Camp Balcones Springs - Term 1 Team Initiation

The day we’ve been waiting for is finally here – it’s the start of Summer 2022!

We kicked off the first day of summer camp at Camp Balcones Springs with costumed staff singing camp songs at our gates as families dropped off their boy and girl campers. Campers got settled into their cabins, met their counselors, and reunited with old friends – including our beloved summer camp dogs who were so happy to see a crowd of smiling faces again!

Once campers were settled into their cabins and had met their bunkmates and counselors, we began our traditional Opening Night Team Initiation Ceremony. New campers were inducted into one of our four camp teams – boy campers to either the Texas Rangers or Rough Riders teams, and girl campers to the Lone Stars or Silver Spurs. Each year, campers participate in a super-secret initiation ceremony at their teams’ respective “hide-outs” on the camp property. Returning campers and counselors teach new campers the team cheers they will all come to know well during the term’s daily Team Comp tournaments and games, all leading up to our infamous CBS Amazing Race relay event at the end of each session. One set of teams (either the Texas Rangers & Lone Stars or Rough Riders & Silver Spurs) is declared the overall winner for each term based on how many points and wins they earn throughout the session. It’s not just a yearly challenge, though – campers will belong to their camp team for every year and term they return to Camp Balcones Springs going forward.

At our first camp meal of the term, we celebrated not one but FOUR birthdays in our Rio Grande Dining Hall the only way CBS knows how – with our famous Cake Upside the Head tradition & a ride around the dining hall in the Balcones Springs birthday throne! Cake Upside the Head calls for the celebrated camper to select another camper or counselor to “pie in the face” before enjoying a more traditional birthday cake with their cabin table. That means four people got a face-full of whip cream today (thankfully, it’s pretty tasty).

With such a fun-filled first day already in the books, we can’t wait to see what else is in store for Term 1. Be sure to check Waldo and our summer camp Instagram page for more photos and updates!