Today on the Camp Balcones Springs blog, we’re going to talk about Women’s Dinner and the corresponding Boys’ Cookout event!
One of the most highly-rated activities at CBS that makes us a sought-after summer camp for girls is our Women’s Dinner event. Each term, girl campers get the entire front property to themselves for an elegant evening of fine dining, inspirational learning, and bonding with their fellow girl cabinmates and counselors. The night begins when girl campers gather in our Rio Grande Dining Hall in their pajamas. Tiaras are available at every table (though by no means required!) as campers gather with their cabins to feast on an array of fancy appetizers – shrimp kabobs, cheese boards, and fruit plates, just to name a few! The evening’s main course consists of chef-special artizen pizzas made-to-order for each cabin. Campers dance and sing along to hits like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and enjoy the fan-favorite “Dirt” dessert cups (chocolate icecream with oreos and gummy worms) to cap off the meal.
As a Christian summer camp, we strive to help inspire and empower campers to be strong, caring, and courageous citizens, no matter their gender. So after every Women’s Dinner, campers gather around for an inspirational talk about female empowerment. Every term, a select member of our full-time staff speaks to the campers about the challenges and gifts of being a woman, citing powerful and influential women from history and seeking to encourage girl campers in their identities. The speaker aims to remind girl campers that they have the power to make the world a better place and to become role models for other girls just as the women mentioned are people they can look up to. Girls camp ends the night watching a movie together with their sleeping bags and pillows.
While girl campers are enjoying fine-dining in the Rio Grande Dining Hall, boy campers spend the evening playing games, swimming at Lake Ted, and cooking a feast of hot dogs, S’mores, and chili! The night started with a classic grill-out featuring a menu of hotdogs and potato chips. Boy campers then took part in several rounds of Nuke ‘Em (a Camp Balcones Springs-original take on sand volleyball), pickup basketball, and pickleball. Then, boy campers and counselors ventured down to Lake Ted for a much needed cooling off and blobbing (jumping off of our infamous inflatable Blob toy in the lake). We then arrived at the main event of the night – the famous Camp Balcones Springs Chili Cookoff! Boy campers of all ages divided into seven teams, each a mixture of all cabins and ages. Each team then drafted two ingredients to add to their respective chilis, hoping the combos would add enough pop to wow our judges. The Term 4 Boys Camp Chili Cookoff proved to be one of the hardest competitions of the summer, but after a round of difficult judging, Team 2 took home the championship – and a pack of mini Coca-Colas! This session’s winning ingredient combination was crushed red pepper and onion for anyone looking to replicate this culinary success at home.