given time. Seems pretty simple. BUT every player must run around the bases TWICE before they run home. Doesn’t matter which direction you go, as long as you get to every base twice before you get tagged out. It’s completely whacky, super chaotic and extremely fun! Like most things at Smirkus, it is something you have to experience yourself to fully understand.

Speaking of Smirkus Games… Have you heard about the Smirkus Audition? Once a session campers gather on the brown to bid on different envelopes containing mystery prizes. Staff members parade the envelopes down the brown and try to hype up their mystery prizes. However, the campers don’t know what prizes they could win until after the game. Some prizes are extra special treats like extra dessert or stargazing at night. While other prizes include extra chores or early bedtime. But the most infamous prize of all is the B.O.B.O.B. (Big Old Bowl of Beans). But I’ll let your campers tell you about that one….

One Smirkus tradition that dates back all the way to the very beginning of Smirkus Camp is the morning run. Everyday after breakfast campers run from the dining hall to tents. Throughout the years the morning run has been shaped by the campus. Some years the morning run was past the cow fields at Sterling College, or around the baseball fields at the Lyndon campus.

Once we settled in our forever home, the morning run was just the parking lot. However, thanks to some accidental lawn mowing, a path has formed on the perimeter of our campus. Now, instead of just running through our boring parking lot, campers get to run along the tree lines and through the fields of our gorgeous campus. 

I can’t put words to it, but something about watching the campers come together for the run is magical. For a brief moment, everyone’s the same. With the green mountains of Vermont to the left and the vibrant colors of the tents to the right, we all have the same task. Campers, Staff, CITS are all on the same page. It doesn’t matter if you have been to camp before or are brand new, if you can do a double backflip or are learning to cartwheel, for that minute, we are all together. Personally, I find that moment breathtaking. Perhaps it’s one of those moments you have to experience for yourself to fully understand…